any articles that Congress thought it was wise to prohibit. So the power exists. It is exclusively a question of policy. But, Mr. President, all the time taken by me has been wasted if I have not demonstrated to the Senate that, having power, it is not only a matter of policy but a matter of duty for us to pass the bill which will end this infamy.

Some Senators seem to think that the words "delegated power" and "constitutional government" are mysterious terms by which the progress of the people and the safety of the people are imperiled. It is a curious thing to me that every "constitutional" fight that has been made in the Supreme Court against laws prohibiting something in interstate commerce has been made only when some business interest was affected by it.

Mr. President, all the subjects we have before us are important, but not one of them is a fraction as important as the suppression of this great evil, which involves the crime of murder, the degeneracy of American citizens, not only by the thousand but by the hundred thousand.

Why, Mr. President, when I think about these things I sometimes wonder what is the purpose of "free institutions" about which we talk so much. Why was it that this Republic was established? What was the purpose of the Constitution? What does the flag stand for? Mr. President, what do all these things mean?

They mean that the people shall be free to correct human abuses.

They mean that we shall have the power to make this America of ours each day a better place to live in.

They mean the realities of liberty and not the academics of theory.

They mean the actual progress of the race in the tangible items of real existence, and not the theoretics of disputation.

If they do not mean these things, then our institutions, this Republic, our flag have no meaning and no reason for existence.

Mr. President, to see this Republic of free and equal men and women grow increasingly, with each day and year, as the mightiest power for righteousness in the world, has been and is, and always will be, I pray God, the passion of my life - a nation of strong, pure human beings; a nation whose power is glorified by its justice, and whose justice is the conscience of scores of millions of free, strong, brave people.

It is to make this people such a nation that all our wars have been fought, all our heroes have died, all our permanent laws been written, all our statesmen have planned, and our people themselves have striven.

It was to make such a nation as this that the old Articles of Confederation were thrown away and the Constitution of the United States, about which we debate so much, was adopted.

And it is to make this nation still surer of this holy destiny that I have presented this bill to stop the murder of American children of to-day and the ruin of American citizens of to-morrow.

THE NATIONAL FOREST SERVICE

The Senate having under consideration the bill (H. R. 24815) making appropriations for the Department of Agriculture for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1908

Mr. Beveridge said:

MR.

R. President: The question immediately before the Senate is whether or not the appropriation for the Forest Service which the other day, perhaps without full information, was reduced, is to be restored. After the very long attack upon the Government's policy, I may be permitted some time to explain and defend it. No debate which has occurred this session has been so useful as this in informing both the Senate and the country on a business of such high importance.

There are those of us who were deeply interested in this question and yet who were not informed about what this Service meant and about the priceless work for the whole country which it was doing. In the course of this debate statements have been made which require some attention; and it is to do this that I rise to address the Senate before we take any vote, if a vote, indeed, shall be necessary upon this amendment.

The Senator from Wyoming (Mr. Clark) the other day began his remarks by asking the question, "What does this great forest-reserve system," which he said included some 200,000 square miles," mean?" mean?" It means, Mr. President, at the bottom the conservation and the

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distribution of the waters, upon which agriculture depends, and upon which the population of the Senator's state and of other states similarly situated depend for their growth more than upon any one other single ele

ment.

Mr. President, we are arranging to spend some $50,000,000 for the irrigation of what once was thought to be the "arid West." I remember very well the great fight which was made for the irrigation law. It was finally put through the Senate and the House against the counsel of some of the most conservative members of each body; but I think its wisdom now is universally recognized by men of all parties and all sections.

But, Mr. President, you can not irrigate with words you have to irrigate with water. You can not irrigate merely by digging a hole in the desert; not enough water is supplied. In the last analysis it must come from rainfall in the mountains. The Senator knows better, no doubt, than I do that unless the forests on those mountains are conserved irrigation is impossible. If the forests are felled the rain which falls sweeps down in torrential floods and either takes away the reservoirs or fills them up with silt. So the basis of the whole irrigation system, which means so much to the west, and therefore to the whole country, rests upon the foundation of the forest-reserve system.

Mr. F. H. Newell, Chief of the Reclamation Service, has repeatedly emphasized the very great importance of forest reserves in connection with the Government's irrigation work. In the second annual report of the Reclamation Service (1902-3) Mr. Newell stated: "One of the most important matters in connection with the per

manent development of the water resources of the country is the protection of the catchment basins from destructive influences. It is essential to preserve in such locations a certain amount of forest cover, and to prevent the destruction of these by fire or by overgrazing. The headwaters of many of the important streams are already included within forest reserves, and some of the important reservoir sites are thus guarded from injury. In other localities the forest reserve boundaries should be extended to include the country from which comes the greatest part of the run-off. This land usually has no value for cultivation, is rugged, and suitable only for the production of trees. Grazing to a limited extent is practicable and will not interfere with the best use of the waters, but if unrestricted the number of cattle and sheep may be increased to such an extent that the grass is destroyed and the bare soil is washed by storms.”

Forest reserves are created for these main objects: To conserve and regulate stream flow, and to maintain a permanent supply of timber. Some forest reserves are valuable for both these purposes; others are valuable mainly for their effect upon stream flow. In southern California, for example, forest reserves have been created in the San Gabriel Mountains, not with the chief purpose of the production of timber, because these mountains are largely covered with brush known as chaparral and have few trees growing upon them. But these southern California reserves serve a most valuable purpose in maintaining the flow of streams rising in them, which supply important cities, such as Los Angeles, and are essential for the development of water power, and, above all, in the conservation of streams used in the