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Show THE ANTI-SMELTER SUIT. We assume that It may be considered consid-ered a settled proposition that the stilt nominally brought by the farmers If this valley to close up the smelters, Is in fact a move of tho hlerarch to sweep away that which he cannot control con-trol As long ego as last October his organ announced that "the smelters must go," unless they complied with certain conditions it laid down; but the real animus behind the demand was to enforce a condition which the organ did not dare t express. That condition was, as explained in these columns at the time, that the smelters should give the control of the labor at their plants to the hierarchy. If that were done, tho farmers would be told that their complaints are frholous, and that for the common prosperity of the whole State, it la their duty to bear such slight loss as can actually be proved to coins from the smelters; that such loss Is In fact Insignificant compared com-pared With the enormous benefits conferred con-ferred upon the community at large by the work of tho smelters in reducing re-ducing ores which give a value of twenty-six million dollars a year to the credit of the State and the pioflt of every active citizen; and specifically that provide a steady and largely profitable market for everything that the farmer can raise. Deprived of this market as he would be by the shutting down of the smelters, the farmer of this valley would find that he had won a sorry victory even In case he succeeded. suc-ceeded. But what Is the reason fr bringing this tult? It Is Undoubtedly largely fictitious. Iist season, Professor John M. Wldtsoe, director of the Experiment Station at Logan, made an exhaustive i imlnntlon ot the complaints made by tho farmers here, of Injury and damage dam-age from the smoke and fumes of the smelters, He Issued a bulletin showing the result of these Investigations, it u.is complete, covering many details and shos-ing exhaustively the results arrived at. from many points of view, and coerlng not only the complaints about harm 10 epilation, but those claiming injury to farm animals At the request of The Tribune, Pro-feSSOf Pro-feSSOf Wldtsoe summed up for our New real issue the conclusions he had arrived ar-rived at with respect to these complaints, com-plaints, and these conclusions are of Immediate interest at this time. Professor Wldtsoe considered first the effect .f the fumes on plants, concluding conclud-ing that to be of much or marked deleterious dele-terious effect, the field must be within with-in the direct line of persistent winds that would bring the fumes thickly upon It. "It is true," says Professor Wldtsoe, "timt iii certain cases when, owing to special climatic conditions, gUCh te the blowing Ot the wind on a certain field for a great length of time, the hay may be so heavily charged with the poisonous flue dust that animals ani-mals eating it may be severely Injured thereby Such cases torn) however, exceptions to the rule." And he pro-ceeds: pro-ceeds: "Neither does the flue dust appear ap-pear to affect lh the least the composition com-position of wheat, or oats, or sugar-beets, sugar-beets, or fruit grown within the area subjected to the action of the smelter smoke." As to the effect upon animals, he considered that "crops grown under the Influences of smelter smoke cannot Justly be s;ild to exert a very serious adverse influence upon the animals to Which they are fed;" his Idea being that such damage as Is felt arises from the blowing of flue dust upon a certain cer-tain field for a considerable length of time, resulting In large accumulations of It, particularly in the low places, and "when this material is dlSlnte pi a I by at lie (Spheric Influence s, ;i n I perhaps concentrated by accident In a pool in a low-lying plae e, eases of poisoning pois-oning are likely to result' To which he adds that various farm animals "appear "ap-pear to like the flue dust, and thev may be seen licking It from the ground, fences and other places.'' Animals that are kept on pasture ' have a much greater opportunity of ga the ring flue dust In larRe rpaantlilcs than those which are fed hay in barns." His OOU-c OOU-c luslon upon this point being that "The gaseous ingredients of the smeller smoke, such aa sulphur dioxide, exert an nijiirlmi influence upon an animal only when the atmosphere is persistently persist-ently charged with them. In neighborhoods neighbor-hoods where the smelter smoke appears ap-pears only once In a great while, no serious damage to animals can result from the smelter gases, and in other cases where the wind blows with considerable con-siderable regularity from the smelter chimneys and the air Is almost always hurged with small quantities of sulphur sul-phur gas, the action on animals cannot be anything but unfavorable ' It must be eldent to any candid mind that from this statement of the case It la practically Impossible thut farmers by the hundreds can be materially mate-rially Injured In their crops or farm animals from the smelter smoke and fumes. As to soils, Professor Wldtsoe concluded con-cluded that statements made In the public press that soils are very seriously serious-ly Injured by the action of the smeltt r smoke la an erroneoua Idea. The deposit de-posit "upon an acre of land Is In all but a very few and small locaJltles so email In quantity that no adverse effec t would result from it even in a. long period pe-riod of years. Tho sulphur dioxide found in the smelter smoke cannot possibly have an Injurious action upon ihe soil. It would tend, rather, to make the land more fertile. The apparent In-Jury In-Jury to the soil from the fact that plants fall to grow and mature on them Is not that soils are infertile, but that the atmosphere Is too heavily charged with the smelter smoke to allow of perfect per-fect plant growth." i And how about that point of the at mosphere which Is so heavily charged' The professor distinctly pas that If the fumes were evenly distributed In the air of this valley. In all probability no injury to vegetation would be caused. "It Is only when the smelter smoke, as It comes from the chimneys. Is drawn by the wind toward n certain place without the opportunity of being diluted by the atmosphere that serious damage result. " There Is no equality of damage resulting from mere proximity. prox-imity. "In fact, the only localities where damage of any consequence has resulted from the smelter smoke Is Where the wind passing over the smelter smel-ter chimneys has been felt for considerable consid-erable periods of time." And that this Is not B constant Quantity as to any particular locality, he affirms when he adds: "In short, the paths of the prevailing pre-vailing winds determine the districts of greatest Injury, and it may frequently happen that a district which Is seriously seri-ously Injured one year may not be touched the next year, or for many following fol-lowing years." This was a calm, serious consideration considera-tion of the whole case, last year It would of course be equally true this year, with the- addition made by greater smelting capai ity taken into account. Rut ProfeSBOr WidtSOS was sanguine that the smelters could attach smoke and fume consumers; and this they are now bending every energy to do. They should be dealt with patiently pa-tiently and candidly In thl and not pushed viciously and vindic tive ly, as is being done by the farmers, under counsel coun-sel which Is at once mendacious, evil, and self-seeklne The smelters and the farmers can and should dwell In this valley In peace nnd amity, and It Is vicious counsel which urges the farmers to begin these .suits. |