The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-02-04
FOREST PARK PROJECT.
Opposition to 1t Said to Exist in the
Minnesota Delegation.

Opposition to 1t Said to Exist In the
| Minnesota Delegation.
| To the Editor of the Globe:
A dispatch from Washington reads:
Senator Nelson's bill to restore the Nell
son act the. opening UP of the proposed
national Minnesota park territory to set
tlement will not be Incorporated into the
Indian appropriation bill without hard
fight. The advocates of the park prop
osition are now keeping up constant
correspondence with Washington. Con-
the proposition for selling the pine on
bank scale.
The time has come for the people of this
state to thoroughly understand that our
representatives at Washington, with per-
haps an exception or two, are against the
park, first last and at all times. Why
this is so no one seems to clearly know,
except that they are against it. We see
no good reasons given in the public press
for their being against it., yet they tell
you they are against 1t, and that Is all.
They surely cannot be opposed to 1t be-
cause its establishment means the turn
ing out Of house and home of settlers
and whole llages-because there isn't
a white man today who owns a foot of
land in the reservation.
They surely cannot object because the
government must go out and dicker with
lot Of timber owners for the land and
timber at treble It's true value-because
not an acre of ground asked for is own
ed otherwise than by the government
ITSELF
They may conjure up the excuse that
|, this reservation land Is ideal settlers
land, and to keep for park purposes such
a valuable tract Of agricultural soil would
be working untold hardships upon the
hardy settler who is to come, and who, II
deprived of this proposed park territory,
will have no place wherein to lay his
head.
There are thousands upon thousands
of acres of cut-over lands in Michigan
and Wisconsin, equally valuable for agri-
cultural purposes, abandoned for taxes
to, the state, and producing today a
crop of grub oak of somewhat question
able value But the settler Of this land,
for some reason or other, after he proved
up his homestead holding, Immediately
quit the vicinity after disposing Of his
rights to the lumberman.
And this land, before the timber was
cut, was Just as promising for the set
tier as that in the Chippewa Indian res
ervation today.
Let the Nelson bill go into effect, and
imagine the proposed park territory be-
ing opened up for settlement. What does
that mean? The winchester farmer"
will take possession. He will select his
16O- acre tract under the homestead law.
build his shack, live on the premises at
intervals to make his holding good I'M
der the law farm the adjacent woods by
means Of his Winchester, and, on the
tick of the clock, when his proving time
rolls around, turn the house and farm
CO over to the lumberman for con-
sideration Now steps in the man with
the ak and saw the trees are felled, here
and there fire gets into the felled tops,
and when the lumberman has cut the last
tree and hauled the last log he leaves
behind him a train of stumps, sand and
desolation.
You ask, whence then does all this OPP
position come? My friends, from the lum-
bermen in this state, men who today do
not hold title to single foot of the land
in question, but who, under the bene-
ficient workings Of the Nelson bill, hope
to some day. 1t Is this influence, rich
and powerful, that today stands between
the citizens Of this state, yes, Of the
United States, and the securing OF the
national Minnesota park.
I wish my readers to understand clear
ly that this Is not a state proposition,
but national one. Before we can
secure that territory for a park the SEN
ators Of other states must likewise vote
for 1t. With our own Minnesota delega-
ton adverse to the park the citizens OF
this state may rest assured that no out
side influence from other states, no mat
ter how strong, will help one iota. The
cause is lost and the park is a thing
of the past, mere memory, unless our
own representatives in congress cast their
votes in favor of 1t. Unfortunately this
is but too true.
That the park would be a monument
for all time to the wisdom of its friends
and promoters, and thing OF pride ana
Joy forever to the state of Minnesota, no
one who has looked into the proposition
can deny.
It's value to this state, to the cities Of
St. Paul and Minneapolis, the adjacent
towns to the west, and, above all, to the
city of Duluth, no one can question. 1t
was opposed by Duluth some months ago,
under ar unfortunate misunderstanding
of the scope Of territory involved, but
today Duluth realizes the immense bene-
fit the establishment Of that yark, almost
at her back door, would prove. 1t would
be as a magnet for all the East. and Du-
luth is today heartily in favor Of it. The
development committee of Duluth passed
upon the matter in open meeting few
days ago, and every man present, with
one exception Che was, think, interest
ed in lumber in some way), voted enthu-
siastically for the idea.
That not only the people of this state
want the park, but the people of other
states, who know anything of this region,
as WELL, is without question. There Is
absolutely no sensible reason offered by
anyone against the park. The influences
against it at home is rich and powerful,
and is represented by the lumber INTERESTS
of the state They are going SO far as
to circulate petitions amongst the very
legislators who, at the request of ths
Federation of Women's Clubs Of the State
of Minnesota, voted for the memorial to
congress asking for this park, requesting
them to recant their votes and play ths
''baby act,,' and say they didn't mean 1t
when they so voted. And, surprising to
say. the same influence which has turn
ed our delegation, almost to man,
against this park, at Washington, is In
ducing our own home legislators to stulti-
fy themselves and recant their votes be-
cause they didn't know when they were
voting that they were stepping on the
toes Of their greedy lumbermen constitu-
ents.
The women's clubs Of Minnesota are
the ones to be thanked for the inception
of this park idea. They are the ones who
secured the memorial from our q ate leg
islature to congress asking for this park