The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-01-23

priation if possible, but If necessary
 by the issue of bonds in small denomi-
 nations.
 It is especially important that the development of water power should be guarded with the utmost care both by the national government and by the states in order to protect the people sagainst the upgrowth of monopoly and !. to insure to them a fair share in the benefits which will follow the deyelop- i ment of this great asset, which belongs to the people and should be controlled i by them.
 Forests.
 I urge that provision be made for ] both protection and more rapid devel- opment of the national forests. Other wise, either the increasing use of these forests by the people must be checked or their protection against fire must be dangerously weakened. If we com pare the actual fire damage on similar areas on private and national forest lands during the past year, the govern ment fire patrol saved commercial tim- Der worth as much as the total cost of caring for all national forests at the present rate for about ten years. I especially commend to the congress the facts presented by the commission as to the relation between forests and stream flow in it's bearing upon the inn portance of the forest lands in nation al ownership. Without an understand ing of this intimate relation the con- servation of both these natural re- sources must largely fail.
 The time has fully arrived for recOg- nizing in the law the responsibility to the community, the state and the na tion which rests upon the private own CTS of private lands. The ownership man who would so handle his forest as to cause erosion and to injure stream flow must be not only educated, but he must be controlled.
 The report of the national conserva- ton commission says:
 Forests in private ownership cannot be conserved unless they are protected from lire. We, need good ire laws, well en- forced Fire control is impossible with out an adequate force of mon whose sole
  season.
 I hold as first among the tasks be- fore the states and the nation in their respective shares in forest conserva- &ion the organization. of efficient fire patrols and the enactment of good fire laws on the part of the states.
 The report says further:
 Present tax laws prevent reforestation Of cut over land and the perpetuation of existing forests by use. An annual tax ur on the land itself, exclusive of the tim ber and a tax upon tho timber when out Is we'll adapted to actual conditions of forest investment and is practicable and certain. It Is far better that forest land should pay a moderate tax permanently than that it should pay an excessive rev enue temporarily and then cease to yield at all
 Second only in importance to good Ere laws well enforced is the enact ment of tax laws which will permit the perpetuation of existing forests by use.
 Lands.
 With our increasing population the time is not far distant when the prob lem of supplying our people with food will become pressing. The possible additions to our arabic area are not great, and it. will become necessary to obtain much larger crops from the land, as is now done in more densely settled countries. To do this we need better farm practice and better strains of wheat, corn and other crop plants, with a reduction in losses from soil erosion and from insects, animals and other enemies of agriculture The United States department of agricul- ture Is doing excellent work in these directions, and it should be literally supported.
 The remaining public lands should be classified and the arabic lands disposed of to homemakers. In their interest the timber and stone act and the communication clause of the home stead act should be repealed, and the desert land law should be modified in accordance with the recommendations of the public lands commission.
 The use of the public grazing lands should be regulated in such ways as to improve and conserve their value.
 Rights to the surface of the public land should be separated from rights to forests upon 1t and to minerals be- heath it, and these should be subject to separate disposal.
 The coal, oil, gas and phosphate rights still remaining with the govern ment should be withdrawn from entry and leased under conditions favorable for economic development.
 Minerals.
 The accompanying reports show that the consumption of nearly all of our mineral products is increasing more rapidly than our population Our min- eral waste is about one-sixth of our product, or nearly $1,OOO, ,OO0 for each working day in the year. The loss of structural materials through fire is about another million day The loss of life in the mines is appalling. The larger part of these losses of life and property can be avoided.
 Our mineral resources are limited in quantity and cannot be increased or With the rapidly increas- ing rate of consumption the supply will be exhausted while yet the nation is in its infancy unless better methods are devised or substitutes are found. Fur 1 finer invpStjpAtiOn is rrpontlv nooded |