744 



CONSERVATION 



Carolina cannot reasonably be expected 

 to tax herself with the large investment 

 involved in the purchase of the forest 

 cover of these streams for the benefit of 

 her sister state. And these same condi- 

 tions apply to the whole problem, 

 whether it be one state or another in 

 which this forest area lies. 



Were all these eight states so altru- 

 istically inclined as to work out an ef- 

 fective cooperative plan, the lack of 

 money in all our southern states, and 

 the tremendous task of getting funds 

 appropriated, through bonds or other- 

 wise, would prevent effective action un- 

 til too late. 



The National Government is obvi- 

 ously, as the guardian of the navigable 

 streams, the natural and proper guar- 

 dian of the headwaters of these same 

 streams, and under either the commerce 

 clause or the general welfare clause of 

 the Constitution has ample power and 

 authority to act, if and when IT so 

 WILLS ! 



It, only, has the money. It, only, can 

 so promptly act as to save the forests 

 before their total destruction. It, only, 

 can intelligently handle and patrol the 

 area thus set aside so as to most fully 

 utilize it and make it effectively per- 

 form its varied functions. 



The next fact in the South's concern 

 is brought about through considering 

 the forest functions in other matters 

 than a timber supply, or its effect on 

 navigation. These functions have to 

 deal with the even more important for- 

 est influences, as water-power, water 

 supply, agriculture, health, and climate. 



We need not go into great detail ; we 

 know, who know southern conditions, 

 that the controlling factors in the mak- 

 ing of the South into a manufacturing 

 section rest on four fundamental facts : 



(1) Climate, which enables us to grow, 



(2) cotton, on (3) fertile soil, and (4) 

 cheap water-power. 



These things are intimately bound up 

 with the forest question, for without the 

 forest the climate changes, the soil 

 erodes and washes away, the cotton 

 field becomes a barren waste, and the 

 water-power is ruined through dam- 

 aging floods or prolonged droughts. 



Can a picture such as this be com- 

 placently regarded by the man who 

 knows and loves the present fair and 

 prosperous Southland ? Can he imagine 

 what these conditions will mean to the 

 coming-generation South (nay, indeed 

 to the present one!) ; for these condi- 

 tions are not merely future possibilities 

 nor the imaginings of dreamers or 



View Showing Effect of a Forest Fire, The Branches and Smaller Trees^Bent and Twisted by the Intense Heat (Page 741) 



