Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 116, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 May 1910 — Editorials [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Editorials

Opinions of Great Papers on Important Subjects.

CONQUERING WASTE LAND.

UROPE Is conquering the waste land probE] lem by planting trees. Every year thouI sands of acres of land are being reclaimed 1 in this way by the leading countries and in a condition preparatory to a profitable timber harvest in the years to come. Not only many previously forested

areas which have been cut over have been planted up, but a number of the countries are also devoting their energies to- establishing a forest cover on dunes and other waste lands, and, in fact, on all land which is more valuable for producing timber than for other purposes. France has been one of the foremost European countries in reforestation, especially in the mountains, where planting has been a powerful factor In controlling torrents and regulating stream flow. The State each year buys uncultivated lands, in the mountain regions, and up to January, 1907, it had acquired 503000 acres in this way. Communes, associations and private individuals are also assisted in reforestation work by grants of money and by supplies of "plants and seeds. Altogether 249,000 acres have been planted through this public assistance. Complete exemption from taxation for a long period of years is granted in the cake of plantations made on the tops and slopes of mountains. A reduction of three-fourths for all land planted or sown, whatever its situation, is also made. —New York Evening Post. SIKES AND SONS.

T is the commonly accepted bejief that the ▼ sons of great men rarely equal their sires I in point of ability, and especially in the L line of ability which distinguished the sire. There are some notable exceptions, as for Instance the younger Pitt, and John Quincy Adams. But as a rule we shall

find, both as a matter of history and personal observation that the common opinion is correct. A writer Ifta current magazine attempts to account for this fact by assuming that the son usually Inherits his intellectual traits from his mother, although In physique he is apt to take after hls father. The writer cites a lot of Instances to show that In the line of royalty it Is quite common to see the qualities of a great king handed down to his successors for many generations. This is because that In royal marriages the bride of the heir apparent Is carefully selected from among the great families, royal or other. Hence the high strain of blood is maintained In the descend But among the mass of the people, from which the world usually gets its great geniuses, literary, financial, scientific or professional, marriages are made hap-hazard. A great man Is often attracted by a woman far inferior to him Intellectually. In the vast majority of

cases no attention is paid to mating with a view of transmitting great qualities. A compensation of these hap-hazard marriages is that a very ordinary man sometimes becomes the father of a very great one. This view is fanciful to some extent. It cannot be based upon any accurate statistics. But it gives abundant food for thought. It may be used as an argument for the higher education and culture of women. It gives a hint of the advisability of arranging marriages with prudence and forethought. It may be admitted that love in marriage is an essential but it will do no harm to season it with judgment and good advice — Minneapolis Tribune. - • ONE GIRL AND ANOTHER. - , ■ ■ •

—* BEAUTIFUL New York society girl, Al burned by flaming gasoline when her automobile was run down by a street car, has been awarded $20,600 damages by a New Yoi'k court because her neck is scarred so that she cannot wear lownecked gowns at social functions. A few

days ago a Jersey judge, receiving a verdict of $8,500, awarded by a jury to a little girl whose leg had been cut off by a car, said the amount was too large taking into consideration the great improvements in cork legs. One girl is rich; the other poor. One is a belle of society; the other a workingman’s baby. One girl is surrounded by luxury, and lives an idle existence; the other is in a humble home, and must help with housework, and earn her support. Yet the rich girl, whose soft hands will never make a bed or wash the dishes, is given $20,000 for a few scars on her shapely neck, while the poor girl crlppledifor life, hampered in the struggle for existence, is told by a judge that $8,500 is more than she should receive for losing a leg. Queer laws, and queer courts, aren’t they for a land where freedom and equality are established by the constitution?—Chicago Journal. DEVELOPMENT OP THE TELEGRAPH. . _ -t -

E have just passed the sixty-fifth annlWjk T versary of the inauguration of the comyy mercial telegraph in the United States. ’ The system had a very modest beginning; now it stretches over almost the entire world. A girdle of wire has been placed around the earth; there is speedy and

reliable communication between all civilized countries on' the globe. The wireless system of telegraphy has proved a wonderful agency in enlarging the field for electric communication. It has proved of practical value to a certain extent for commercial uses. It has also demonstrated its efficiency as a life-saver. Altogether, thtfdevelopment of the telegraph, from the days of Professor Morse and his primitive instruments to the present day, has been marvelous and even magical. —Baltimore Sun.