Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1905-09-18
And some strange REMEDIES
PROPOSED BY CONGRESSMEN
Richard Hamilton Byrd, in rtaxwel'S $
TaliSman, Says Congress- Has Al
lowed Several Times the Amount
OF Deficit to Slip Away to The
Hands of Land GrdbberS.

The question of IA treasury deficit is
much hypochondrasis. Certain of tt e
more brilliant minds have promptly
pranced forward with proposed remedies.
That astule Ohioan, Senator Charles w.
+. Dick, proposes to W pc away all deficit
with return to the war taxes. This
would doubtless be we'll received were it
not for the fact that we are living in Il
state of profound peace.
Represent atlve Overstreet likewise has
plan. which, il adopted, would possibly
rebound to his fame if not notoiiety.
There are several others. 1t has been
proposed to tax beer; it has been pro-
posed to tax coffee; it has been proposed
to cultai rural tree delivery; it has been
proposed to administer a drastic blue
penciing to the coming congressional
appropriations all along the line. And
beyond question other original illumn-
ating plans are formulating in additional
giant ntellects OF congress.
The statesman has yet to heard from,
however, who has any recriminations to
express as to the frbbling if not malef.
cent course of congress in allowing sew
eral times the amount of the deficit to
slip through the nations fingers into the
hands Of shrewd speculators and land
and timber grabbers. In this connection
little report accompanying special
message of President Roosevelt's to the
last session of congress-which probably
not ten per cent OF the members of either
house have glanced at-shows a way in
which millions of dollars month can be
saved to the government by a simple
piece Of legislation. The message Incl.
dentalv points out that, through refusal
of congress to enact such legislation, a
vast fortune has in the last few years
been lost to the American people and
been passed into the hands of few rich
speculators and timber barons.
In October, 1903, the president ap-
pointed Public Lands Commission con.
sisting of there eminent public officials.
That commission made partial report
within few months, among other things
recommending the absolute repeal of the
Timber and Stone Act and the substitu.
ton OF forest policy providing for the
sale of stumpage at market value. As
an example of the manner in which this
plan would work out, the commission
cited the sale, under government au-
spices. of some stumpage on lands be-
longing to Minnesota Indians, whereby
the timber on these lands netted the
Indians $l5 06 per acre.
Under the Timber and Stone Act, dur.
ing the past two years, some three
million acres OF timber lands, averaging
probably double and in many cases
quadruple the value OF the Minnesota
timber, have been disposed OF by the
government at the uniform price Of $3.50
an acre (Secretary Hitchcock is authority
for the statement that much of this land
so di; posed is worth 800 and acre and
upwards.) Taking the figures of the
Minnesota timber land, the government
has lost in the last two years at least
forty million dollars. The actual loss
has been not less than one hundred mill.
ion dollars.
Now the plea cannot be advanced by
congressional leaders that this is new
subject which the president has sprung
upon them regarding which they had no
infor nation, and that it was necessary to
allow fifty or hundred million dollars
worth OF property to be filched from the
government while they were informing
themselves on the subject.
NOtirc IN CnntrarkOrS