"Che Conservative.
trees , " says Mr. Burson , "cannotbe esti
mated in dollars and cents. A forest
tree has a much greater value than the
few cents the lumberman will pay for
it. Every tree performs a part in the
amelioration of our climate ; it does
much in the distribution of our rainfall.
As our forests are disappearing we not
ice greater climatic changes. Oar dam
aging floods and destructive drouths
can largely be charged to the wood
man's axe. Gutting the forests off the
upper water courses , leaving no longer
a network of moss and roots to absorb
the moisture and feed it out slowly into
the brooks and perennial springs , causes
the rains to pour down from these
naked hillsides in swift deluges , swell
ing brooks to rivers , washing away all
vegetable mold and destroying life and
property. In the summer time these
rivers shrink to shallow creeks in sterile
valleys , with no sparkling waters gush
ing from everlasting springs. We see
portions of the Old World almost de
populated by deluges and drouths
caused by the indiscriminate clearing
of hillsides and water courses. Travel
ers who have visited Greece , Italy and
Spain , who have traveled along the
Mediterranean from Greece to Gibral
tar , through a country that was once
the paradise of the East , covered with
luxuriant vegetation , green meadows
and beautiful gardens , with cooling
springs and rippling streams , shady
dells and noble forests , say that all
that sea-girt coast has undergone a met
amorphosis that is almost incomprehen
sible. The forests have all been cut
down , causing thousands and thousands
of square miles of vegetation to disap
pear. Professor Marsh , in writing of
that country , said that the abundance of
vegetation that maintained , in by-gone
centuries , a population scarcely inferior
to the whole Christian world , today is
entirely withdrawn from human use ,
and is reduced to a desolation almost as
complete as that of the moon. He
warned us that another era of equal
improvidence would reduce our earth to
such a condition of impoverished pro
duction , of shattered surface and cli
matic excess as to threaten the exter
mination of the human species.
Renew The Forests.
"All this havoc is due to causes set in
action by man , and yet where the an
cient foreigner cleared square rods the
American lumberman clears square miles.
In many countries in Europe the advant
ages of forests have been learned in the
school of necessity , and now the study
of forestry is taught with as much
thoroughness and care as the study of
other sciences , while the cutting and
replanting of trees are regulated and en
forced by systematic and careful legis
lation. But the goal of the road that
we are continuing to pursue will not be
recognized until our summer drouths
reach those of the African Sahara. We
see , with the eye of futurity , no more
forests , no more lumber with which to
build houses , barns , cars , furniture ,
wagons , carriages , ties , poles or posts.
We hear the wailings of posterity , and
their bitter accusations for the greed
and thoughtlessness of their ancestors.
Yet the calamity that awaits us con be
averted through prompt action of our
general or state governments. Or ,
should the fact be more generally
known , that forest tree growing can
always be made a financial success , cap
ital would be more largely invested
along that line ; new forests would be
planted on the denuded lands , and , in
stead of drouths , famines and floods ,
vegetation would continue to bloom ,
cooling springs would gush anew from
mountain and hillside ; our valleys and
plains would be covered , as of old , with
a mantle of green , and comfort and
prosperity continue to reign. " Kansas
City Star.
THE FOOL CROP.
The larger the grain crops in Ne
braska the smaller the fool crop. In
seasons of drouth and disaster there are
political fool triplets born every second ,
and there is no need , then , of political
artificial fools such as Coin Harvey is
endeavoring to evolve by his financial
lectures during his present proselyting
sojourn in this state.
The crop of corn is inimical and dan
gerously antagonistic to the crop "Coin"
is endeavoring to cultivate. The fact
that Harvey is speaking in every county
in the state is an admission that there is
prosperity in Nebraska and that there
must be mouth-made calamity and pre
dicted disaster put up as an off-set or
the voters will desert Bryanarchy.
Men who in 1896 made forecasts of fi
nancial stringency and blue ruin which
would follow Bryanarchy's defeat must
have unlimited effrontery to appear
again as prophets and ask attention and
credenca from the same people. Every
prediction has been demonstrated false.
Increase.
$88,810,688.80
2,045,730.71
' 6'l02,5i2.66
' ' '
2404bbi'.82
50,002.07
84,034,088.70
087,002.04
60,005,744.48
The Greater
EXPOSITION
AT OMAHA. American Exposi
tion at Omaha is
now in full bloom. The Filipino vil
lage alone is worth the cost of going to
and returning from Omaha.
And the Cuban and Hawaiian exhib
its are very interesting and instructive
All together the grounds , buildings and
management are more attractive than
they were in 1898.
THE WOLF TRUST.
Mr. J. Sterling Morton protests , in his
newspaper , THE CONSERVATIVE , against
the female wolf trust which is devouring
the substance of the people of Nebraska.
The state pays a bounty of three dollars
each for wolf scalps. This makes wolf-
breeding a profitable industry. Fifteen
thousand scalps have been turned in and
paid for this year , and there are thirty
counties yet to hear from. It must not
be supposed that the trust has wolf
kennels where the breeding takes place ,
and where the scalping is done at
leisure. No ; nothing so foolish as that.
The agents of the combine know the
places where wolves breed naturally and
without expense to the trust. They take
good core not to kill any wolves out of
season , and not to kill any females
knowingly. The principles of protection
to home industry ore skillfully applied ,
and the results are most flattering.
Labor is in demand , wages are high ,
employment steady , and profits satis
factory. A steady increase of the herd
is confidently anticipated unless the out
cry against trusts becomes so strong
that the legislature shall feel obliged to
adopt repressive measures. But this is
not apprehended at present , the trust
being strongly represented in that body ,
and having a pretty large fund for dis
tribution among the lobby. This is not
the first time that a cash premium has
been offered for wolf-breeding in the
United States , and it is probably not the
lost. New York Evening Post.
Changes in the Principal Items of Resources and Uabllitlen of National Banks as
Shown l > y the Returns on Juno 30 , 1800 , as Compared with the Returns on
April 5 , 1800 , and July 14 , 1808.
ITEMS.
Loans and discounts
U. 8. bonds
Duo from national banks , state
banks and bankers , and resident
agents
Spucio
Legal tenders
U. 8. certificates for legal tenders
Capital stock
Surplus and other profits
Circulation
Duo to National and State banks
and bankers
Individual deposits
United States government de
posits
Bills payable and rediscounts
Total resources
Since April 5,1800.
Decrease.
$10,087,420.00
7,840,500.70
'l,280,666.66
2,307,243.00
'
4,470,887.50
10,850,445.00
Since July 14,1808. I
Increase.
$340,472,028 02
43,041,700.00
102,774,035.00
21,144,015.24
1,422,038.00
0,850,100.04
0,402,084.00
212,588,025.28
408,800,340.80
23,443,054.50
781,158,45b67 ;
Decrease.
$1,705,000.00
17,151,418.00
0,415,171.00
Total number of banks June 80,1800 , 8,583 ; April 6,1800,8,583 ; July 14 , 1808,8,582.
CHARLES G. DAWES , Comptroller.
