The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-02-16
D1sPos1NG OF OUR TIMBER.
The Congress Is Asked to Keep 1an,

The Congress Is Asked to Keep Land
 grahbers From Plundering Us.
 In enactment of new laws governing sale of public timber land, or the sale of timber, Congress must be extreme ly careful or the result will be 1egisla- tion more pernicious than that which has been in force in the past. All indications are that present laws were enacted innocently or Intentionally for the benefit of timber-land grabbers It might, possibly, be unjust to charge that members of Congress knowingly and willfully voted for measures which made it easy for timber-land syndcates to acquire title to public lands at small fraction of the real value, by means of laws supposedly enacted for benefit of the people, yet the fact re- mains that Congress has played into the hands of timber sharks at every turn. Corporations maintain Hobbies pretending to represent the interests of poor settlers and small investors. These artful representatives of corpor- ate greed succeeded either in corupting members of Congress or in deceiving them, for the desired Legislation was enacted.
 Now 1t is proposed that the harmful laws shall be repealed and others en- acted in their stead Thronging the lobbies at Washing are men whose sole business it is to influence legisla- l ton in the interests of large syndlcates which are not satisfied with the plum der already gained. Their purpose is
 to shape the course of public land legislation, and, if they cannot dictate the general character of laws, work in some minor detail which will prove to be an aid to further land-grabbing.
 They are resourceful in expedients, and 1 if they fail now it will be the first time.
 One of the measures proposed is a | bill which provides that the title to | land shall remain in the government, hut that the standing timber shall be sold to the highest bidder and shall
 he removed within stipulated time, and place of holdingthe auction are to | be avertised, so that all persons may
 have an opportunity to bid. This mea-
 sure is right in it's principle, and on its face has TO serious defect Any one who understands the numbering bust,
 ness will see at a glance, however, op- portunities for croked work if the law should be loose in it's provisions, or if
 the officers charged with it's execution should be derelict in their duty. Tn | the last few years the general consoli- dation and merger movement has ex- tended to the numbering industry, and 1 the smaller sawmills have been absorb ed by the larger or have been driven out of business. Small holders oi tracts of timber land have been brougf
 out by the large syndicates until the
 out by the large syndicates until the
 latter own practically all the timber
 in the territory in which they operate
 Under these circumstances it is easy
 to see how the law for the sale of tim. Der could be manipulated for benefit
 of speculators or large manufacturers On nearly every stream that reaches back into the mountains far enough tt
 traverse public land, one sawmil furnishes the only market for the tim.
 Der. The one company owns practi.
 cally all the timber land in private
 ownership, and if any small investors liown timber, they are obliged to sell d