The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-01-01

40 DllIlOI lCCl VI lIulDGl, Illdl -
more lumber than we have sawed
in the United States i'll the past ten
years.. He says on the subject OF
waste that forest fires run through
$4,000, 900 acres each year. (At
that rate all of our timber lands
have been burnt over several
times. He says the loss in the
sawmill is from one-third to two
thirds of the timber sawed. II
that were true our lumbermen
would have gone bankrupt long
ago.
Any man who would make q
report of this kind and give it pub
licity ought to be investigated, and
the source from which he got his
statistics be made known to the
public. We are taxed to pay such
men a good salary, and when they
display such a lack of knowledge
they ought to be dismissed from the
public service. Such a garbled re-
port emenating from the secretary
of the forest commission is a dis
grace to the nation.
Then we find Fred bennett, OF
the general land office, making a
speech before the Conservation
league wherein he says: The hav-
&C wrought on the forests of the
| West by spectators under the stone
and timber act, etc.
Why does he blame the stone
and timber act? Why not say the
scrip dealers who select unlimited
quantities of land, for which the
government does not receive one
cent in cash payment therefore?
The railroads, who are the scrip
owners, would like to see the stone
and timber act go, and if the tim
Der and stone act could be repealed
they would have a clear field. It
looks rather strange to see such a
TRADE against the timber and stone
act, the poor mans act. 1t ought
to have the endorsement of every
good citizen i'll the United States.
If the national conservation
commission and the officials of the
general land office want to act fair
III this matter, let them advocate
some measure by which the timber
lands of the country can be pro-
tected from ravages of forest fires.
This could be done by putting the
army of foresters to work cleaning
up the forest from the inhamab1e
refuse they contain. And when a
township is cleaned up, conserve it.
But we will insist on having the
withdrawn townships of Northern
Minnesota restored to entry under
the stone and timber act, so the
people can have a square deal.
1t is better to let the people
have the benefits of 100 acres I'M
der the timber and stone act, than
to let the timber burn and be q
total loss. And there is no other
remedy except to clean up the re-
fuse from the forests, and until
such time as this is done, we will
have deposition of those forest
fires and millions of feet of timber
destroyed every year. And while
there is scrip to be had, it will be
laid on the best timber lands. And
the timber and stone act are paid
for at the rate of $3.50 cash pei
acre, that being the double min.
inum price. And please don't
forget that the scrip entries OF
government lands pay no cash fo1
their lands, and they have the
light to select forty acres or 10000
lcres of timber lands.
There is something radically
wrong about this conservation
business. In Northern Minnesota
there were twenty-five townships
withdrawn from entry April p,
1908, and a great deal of timber III
those townships burnt over during
the great forest fires of last sum.
mer that swept over the northern
to Wnships of Minnesota.
Why such policy should be
put III force is more than we car
tell. There is no benefit to the
government or to the people, to
withdraw those lands from entry
and let the timber burn. By all
means restore them to entry under
the stone and timber act, and save
a loss"
Club Entertained