New-York tribune., 1907-02-14
THE PRESIDENTS LAND pOLICY.

President Roosevelts message to Congress
urging legislation for the conservation Of the
coal timber and mineral resources Of the pub
lie domain IS eminently sound and Instructive.
1t is plain that our earlier policy of eXpediting
the patenting of public land to homemakers
and thus encouraging state building cannot be
safely followed in dispOsing Of our non-agri-
cultural lands, with their vast supplies of what
ought 10 be priced and husbanded as public re-
sources. The Homestead law-one Of the most
benefcent ever passed by Congress-accom-
plished its purpose when it peopled the stretches
of arabic prairie lying between the Mississippi
and the Rocky Mountains. 1t allotted homes to
hundreds OF thousands Of bona fde settlers.
each taking title 10 n tract large enough and
productive enough TO support a family. But in
the semi-arid grazing country and in the noun
famous regions which stretch westward to the
Pacific Coast the theory of encouraging settle
ment and subjugation OF the wilderness by
similar entry in fee simple has proved IN
workable. Timber lands and mineral lands re
quire capital for development They cannot be
used for home building, like the accessible and
fertile prairie and they contain potentialltes
of wealth which should not be surrendered
Carelessy TO the first conner.
We have tried 10 adapt our earlier prairie
land policy TO timber land and mineral land
conditions. Naturally the results are found to
be unsatisfactory; and If we continue to fol-
low this false lead we shall end By giving TO
private indlViduals-or rather TO combinations
of capital-vast resources which could be better
held and administered as n trust for the whole
nation. President Roosevelt feels that the time
has come when the interests of the future
should be weighed against the interests of the
present. 1t may be admitted that the trans
fer of our timber and mineral lands outright
TO private owners al a nominal compensation
would probably lead TO a more rapid develop
ment of the Rocky Mountain region. 1t might
temporarily lower the prices of lumber coal
and mineral supplies. But in the long run it
would operate to deprive the government Of a
vast revenue and would ALLEVIATE to private uses
what it would be wiser TO preserve and pro-
tect as a national birthright Public welfare.
the President thinks would he better served
by calling a halt on our present land policy
than by pursuing it TO the logical end Of deed
ing away invaluable public resources to indi-
viduals
Rear Admiral Evans recently published an
article in THE North American Review in
which he lamented the fact that the government
had no control over the anthracite coal supply.
and advocated the taking over Of the Pennsyl-
vania hard coal mines to furnish more or less
smokeless fuel for the navy. The inevitable
first reflection is that the cost of such pur-
chase would be stupendous Yet under our
present policy the government might any day
be alternating resources as valuable in the future
as are the anthracite coal beds and getting prac-
tcally nothing as its share Of the bargain. Our
supplies of coal OIL minerals and timber are
not inexhaustible. We have been forced to pro-
tect the forests by creating huge federal reser-
vations. Why should we not go n step further
and create other reservations on which timber
could be cut and oil and minerals mined un-
der lease from the government? Why not treat
the public domain now left as a continuing
and fruitful national investment?