Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1892-03-11
TIE GOVERNMENT TIMBER.

THE GOVERNMENT TIMBER.
u. r,,. e,x,,~es. Made by Dcprcdators
OH the Public Lands.
While the unlawful cutting OF TIM
Der from Government LANDS goes on
more or less i'm various parts OF the
country. the Canadian border Offers
special facilities for this form OF tres-
mass. In Northern Minnesota the
Rainy Lake and Rainy River region Is
not only density wooded, but lsdlrectiy
ON the Dominion line, and, further
more, is near the junction or the
Provinces of Ontario and Manitoba
1t affords IA fine field for the operation
of timber thieves from Canada. wlo
have many steamers engaged in the
business. Last summer special agents
were appointed by the Interior De-
partmcnt to investigate what was go
ing on, and their report indicates
that about 30, 900. 900 feet of logs a
year are unlawfully cut from public
lands of the United States and sent
through the Rainy River, besides
about half as much more honestly
acquired from lands fairly open to
lumbcrmen.
The result of these Investigations
will probably be the prosecution of
some of the lumber companies for
.trespass. The Land Commissioner
declares that""the people of Canada
have made great roads into our for
csts." and that the exhaustion of the
valuable timber of that region is
going on rapidly. One of his prede-
ccssors declares that depredations
upon the public timber were uni
versal. fragrant, and limitless": that
whole ranges of townships covered
with pine timber had been cut over
by lumber companies who adopted
the device of having their employees
secure individual titles through the
presumption and homestead entries,
afterward assigning them to their
employers. They have actually been
known to establish steam saw mills
on public lands for turning into
lumber and shingles the trees unlaw-
fully cut. To cap their audacity they
have charged genuine settlers prices
for timber which are regulated by
the cost of transporting it from
points where it is honestly procured.
In some cases thousands of men are
thus put at work.
1t is a wrong sufficiently great for
prompt remedy when citizens of the
United States are engaged in this IL
licit business: but when those of an
other country raid our public forests
the case is worse. The actual loss in
property must be very great, since
more than three hundred cases Of
trespass were reported by the fifty
five special agents during the last ifs
cal year. involving more than SO, OOO,-
600: yet the actual amount recovered
from suits during that year was only
about 500. 00o. which could hardly
have done more than pay the detect
i've force employed and the other ex-
penses. Still, the very presence Of
these agents undoubtedly prevents
ravages still NOR enormous. There
were also still pending, at the Begin
ming of the current fiscal year. more
than three hundred criminal prosecu-
tions for violating the timber laws,
and nearly as many civil suits for the
recovery of nearly SIS, O0O,O 600.
But. apart from the intrinsic loss.
the indirect damage done by the de-
.struction OF forests in reducing the
cultivated area is serious. The woods
and the mountain underground hold
the SHOWS and prevent the summer
drought from coming earlier i'm the
regions far below. They increase the
rainfall, also. and are important to
the h%usbandry of the West. Vast
sums have already been appropriated
for devising systems of irrigation for
the arid lands, and in some eases for
building dams. as at the headwaters
of the Mississippi, so that certainly
no pains should be spared to protect
the forests. And, besides the damage
done by the saw and the AK. the waste
wrought by fire is still more pro-
digious, the anterior Department de-
claring, in fact, that fire is far more
destructive to the wood on the public
lands than all other causes combined.