A MUTILATED LAND. 3 



Teach the finest ever seen on this old earth of ours. There 

 the Douglas Spruce, like a forest of masts crowded together; 

 there the Giant Redwood the Sugar Pine, the king of all the race 

 .^nd the mighty Sequoias, emperors of the forest kingdom. 



There are trees standing strong and vigorous today that 

 were giants when the mysterious Babe lay in the manger at 

 Bethlehem. With the wisdom of God and the forethought 

 -which looked down through the ages. Nature had planned 

 against deluges and catastrophes. Rains might fall in floods 

 but they were held in check by millions of dams formed by the 

 roots of the trees, fallen branches and leaf mould, which, like 

 sponges, retained the moisture, compelling it to filter out slow- 

 ly to the rivers. On the prairies the floods were held in check 

 by the rank grasses so they could not wash away the soil. If 

 there were heavy snows in the North, God had it so planned that 

 the thick trees spread out their branches as protection against 

 the sun, so that they must thaw slowly, and then the myriad 

 dams beneath were ready to hold the released waters in check. 

 Under such 'a wise provision all the rivers and streams 

 would have an even flow. Till vandalism stepped in, the Mis- 

 sissippi was navigable to the falls of St. Anthony and the Ohio 

 was an artery pulsating with a busy commerce. Such the 

 primal condition, beautiful forests of noble trees, hill and moun- 

 tain sides and rolling prairies were guarded against the wash- 

 ing of the soil. No one could depict the beauty of the virgin 

 land which was adorned as a bride for her husband. And the 

 husband came, comrnencing a system of cruelty, persecution, 

 and indignities which present to us today the spectacle of a 

 murdered land. 



In the Bast the forests were cut away. No thought or 

 care was given to the hillsides and the rich soil was carried 

 out into the ocean, only bare and stony fields remained. Farm- 

 ers said the stones seemed to grow. No; they gathered them 

 up year by year, releasing more earth to be carried away. In 

 a generation or two the soil was gone, the stones remained and 

 the land would no longer support the family. 



The forests were cut from the sources of the rivers; Na- 

 ture's dams were swept away and the mighty Hudson and the 

 Connecticut feel the wrong and yearly swell with anger at the 

 Indignities inflicted. Often rich valley farms, that never were 

 troubled before, were overwhelmed with floods and desolation 

 took the place of beauty. 



Take the Appalachian range in the South. It was 

 a region of marvelous beauty. The mountains and hill- 

 sides were covered with noble trees and flowering shrubs, 

 the streams had an even flow, the valleys were defended from 

 the floods by the rich vegetation which clothed all the sources 

 of the streams. Then fools climbed those steep declivities with 

 their axes. In some cases they girdled the trees and planted 



