Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1904-02-06

sible the supply of water upon whicl
more than all else the continuance o
their operations depends They Iool
with confidence to the protection which
the execution of the forest reserve pol.
icy assures them.
4 am compelled to believe that the
majority of those who advocate the
elimination of the great mineral bear
ing region, commonly called the Eth
City country, from the forest reserve
are moved by an impulse due TO tenn
porary and remediable Inconvenience
rather than by a conviction based upon
careful investigation of the conditions
essential to the present and future well
fare Of what promises to he one of the
J greatest mineral producing sections of
our state, if not of the world
What is is true of any great and
beneficial innovation is true of the for
/ est reserve system. there are transitory
anuoyahces and inconyenieuces. some
times real individual hardships ex-
perieuced ia adapting affairs to the new
order of things. The reserve system is
such au innovation in the United
. s0tflA''~ i'lI~t'l 10 IN 70 lbIt--llN looks
not alone to the present; it has for It's
object the. greatest good to the greatest
number; it regards the present needs
of the people and at the same time
watches with anxious eye those con-
dtiions which will affect for good or i'll
the interests of generations yet I'M
born The purpose of creating forest
ha ~.
is to maintain and utilize their forest
products in a state of the highest con-
tinued production for the direct benefit
of the people dependent upon them to
supply local demands within the state
in which the timber grows. Certainly
this is an object worthy of a gov
eminent solicitous for the happiness
and prosperity of its people.
European nations driven by grim
necessity brought on by the demands of
an ever increasing population and by
the useless destruction of timber in
earlier times, long ago began protect
ing their forests upon scientific prin-
ciples, and results have proven their
wisdom. Last year a party of German
our institutions and economic condi-
tons. One thing struck them with pc
culiar force, it was our reckless waste
of forest products, and in Spokane a
member of the party uttered this preg-
nant warning, If the American people
continue their present wasteful forestry
methods, they will be importing timber
products from Europe within the next
hundred years
THE establishment of government
forest reserves in European lands is an
easier matter than it is with us. There,
whatever is done by the government
must be acquiesced in by the people.
Here, with our native ideas of in
dividual liberty we are prone to look
upon any first exercise of rightful gov
ernmental control as dangerous inno-
walton, menace to our personal rights
and we are inclined at first blush to
resent it accordingly. This is we'll il
Illustrated in the Bitter Root forest re-
serve where there are many pioneers
who in the early SOS helped blaze the
trails that made the prospecting and
development of the country possible
They are Americans and it is quite nat
ural that they should feel invested with
a sort of inalienable right to the land
and the fullness thereof that title to
the country is theirs founded or dis
covery or that at least they have an
implied license, founded on long use, to
do as they please there. 1t seems to
be forgotten that Uncle Sam Is pro-
prietor there and that it was only with
his consent express or implied that
white men ever got there at all. He is
the present proprietor and he also
stands in the relation of trustee to
protect the interests of future occu-
pants. 1t is not alone his right. it lis
his duty to guard the estate from waste
and to preserve it so that it may. in
addition to being kept habitable and
productive for those who are now upon
it, be passed on their successors in the
state of highest continued production
He would be derelct in the perform
ance of his duty were he to permit the
wasteful use of the timber growing
there, or allow it to be destroyed
through carelessness. 1t is but just
that ne should supervise the cutting
and removal of the timber so valuable
"A part of the estate
Uncle Sam in the application of the
forest reserve system is doing no more
than any private holder of similar
property would do, in fact he is man
aging his lands there in the reserve
i'm most liberal manner. He knows
there are great deposits of precious
metals within the limits of the reserve
and he says to all his people: go into
the reserved tract, prospect it, find
mineral If you can and if you find the
precious metal | will not only give you
all you can extract but will grant you
absolute ownership of the land wherein
the deposit of mineral is found; this.
however, | must require, that in the use
OF timber for the carrying out of your
prospecting and mining work you ask