St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-03-30
FERNow ON FORESTRY.
The Chief of the Division Returns
Strongly to the Attack.

Ihe Ch1ef OF the Division Returns
Strongly to the Attack.
To the Editor of the Globe.
l have just seen the DAILY GLOBE
for March 2 containing your editorial
comment on my letter with reference
to the proposed administration of forest
reservations.
You have recognized only the one OBJ
lection to our proposals, which L also
admitted as existing; although. as L
consider. improperly ''in country that
prides itself on self-gOyernment;"
namely, the necessity of creating more
offices and officers. Now. what you
should have objected to is not the neces-
Sity. but the methods that have been
employed largely to fill such offices.
Ii | had not observed, during con-
nection with departmental work for
six years, that the old methods OF flilng
places are slowly, but surely, giving
way to better methods; il l had not
found that the general talk about lneffl-
cheney of departmental services Is III
part unfounded and in part wrongly
directed; if | did not know that failure
to perform public service efDclehtly
comes largely from lack of proper pro-
visions to execute it, frou lack rather
than from Superabundance of officers;
in fact. if l were not eonverSant with
the present Objectionable features, as
we'll as with the proSpectlyely lmproV-
ing features of government service, L
would have long ago given up hope OF
ever seeing a rational management OF
government timber lands inaugurated.
If YOU object to inefficiency of service
and improper methods OF filling ofhceS,
If YOU will break lance for more "a
tional consideration and administration
of public business, | am ready TO hand
YOU the shaft or buckle Oh your armor'
But. because with our poorly planned
system of water works we are supplied
with goodly amount of mud In add
ton to the Water-Which, by the way. is
partly due to bad forest management
you should not spill the child with the
bath. Improve the water W0rko, unless,
as you seem to think desirable to sim
plify our modern life, you give up the
use of water altogether. On the 0tner
hand. your efforts toward simplifying
our system of government instead OF
complieating it'' will, | fear, miScarry,
for the world has the ugly dis posi-
ton of progressing and cOmplIcaIlng
itself more and more. as we progress In
our knowledge, needs and aims, and
leaves the croaker and Slmpllfier per-
hans with the satisfaction that he has
hindered progress, but nevertheless be-
hind. You should rather insist that our
system of government should be made
ADEQUATE to its needs; for with increase
of population and civilization, govern
ment becomes more important and nee
essary: the savage and the pioneer re-
ouire the least, because they have more
elbow room.
You say s'the laws against crime are
already stringent enough, If properly
enforced. Timber trespassers can be
punished by the laws now on the stat
ute books if those laws are firmly ad-
ministered. If it is impossible to en-
force these laws by officers now on duty,
why augment the number OF ofncers as
contemplated by this blll''
Was there ever fairer statement OF
facts coupled with worse logic? Could
there be a better argument for the en-
pIoyment OF greater number or OIL
GERS than that the present number is IN
sufficient to enforce the laws on the
statute book?
have shown elsewhere that twenty
five or thirty men, as are now provided
for the protection of the public timber
domain, roaming through the 70,0OO,0OO
acres of public forest spread over near
900, 900 square miles of territory and
not even clothed with police powers,
but only as spies. giving rise to an Cd
jectiOnable espionage which is foreign
to the genius of republican form of
government'-is hardly sufficient
number to do effective service. Being as
usually underpaid, these men,if efficient,
soon abandon the arduOus. unremuner-
alive, thankless and hopeless task as
rule. 1t Is the lack OF power to enforce
the laws that has made these laws nu-
gatory and has caused millions OF dollars
of value to be destroyed Wantonly. is
not also the fact that these laws ale not
observed with more respect 10 the VIII
of the people a strong argument tlat
we have not reached that development
of self-goyernment under which we may
leave everything to private endeaVor
and private interest?
The only argument then remaining is
that the forestry interests Of the coun-
try are of private nature; that private
interest left to itself can and Will take
care of them. This is a question which
admits OF much and interesting discus
sion: but not to obtrude too much upon
your space at present. will retute it
only by the simple statements, we'll suS-
tanned by facts, that even II there we're
not broad, wide-reaching public inter
ests involved in the management OF our
forest cover that require more than prl-
vate consideration, private Interest has
not and will not take proper care OF for
est property. The proof of this pudding
is in the eating, and it is because we are
suffering from indigestion that we look
Tor a remedy.
If the GLOBES stomach is not yet
affected and nauSeated by the annual
smoke of forest fires, we congratulate 1t
on its strong constitution.
b. T. FERNOW,
Chief of Forestry Division,