The San Francisco call., 1905-01-06
President Makes a Stirring
Appeal for Preservation of
Timber Lands at Ameri-
can Forestry Congress
SPEAKS OF GREAT
DEMAND OF NATION
Wood Famine Will Be Ineyi-
table Result, Says the Ex-
ecutiye, Unless Steps Are
Taken to Stop Destruction

l. WASHINGTON, Jan. 5.-President
Roosevelt was the principal speaker at
special session of the American For
estry Congress held this afternoon at
the National Theater. The President
accompanied by Secretary Loeb ar
rived at the theater promptly at 8
o'clock. He was escorted to the stage
entrance, and as he appeared before
! the immense audience which filled
every part of the house the people re-
ceived him standing while the theater
rang with applause and the orchestra
played a patriotic air.
Secretary Wilson, in presenting
President Roosevelt, who was the first
speaker. made no address. simply in
Producing Mr.. Roosevelt as the Presi-
dent of the United States. After the
applause had subsidized the President
spoke in part as follows, his address
being punctuated frequently with ap-
plauSe:
1t is a pleasure to greet the members of the
American Forestry Congress- You have made,
by your coming a meeting which is without
parallel in the history of forestry. For the
first time the great business and the forest
interests OF the nation have Joined together
through delegates altogether worthy of the or
ganization they represent TO consider their in
dividual and their common interests in the
forests
The producers, the manufacturers and the
great common carriers of the nation had long
failed to realize their true and vital relation
to the great forests of the United States and
forests and industries both suffered from the
failure. But the time of interference and mis-
understanding has gone by.
The place of the forest in the life of any
nation is far too large to be described in the
time at my command; This is particularly
true of its place in the United States. No
man is true lover of his country whose con-
fdence in its progress and greatness is limited
TO the period of his own life and we cannot
afford for instant to forget that
try is only at the beginning of its growth. Tn
less the forests of the United States can be
made ready to meet the vast demands which
this growth will inevitably bring, commercial
disaster is inevitable.
allowed to continue timber famine is obvi-
ousy inevitable. What such famine would
mean to each of the industries of the United
States ii is scarcely possible to imagine. And
the period of recovery from the injuries which
a timber famine would entail would be meas
ured by the slow growth of the trees them
selves
Whatever it may be possible for the Gov
ernment to accomplish, it's work must uti-
give it permanence and power. 1t is only
the producing and commercial interests of the
country come TO realize that they need to have
the trees growing up in the forest not less
than they need the product of the trees cut
down that we may hope to see the permanent
prosperity r;s Of both - Esafsysenred,
ests in private ownership, but to the
tonal forests as we'll Unless the men from
Western forests cannot be preserved am
heartily glad to know that Western sentiment
supports more and more vigorously the policy
of setting aside national forests the policy OF
creating a national forest service and espe
cialIy the policy of increasing the permanent
usefulness of these forest lands to all those
who come in contact with them.
At the conclusion of the address the
President bowling his ACCOMPLISHMENTS
to the audience, left the theater and re-
turned to the White House. the audi
ence standing and the band playing
The Star-Spangled Banner before he
left the stage.
Secretary Wilson then introduced M.
Jusserand the ambassador from
France who delivered an address on
1.-THE Forest Policy of France
Other speakers at the session We're
Howard Elliott president of the North
ern Pacific Railroad, who spoke on
THE Dependence of Business on the
Forest, and F. E. Weyerhauser of st.
Paul.