The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-04-04
A FEW VERTEBRATE MISSING,

A FEW VERTEBRATE MISSING.
To the people who have been watch
ing the. first acts Of this administra-
ton to discover the quality of the pres
idential backbone, the course which
appears to have been adopted by the
administration with reference to the
order of Mr.. Cleveland setting aside
forest reserves in various parts of the
West is not particularly reassuring.
Mr.. Mckinley and his cabinet seem to
be Of the frame of mind Of the man
who said: 'IIl be damned If I do,
and I'll be damned if I don't" They
have on the one side the fact that this
executive order was made only after
mature investigation and elaboration,
and that it is supported by the rec
concentration Of scientific parties and
of a commission that looked into the
facts. The creation of these forest re-
serves was in the interest Of the whole
people. 1t was intended to save our
forests from destruction, but more
particularly to preserve the sources
of water supply and to prevent
the extension Of the arid or semi
arid belt to communities now prosper
Gus and f1ourishing because they are
blessed with sufficient rainfall This
has nothing to do with politics, but
is part Of well-estab1ished scientific
fact. Still, it Is possible that some
hardship may result in individual
cases, just as some people have to be
dispossessed Of their homes when q
large area is set aside for the source
of city's water supply, or when pri-
vate property is taken for any other
public purpose. Under the power Of
eminent domain, the general benefit
to the community outweighs immeas-
urably all such petty considerations
The wisdom of President Cleveland's
act has been attested not only by
scientific support, but by nearly every
newspaper not controlled by the lumber
or mining interests in opposition
throughout the country. Even the
New York Tribune and the Pioneer
Press, which could pretty generally
be depended upon to revile anything
done under a Democratic administra-
ton, simply because 1t was Democrat
ic, have protested against any reversal
of or interference with Mr.. Cleveland's
order.
On the other hand stand the pri-
vate interests that are affected. These
are, to a large extent, speculative
The number of persons actually affect
ed unfavorably by the creation OF
these reservations is very small. Those
who are fighting the order are prin-
" cipally persons who think that they
can see fortunes to be made out Of
exploiting the lands included in this
reservation. There are the lumber
kings, who want to be left free to
slaughter the noble forests that still
remain untouched. There are the
mineral kings, who want to be free
to appropriate the natural wealth.
rightfully the property Of all the peo-
pie, that is believed to exist in what
is now the peoples domain. There
are the land kings, who want to COB
bic up and speculate in great areas
of our still unappropriated territory.
What between two such forces as
this, the mettle of the new admins
tration is tested. It does not bear
the strain well. It is clear that in
the presidential backbone there are
several vertebrae that have either dis
appeared or are not in good working
condition. So Mr.. Mckinley and his
cabinet decided on a compromise and
the adoption of a middle ground 1t
is now proposed to pass a law author
izing a survey of the tracts set apart
and to hold the order making them
reservations subject to exception as to
specific tracts.
We need have no doubt as to what
this means. 1t is not possible, of
course, to go somewhere into the inte-
rior Of a great reserve many square
miles in extent and exempt a single
homestead or a mining claim. A res
ervation, to amount to anything, must
be intact. The adoption Of this pro-
posed rule can mean nothing more nor
less than that the reserving order
shall be held in practical suspension
for a number Of years, until all the
spectators have a chance to get In
their work. 1t will take a long time
and more money than is likely to be al
command just now to survey these
large areas, many of which are still
scarcely accessible. In the meantime,
the western senator's" by which Is
understood the representatives Of the
lumber and other syndlcates, will have
a chance to pick out what they want
They will select the timber that they
want to cut and the mining locations
that they desire to appropriate and
the unoccupied farm lands which they
want to grab, and they will be able
to give any quantity of excellent rea-
sons to the secretary of the interior
and the president why these should be
exempted from the general order.
Under the policy outlined it cannot
fail to come to pass that the proposed
reservations will consist, In the end.
Of ragged fringes and isolated spots Of
rocky and barren ground, fit for moth
ing whatever and not even available
for future forest culture, while all that
is really valuable goes into the NAV
of the greedy combines that have eff