New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-03-12

CONGRESS- AND THE FOREST RESER|ES.
Not the least important of the matters which
may come up at the extraordinary session OF
Congress beginning next Monday Is the EXecu-
tive act of February 3D. by which more than
81 900 acres were added to the forest reserva-
lions of the United States The Senate amend
ment to the Sundry Civil bill annulling Presi-
dent Cleveand's proclamation. and the scarcely
less Objectionable proposition which the House
adopted, were finally replaced by provision
which had no practical significance, inasnhcn
rs it has since been found to have been merely
a reafiirmatOn of power which the President
already possessed. With that amendment the
Sundry Civil bill was sent to Mr.. Cleveland, but
died in his hands, leaving his proclamation in
full force 1t is possible that no similar attempt
to stop or restrict the operation Of benelicent
act will have a chance at the coming session,
but 1t cannot he doubted that the opponents OF
forest reservation will do what they can We
do not believe that the opposition has increased
to any considerable extent within the last fort
night but 1t has found emphatic expression, and
for this reason it ought to be clearly recognized
rs proceeding from ignorance or sefshness.
The great policy which President Harrison put
INTO PRACTICE anu ITcSlucnl t!cNtldHu eAtthucu
does not involve the sacrifice Of any legitimate
interests in the regions withdrawn from public
sale. Mr.. Clifford Pinchot, secretary of the Acad-
envy Of Sciences Commission, put the case exact
" right in the interview which The Tribune re-
ported yesterday. The intention Of the Com
mission he said sis to prepare and recommend
"a plan by which the whole value of the re-
SERVES may be used for the good of the people,
"and by which none Of their resources will re-
"main undeveloped. We have no desire to pro-
"tect these forests against use, but against de-
"structon 1t must not be forgotten that the
"iudcious cutting Of the timber is essential to
"right forest management, and that the best OF
"all ways to insure the protection and preserva-
"ton of a forest is by use" While an efficient
system Of organization and oversight is prepar-
ing it is essential to the preservation OF these
forest resources, including the timber which
covers the land, the soil from which 1t derives
It's nourishment and which 1t reclprocally nour-
shes, and the sources Of water supply which 1t
conserves, that they should be put under the
comprehensive shelter of an Executive proc
lamatiop. If the Commission shall be sustained
by Congress- a system of management VIII be
established of such character as to meet the
requirements Of settlers. while permanently pro-
noting the universal welfare Of the country.
Perhaps most of the DIRECTORS would admit
that the purpose Is salutary, but it is insnuated
and even asserted that the Commission is unfit
to carry it out, being made up of theorists, closet
students and social philosophers who have no
Intimate knowledge Of practical conditions or ca
pacity to apply 1t wisely il they had Well, let
us consider who the men are who made the in
vestigaton and report upon which the Pres-
dents proclamation was based. At the head OF
the Commission is Professor Sargent. Director
of the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University,
who is undoubtedly a scholar, but who probably
has n wider acquaintance with the forest regions
of the United States than any other living man.
His work on the Tenth Census and subsequent
studies have given him an unrivalled knowledge
of their characteristics and distribution, and his
two monumental works, THE Forest Trees OF
North America" and The Silva of North Ameri-
ca" are beyond competition in their spheres at
home or abroad. General Abbott, of the United
States Engineer Corps. was one OF the first ex-
plorcrs of the Cascade Range; he has been thor
oughly familiar for years through personal OBJ
servatlOn with many parts of the West, and he
Is Indisputably the leading American authority
on questions Of streams and waterflow. Mr..
Arnold Hague has travelled extensively through
the West during thirty years, has been con-
slant student OF forest conditions beyond the
Mississippi and is one Of the original and most
experienced members Of the Geological Survey.
Professor Brewer, OF Yale was an early explorer
of California and the Pacific slope; was ont there
on that work in 1851. and travelled many thou
sand miles before the advent Of railroads in
those regions He prepared the first forest map
of the United States ever made, had charge Of the
forest statistics of the Ninth Census. and wrote
n botany Of California. Mr.. Plnchot Is the first
American who made profession and ifework
of forestry, having laid the foundations OF his
knowledge under the rigid discipline Of German
foresters When Mr. George W. Vanderbilt was
preparing 10 spend millions upon bis vast South
crn domain he engaged his forest superin-
tendent the most instructed and practical man
he could ind-namely Mr. Plnchot.
These are the men who ere supercously set
down as theorists and bookworms by Western
opponents of policy which Is undoubtedly more
essential to the general welfare Of the country
than TO the selfish interests Of some great tres
passing corporations. Such disparagement Is as
grotesque as 1t is impudent. Why, most Of them
had secured the Western woods before many Of
those who call them "tcndcrfeet' knew there
were any Western woods to scOur. II they were
TO begin now to forget the things which they
have seen and learned and 10 keep Oh forgetting
steadily for ten years they would have enough