The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-12-07

cry point Of view. Merely 10 mention it is to prove that it should be terminated at once. As I have repeatedly recom- mended all the forest work of the government should bs concentrated in the department of agriculture, where practically all of the trained foresters of the government are employed, where chiefly in Washington there is compre- hensive irst-hand knowledge of the prob lems of the reserves acquired on the ground where all problems relating to growth from the soil are already gather ed, and where all the sciences auxiliary to forestry are at hand for prompt and effective cooperation. These reasons arc decisive in themselves, but it should be added that the great organization of cit- izens whose interests are effected by the forest reserves, such as the National Live Stock association, the National Wool Growers association, the American Mining congress, the National Irrigation congress, and the National Board of trade have uniformly, emphatically and most of them repeatedly, expressed them selves in favor of placing all government forest work in the department of agri- culture because of the peculiar adapta- tion of that department for 1t. It is true. also, that the forest services of nearly all the great nations of the world are un- oSi iiiS respective departments OI agfl- culture, while in but two of the smaller nations and in one colony are 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 administration in our own cause.
 The creation of a forest service in the department of agriculture will have for its important results:
 l. A better handling of all forest work. because 1t will be under a single head, and because the vast and indispensable experience of the department in all mat ters pertaining to the forest reserves, to forestry in general, and to other forms of production from the soil, will be easily and rapidly accessible.
 ?. The reserves themselves being han dled from the point of view of the man in the field, instead of the man in the of- flee, will be more easily and more wide- ly useful to the people of the west than has been the case hitherto.
 3. Within a comparatively short time the reserves will become self-supporting. This is important, because continually and rapidly increasing appropriations will be necessary for the proper care of this exceedingly important interest of the nation, and they can and should be offset by returns by the national forests. Un- QGf Slliil1dT C1ICuIliSldHCeS ln0 1OTtSt pOo- sessions of other nations form an impor- tant source of revenue to their govern- ments.
 Every administrative concerned Is con- vinced of the necessity for the proposed consolidation of forest work In the de- partment of agriculture, and I myself have urged 1t more than once in former messages. Again I commend 1t to the early and favorable consideration of the congress. The interests of the nation at large and of the west in particular have suffered greatly because of the delay.
 PUBLIC LANDS.
 1 call the attention of the congress again to the report and recommendation of the commission on the public lands forwarded by me to the second session of the present congress-. The commission has prosecuted it's investigations actively during the past season, and a second re- port Is now in an advanced stage of prep aration.
 GAME PRESERVES.
 In connection with the work of the forest reserves desire again to urge up- on the congress the importance of au- thorizing the President to set aside cer- tain portions of these reserves or other public lands as games refuges for the preservation of the bison, the wapiti, and other large beasts once so abundant in our woods and mountain and on our great plains, and now tending toward ex- tinction. Every support should be given to the authorities of the Yellowstone park in their successful efforts at pre- serving the large creatures therein and at very little expense portions of the pub lie domain in other regions which are wholly unsuited to agricultural settle ment could be similarly utilized We owe it to future generations to keep alive the noble and beautiful creatures which by their presence add such distinctive character to the American wilderness. The limits of the Yellowstone park should be extended southwards. The Canyon of the Colorado should be made a national park: and the national park system should include the Yosemite and as many as possible of the groves of giant trees in California.
 PENSIONS.
 The veterans of the civil war have a claim upon the nation such as no other body of our citizens possess The pension bureau has never in it's history been man. aged In a more satisfactory manner than is now the case.
 INDIANS.
 The progress of the Indians toward civilization, though not rapid, is per- haps all that could be hoped for In view of the circumstances. Within the past year many tribes have shown, in a de- gree greater than ever before, an appre- citation of the necessity of work. This changed attitude is in part due to the policy recently pursued of reducing the amount of subsistence to the Indians, and thus forcing them, through sheer necessity to work for a livelyhood The policy, though severe, Is a useful one, but 1t is to be exercised only with judg- ment and with a full understanding of the conditions which exist in each com munity for which it is intended. On or near the Indian reservations there is us- ually very little demand for labor, and if the Indians are to earn their living and when work can not be furnished from outside (which is always preferable), then 1t must be furnished by the gov ernment. Practical instruction of this kind would in few years result in the forming of habits of regular industry, which would render the Indian pro- ducer and would effect a great reduction in the cost of his maintenance
 It is commonly declared that the slow advance of the Indians is due to the un- satisfactory character of the men ap- pointed to take immediate charge of them, and to some extent this is true. While the standard of the employees in the Indian service shows great improve ment over that of bygone years. and while actual corruption or fragrant dis honesty is now the rare exception. It is the fact that the salaries paid Indian agents are not large enough to attract the best men to that field of work Tn achieve satisfactory results the