Arizona weekly citizen., 1883-04-08
TEE wHoLEsALg DgsrguorIon op DINE

IRE WHOLESALE DESTRUCTION OF PINE
 TIMBER IN ARIZONA BEGUN.
 The opening up of the pine lands of the northern part Of this Territory by the building of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, has created quite an industry by the cuttmg of pine timber into lum- Der and ties. i portion Of the land has been surveyed, but much Of 1t has not been surveyed. The government allows railroad companies to uso all the lum- Der that may be necessary for the construction of railroads over the c0un- try. We see DO objection to that, but on the contrary, it seems to be an act of justice to the railroad companies, which could not well huIld roads through a country unless such favors were ex- tended, a5 no titles have been given to individuals, and all the land belongs to the government or to the railroad com pauy, when theIr road shall have been completed. We have no fault to find with the government so far as the sim- pie proposition Of timber for construc- ton purposes is concerned But, We learn from reliable authority, that the same old frauds are being peTpetrated upon the government lands in Arizona that have been going on for years in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan, and that the frauds are mainly per petrated by expert lumber sharks from that northern country. Large mills have already been constructed along the line of the railroad and we believe that these lumber companies have bought or contracted with the railroad company for few sec lions of timbered land, but a large pro- portion Of the timber cut, and now be- ing cut, is upon government land, and does not cost the lumber companies a nickel One mill now operating in that country has @ capacity of 9000O feet a day, or 2,3t00O0 feet 2 month, Of twenty si1 working days, and it is being run to it's full capacity. At the very lowest es- timatc, this lumber is worth Sl.50 per thousand feet ou tlc stump. Supposing only half oft as cu, from government land. and it amounts to over S17.500 per month. which can be regarded in no other IiEL: tLana net loss to the govern ment Of that amount. But this IS not all. There are -ther mills and comps- nies operating along the line of the road, and the actual loss to tine govern ment vili not fall much, 1T any, below S30OO0 per month. We respectfully call the attention ut the Commissioner Of the General Land Office Co this new lumber traffic of the southwest. Arizona IS looked upon as a pretty hard country by eastern men, but a it field for sharks to prey upon. We have no fault to find with the spectators who are making money out of tLis new industry iu Arizona, but We shall expect the commissioners of the General Land office Co do his whole duty  by protecting the timber m Arizona from wholesale destruction. We shall make ], a point to examine into this question thoroughly, and from time to tune lay the facts before the people
 We are not 60 foolish out here in Arizo- na as to suppose the commissioner IS ignorant as Co what is gong or along the hne Of the Atlantic and Pacific rail road. We have good reason to believe that he is much better posted upon the question than We are, and we can assure him that he is very much mistaken fl be expects to escape the responsibility for allowing this wholesale destruction to Co on by pleading ignorance.