Daily Kennebec journal., 1904-12-07

serve the water supply. This is their
most important use. The prlnt1pal users
of the water thus preserved are irrigation
Iancheis and settlers, cities ana towns 10
whom their municipal water supplies are
Of tue very first Importance, users ana
furui.herS Of water power, and me users
| of water for domestic. mantfac turing,
mining. and other purposes. All these are
directly dependent upon the forest re-
serves.
The second reason for which forest re-
| serves are created iS to preserve the
timber supply tor various classes OF wood
users. Among the more important OF
these are settlers under the reclamation
act and other acts. for whom a cheap and
accessible supply Ol timber for domestic
piosi'ectors. who are III serious danger o.
losing their timber supply by hre or
when timber lands adjacent to their
mines pass into private ownership; lun-
beimen. transportation companies, build
ers. and commercial interests in general
Although the wisdom of creating forest
reserves is nearly everywhere heartily
recognized, yet in a few localities there
has been misunderstanding and com
plant: The following statement is there
fore desirable.
The forest-rescrve policy can he suc-
cessful only when it has the fun support
| Of the people OF the West. 1t can not
safely. and should not in any case. be i'm
posed upon them against their will But
whose only interest in the fores1, is tenn
porary: who are anxious To reap what
they nave not sown and then move away,
| leaving desolatIon behind them. ON the
contrary, it is everywhere and always the
interest OF the permanent settler and the
permanent business man. the man with
stake in the country. which must be con-
| si.lered and which must decide.
| The making of forest reserves within
railroad and wagon-road land grant limits
will hereafter, as for the past three years,
| under the act Of June 4. 1897 of tase for
exc hansc or lieu selection usually called
script In an r"ses whore toIe<5 reserves
pear to be essential to the prosperity OF
ment lands within such proposed forest
reserves will. in the recent past. be
withdrawn from sale. or entry pending
the completion of such negotiations with
the owners Of the land grants as will pre-
vent the creation of so-call"d scrip.
! II was formerly the custom to make
farest reserves without first getting
definite and detailed information as to
the character of lanu and timber within
| their hounda,ies. This method of action
often resulted in badly chosen boun-
tiers and others. Therefore this Admins
| rraticn adOrted the present method Of
first Withdrawing the land from disposal.
| followed by careful examination on the
ground and the preparation of detailed
maps and de>crptions. before any forest
reserve is created.
| 1 have repeatedly called attention to
the confusion which exists in Govern
ment forest matters because the work is
| scattered among three independent or
2anizationS The United States is the
only one of the great nations in which
the forest work of the Government is no.
| concentrated under one department. in
consonnncc with the piainest dictates Of
/ good administration and common sense.
the present arrangement is bad from
every point ot view. Merely to mention
! it is to prove that it should be terminated
m"nded. an the forest work OF the Gov
eminent should be concentrated in the
! Department of Agriculture. where the
larger part of that work is already done,
where practically all OF the trained for
eS:ers of the Government are employed.
where chiefly in Washington there is
| comprehensive tirst-hand knowledge of
| The problems of the reserves acquired
| on the ground. where all problems re-
| lalins to growth from the soil are al
ready gathered. and where all the sci
enccS auxiliary to forestry are at hand
| for prompt and effective cooperation
These reasons are de cisive in the mselves
but it should be addtG that the great or
| CARNATIONS Of citizens whose interests
are affected by the forest reserves. such
| the National Wool Growers Association. |
The American Mining Congress. the Ma
tional Irrigation Congress. and the Ma |
tional Board of Trade. have uniformly |
emphaIically. and most of them repeated |
ly. expressed themselves in favor of plac- |
ing all Government forest work in the De-
partment of Agriculture because of the |
peculiar adaptation of that Department |
for it 1t is true. also, that the forest !
|
OF the world under the respective de
partments of agriculture. while in but |
two OF the smaller nations and in one
colony arc they under the department of
the interior. This is the result OF long
and varied experience and it agrees fully |
with the requirements of good admins
tration in ollr own case.
The creation OF Il forest service in the
d epartment of Agriculture Will have for
its important results:
Tirst A he;ter handling of all forest
.,t Boz will 1,., ..,,N ,I.i
head. and because the vast and indispen-
50 BILE experience Of the Department in
all matters rertaiiiine to the forest re-
other forms of production from the soil,
will be easily and rapidly accessible.
Second. The reserves themselves. being
handled from the point OF View of the
man in the field, instead of the man in the
Office. will be more easily and more widely
useful to the people of the West than has
been the case hitherto
Third. Within a comparatively short
time the reserves will become self-sup-
porting. This is important because CON
tinualiy and rapidly increasing appropria
tions will he necessary for the proper
care OF this exceedingly important inter
est of the Nation. ana they can and
should he offset by returns from the Ma
tional forestS. Under similar circum-
stances the forest possessions of other
great nations form an important source
of revenue to their governments.
Every administrative officer concerned
is convinced of the necessity for the pro-
posed consolidation OF forest work in the
department of Agriculture. and | myself
have urged it more than once in former
messages Again l commend il to The
early and favorable consideration Of the
Congress. The interests of the Nation at
large and of the West in particular
nave suffered greatly because Of the de-
lay. Is
Public Lands.
call the attention of the Congress
again TO the report and Recommendation
hn { 'nry1 m on no p,ih1 ,