Cañon City record., 1900-05-03
FIRST LOG ROLLER.
nowsAwveREA EAaNEDTHETIrL.


Eaeesfssaing $50 ef ths wisconsin Lum-
bsr Kings Aetbod Of Occurring What
He sought " hile In Congre~s-
The late PhIietus Sawyer of wiscon-
sin earned his first money by driving
q team for Messrs. Penfield & Ham
mond, who had mines and timber
camps on the banks Of Lake Cham
plain, and he managed to save 5000
on salary Of $12 month. With this
capital he went to Wisconsin in 1Sii
and laid the foundation of his enoie
nous fortune at mn auction sale of gov
ernnent land. Mr.. Sawyer spent two
years trapIping through the timber ana
marking the best tracts. and arranged
with lumbermen In Boston to furnish
the money to buy on shares He use,
to tell the story with great gusto. TIL
older he grew the offener he told 1t,
and the more he enjoyed the recollec
ton of the way in which he outwittec
a party of spectators from New York
The latter. knowing that Mr.. Sawye
was the only man who knew the actual
value of the lands. followed his u.a
ding. and s,.hen he seemed anxious 10
obtain a certain tract they would raise
him until they got 81. Mr.. Sawyer soon
discovered how his rivals were avail-
Ing themselves OF the knowledge which
Il took him TWO long years OF labor ano
hardship to acquire, ard then turned
their game.
Placing the list of lands he wished to
purchase in the hands OF an uncoutb
rustic with instructions to bid each up
to a certain amount he bid frantically
himself for other tracts. but the New
York spectators persistently outbid
him He showed 80 much chagrin that
aT fh4fu uutnsampnt Wharl
the sale WIS over and the land was in
spected IL was found that the New
York spectators had purchased near
ly every worthless piece OF timber IL
the state and that the rustic lumber
man had secured nearly every choice
tract. The Boston people We're very
liberal to Mr.. Sawyer and gave him a
generous proportion of the lands Ii,
bought with their money Some of
them he still owned at the time of his
death
Mr.. Sawyer was the inventor of thai
form OF legislation known as log roll
Ing. II WIS the practical result of his
ability to accomplish things. He never
cared for show He never made a
speech In his life. but no man enjoyed
the sensation OF success more keeniy
What he undertook he carried out and
IL he couldn't do II one way he did IL
in another He had a large share of
that faculty the Yankees called con
trivance." which enabled him TO devise
means for accomplishing his purpose
that would not have suggested them
selves TO any other man. The --log-roll-
Ing" method OF legislation was sug-
gested To him by the familiar habits of
the lumbermen in his own country
who help each other TO roll the logs
from the winter camp to the banks OF
the nearest stream, where they car
be caught by the spring rise. Ii was
the application OF this neighborly prac
dce which enabled Mr. Sawyer TO Sc
cure legislation that could not other
wise have been passed. and he gave
the method its name.
Wisconsin needed good deal OF leg
isiaf1on when he first came to Con
gress. and Mr. Sawyer secured more
than forty other men could have done
He let his bills accumulate until to-
ward the end Of the seexion. when he
would take up the calendar and make
mcmorandums OF various measures in
which innue1tial men I'm the House
and Senate were inrcresnesi-s Then hc
would call them together nt his house
or 1t his committee room and say.
Boys. we've got to do little log
rolling III we get our timber to the mill
this season" The result would be an
agreement to stand by each other and
throw all their combined influence in
favor OF list of bills which he had
made out and handed to members of
the combine The work was conduct
ed in secret and was almost always
rucueHsful, 10 that the habits of the
Wisconsin lumberInan now prevail in
every legislative body in the world.
The river and harbor appropriation
bill originated In that way. Formerly
separate measure would be passed for
each river or hnrbor that required i'm
proyement. but under MIR. Sawyers
log-roliing syEtern the members of
Congress Interested in such appropria-
tions organized trust which finally
grew into regular annual appropria-
tion bill and a special committee 20
frame IL