New-York tribune., 1896-11-01
SAVE THE FORESTS.

4 proDosed amendment to the state Cohs'i-
tuition. if it has not attracted much puo'ic at
tention. Is likely to be adopted. however pau
n may he for the reason that those who want
u vote for it. and others. a rule, do lot wore
at all OH the propositions The Forestry amend
ment. which has passed two Legislatures WIFI
out much observation and is to be finally SUD
mitted TO the people next Tuesday. has nat
ural,v been crowded out Of sight by the great
Issues of the National campaign. until almost
tho last moment but ii is now coming mo
view. and arousng opposition as IT'S obJcc-
,ionoble features are recognized. We have al
readv EXPRESSED the opinion that it ought TO
no defeated. and we are glad to see that the
press is nearly unanimous in opposing II. IN
fortunately the voter will find nothing on his
ha,lot to enIighten him as to the character OF
the amendment, and the time left for expana-
tion is brief.
These are the main facts Of the case: The
Constitutional Convention Of 1894 recognizing
the evil consequences which destruction OF for
ests has entailed and must increasingly entail
after careful consideration, unanimously ap-
proved a new provision absolutely prohibiting
TIC lease. sale. exchange or occupation by any
corpo,ation or individual Of the lands cOnst
or destruction of the timber thereon. This
radical action was taken with full appreciation
of the fact that i'm an ideal state of govern
me,,t and society 1t would be neither necessary
nor desirable Scientific cultivation of the for
ests would be beneficial to them and to the pe0-
ple. but scientific cultivation cannot be guaran-
,ecd at present Ignorance and seliishness
combined have produced lamentable results.
dO III the
door 10 abuses were not shut tight. The Con-
venton deliberately shut 1t tight. ana the peo-
ple ratified the Conventions decision. 1t Is
not true that an inadvcrtence was committed
which now needs to be corrected. The discre-
ton OF the Legislature was purposey taken
AWAY, and the present attempt to restore 1t is
an attempt to annul to a great extent the Con-
stitutional prohibition. The chief arguments
In behalf Of the amendment. including those
officially put forth by the Fisheries. Game ana
Forest Commission. are not legitimate. They
are meant to convince the people that all nee
essary safeguards are retained In the pro-
visions allowing the lease Of fve-acre parcels.
the exchange Of public lands outside the pre-
serve for private lands within it. and the sale
of outside holdings belonging to the State but
the fact Is that the measure Of authority 80
conferred upon the Legislature. to be exercised
by its agents. presumably the Commission
itself. Is such measure Of authority as the
Constitutional Convention and the people de-
liberately took away only two years ago. A
large discretion is bestowed by the amendment
where that action determined that no discre-
tion could he safely lodged. and there is grave
reason to fear that the result would be disas
trous. The multiplication Of leases to indiyid
uals for indefinite terms would probably oper'
ate to create conditions peculiarly favorable to
q few and correspondlngly detrimental TO the
public. The exchange Of public for private
tracts would probably mean the exchange OF
good lands for bad. and the sale Of State hold
ings outside the preserve would be followed