1906 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



51 



ly because of their effects upon the 

 water supply. Neither state nor nation 

 can afford to turn these mountains 

 over to the unrestrained greed of those 

 who would exploit them at the expense 

 of the future. We cannot afford to 

 wait longer before assuming control in 

 the interests of the public of these for- 

 ests ; for if we do wait, the vested in- 

 terests of private parties in them may 

 become so strongly intrenched that it 

 may be a most expensive task to oust 

 them. If the eastern states are wise, 

 then, from the Bay of Fundy to the 

 Gulf, we will see within the next few 

 years a policy set on foot similar to 

 that so fortunately carried out in the 

 high Sierras of the west by the nation- 

 al government. All the higher Appa- 

 lachians should be reserved. Such re- 

 serves would be a paying investment, 

 not only in protection to many inter- 

 ests, but in dollars and cents to the 

 government. The importance to the 

 southern people of protecting the 

 southern mountain forests is obvious. 

 These forests are the best defense 

 against the floods which, in the recent 

 past, have during a single twelve 

 months, destroyed property officially 

 valued at nearly twice what it would 

 cost to buy the Southern Appalachian 

 Reserve. 



"The maintenance of your southern 

 water powers is not less important 

 than the prevention of floods, because 

 if they are injured your manufacturing 

 interests will suffer with them. The 

 perpetuation of your forests, which 

 have done so much for the South, 

 should be one of the first objects of 

 your public men." 



The importance of the Appalachian 

 forest cover to the cotton milling in- 

 dustry alone in the Piedmont regions 

 of North Carolina, South Carolina and 

 Georgia is shown by the statistics of 

 the mills operated by the water power 

 derived fiom the streams having their 

 sources in these mountains. In these 

 three states there are 163 mills so op- 

 erated, with a combined capital stock 

 of $33,000,000, with 2,770,000 spindles 

 and 50,926 looms, and giving work to 



over 45,000 employees. The total an- 

 nual production of these mills is ap- 

 proximately $64,000,000. 



Virginia has interests also which are 

 not included in the above figures, as 

 have also Tennessee and Kentucky, on 

 the western side of the mountains. 



A national forest reserve in the 

 White Mountains of New Hampshire 

 is also a matter of general concern and 

 vital to the well-being of the industries 

 of all New England. We are upon the 

 threshold of great industrial competi- 

 tion with the producing powers of the 

 world ; to maintain our supremacy we 

 must retain our hold upon our cheap 

 water power, which, through electrical 

 invention, is being utilized as never 

 before and greatly aiding to our na- 

 tional prosperity. 



The creation of the Appalachian and 

 White Mountain Forest Reserves can- 

 not be left to the states ; the question 

 is an interstate, and therefore a nation- 

 al one. Nearly all the rivers of New 

 England head in the White Mountains 

 of New Hampshire, and it is of su- 

 preme importance to the industries of 

 all the New England states, represent- 

 ing tens of millions of dollars, that the 

 forest cover at the river sources shall 

 be preserved and improved. 



National delay in the acquisition of 

 these reserves would be dangerous and 

 wasteful. Timber land which a few 

 years ago could have been purchased 

 at $1.50 to $3 an acre, has now trebled 

 and quadrupled in value. Additional 

 delay will mean a further increase in 

 cost. Congress should act at once and 

 preserve from destruction one of the 

 greatest resources of the nation. 



Committee, 

 Wm. S. Harvey, Chairman, 

 F. Iy. Hitchcock, 

 Geo. H. Anderson, 

 F. B. Thurber. 



RESOLUTIONS OE THE NATIONAL BOARD 

 OF TRADE. 



Resolved, That the National Board 

 of Trade re-endorse the plan of gov- 

 ernment irrigation of arid lands and 

 their subdivision into small farms of 



