The Daily News. THURSDAY, MAY 1, 1913. THE FORESTRY COMMISSION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 291, 1 May 1913, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, MAY 1, 1913. THE FORESTRY COMMISSION.

The visit of the forestry Commission to New Plymouth will, we hope, not be without good results. They have made ns exhaustive an inspection of the district as was possible in the necessarily short time at their disposal. The depu-1 tations which waited upon them yesterday received a sympathetic hearing, and we are satisfied that the Commission will place the position fairly before the Government in its report.' The question of afforestation is at the moment a very crucial one for the Dominion, for a timber famine is already in sight; but that of deforestation is one in which wo are more intimately concerned. There are areas of bush in Taranaki which are being threatened by the woodman's axe, and, as was pointed out yesterday, already large areas of magnificent forest land upon the hanks of the beautiful Mokau river have been denuded of their covering for apparently no obvious commercial reasons. The poet who commended a woman's ha,ir as her crowning glory did not neglect to bless the forest garments of the hillside as an appropriate simile, and there are many of us who will readily appreciate thercomparison. The Mokau river is one of the, finest scenic resorts in the Dominion, and it is up to the powers that be to see that it is not further ruthlessly ravaged by fire'and the axe. It is all very well to argue that it is the duty of the country to bring all the possible land available into cultivation, but there are miles of Tiver frontage on this magnificent river that are not suitable for cultivation, as was clearly established yesterday, and, in any event, if we are to progress as a nation we must pay some attention to art as well as commerce. We should be lntt a sordid community if we had not a soul above mundane things. We cannot afford to lose all our native bush, for,' apart from its intrinsic beauties, and the obligations we are under in respect to it to posterity, it provides a sanctuary for the many rare arid gorgeous birds which constitute practically the whole of the fauna of the Dominion.' The denudation, too, has its effect upon climatic conditions. If extinction of the remaining bush on our mountains were persisted in, it might turn Taranaki into a dry and arid desert instead of the land it now is, literally flowing with milk and honey. There are other local districts besides the banks of the Mokau which call for an equal amount of protection from the modern spirit of vandalism and commercialism, and we trust that the Commission will see its way to recommen that a number of these should be reserved for all time from the hand of the spoiler. The question of compensation in regard to the preservation of the Mokau scenery should not be seriously taken into account. What is a sum of £IO,OOO to a country where the preservation of the people's; heritage is concerned? It is nothing, Judged as it will be by succeeding generations, who, unless the present careless, utilitarian policy is altered, will have cause to curse past legislators for their shortsightedness and criminal folly.