The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1904-12-10
Wants Whipping Posts.

matters pertaining to the District of
Columbia, wife beeter receive notice
as follows:
There are certain offenders whose
crinfinhally takes the shape OF brutal
ity and cruelty towards the weak, VINO
need a special type of punishment
! The wife-beaer, for example, is made
quately punished by Imprisonment;
for Imprisonment may often mean
nothing to him, while it may cause
hunger and want to the wife and chill
dren who have been victims OF his
brutality. Probably some form of cor
poral punishment would be the most
adequate way OF meeting this kind OF
/ crime
| Almost sixth Of the message is
taken up in a discussion of the work
of the department Of agriculture. IT.
rigation, forest and forest reserves are
considered at great length. In order
to preserve the great wild animals
which are rapidly dying and being
killed out, he urges the setting aside in
the forest reserves large tracts as
game preserves.
Forest Reserve Policy.
1T is the cardinal principle of the
forest reserve policy of this admins
tration that the reserves are for use.
| Whatever interferes with the use Of
! their resources Is to be avoided by
every possible means. But these re-
sources must be used in such a way as
to make them permanent.
The forest policy of the govern
ment is just now a subject of vivid
public interest throughout the west
and to the people of the United States
in general. The forest reserves them
selves are of extreme value to the pre-
sent as we'll as to the future welfare Of
Ill the Western public land states.
They powerfully affect the use and
disposal Of the public lands. They are
| of special importance because they
preserve the water supply an dthe sup
ply Of timber for domestic purposes,
and SO promote settlement under the
reclamation act. Indeed, they are
essential to the welfare of every one Of
the great interests Of the West.
Forest reserves are created for two
principal purposes. The first is to pre-
serve the water supply. This Is their
most important use. The principal
1 users Of the water thus preserved are
irrigation ranchers and settlers, cities
and towns to whom their municipal
water supplies are of the very first i'm
portance, users and furnishers of water
power, and the users of water for do
nestle. manufacturing, mining and
other purposes. All these are directly
dependent upon the forest reserves.
THE second reason for which forest
reserves are created is to preserve the
timber supply for various classes of
wood users. Amog the more important
Of these are settlers under the reclama-
ton act and other acts, for whom a
cheap and accessible supply Of timber
for domestic users is absolutely neces-
sary; miners and prospectors who are
in serious danger of losing their tim
Der supply by fire or through export
by lumber companies when timber
lands adjacent to their mines pass
iinto private ownership; lumbermen.
transportation companies, builders.
and commercial interests in general.
! Although the wisdom of creating
forest reserves is nearly everywhere
heartily recognized, yet in few locali-
ties there has been misunderstanding
and complaint. The following state
ment is therefore desirable:
West Supports Policy.
THE forest-reserve policy can be
support of the people of the West. It
cannot safely, and should not in any
case. be imposed upon them against
their will. But neither can we accept
views of those whose only interest in
the forest is temporary; who are enx-
ious to reap what they have not sofn
and then move away, leaving desOlu-
ton behind them. On the contrary. It
is everywhere and always the interest
tof the permanent settler and the per-
manent business man, the man with \
stake in the country, which must be
considered and which must decide {.
1.-THE making of forest reserves with
in railroad and wagon-road land
grants limits will hereafter. as for the
past three years, be SO managed as to
prevent the issue, under the act of
June 4, 1897. of base for exchange or
lieu selection Casually called script.) in
all cases where forest reserves within
covered by land grants appear to be
essential to the prosperity Of settlers,
miners, or others, the government
lands within such proposal forest re-
serves will, as in the recent past be
withdrawn from sale or entry pending
the completion of such negotiations
with the owners Of the land grants a.
will prevent the creation of so-called
script.
/ 1t was formerly the custom to make
forest reserves without first getting
definite and detailed information as to
the character Of land and timber with
IN their boundaries. This method of
action often resulted in badly chosen
boundaries and consequently injustice
to settlers and others. Therefore this
administration adopted 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-
scriptions, before any forest reserve is
created.
L have repeatedly called attention to
the confusion which exists in govern
ment forest matters because the work
Is scattered among three independent
organizations. The United States is
the only one of the great nations in
which the forest work of the govern
ment is not concentrated under one
department, in consonance with. the
plainest dictates Of good administra-
ton and common sense. The present
arrangement is bad from every point
of view. Merely to mention 1t is to
prove that it should be terminated at
once. AS I have repeatedly recon-
mended, all 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 foresters Of the government are