Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-09-06

Of the constitution with reference tc
federal power;. but | am firmly con
WINGED that the only safe course for us
to pursue is to hold fast to the limita
tions of the constitution and to regard
as sacred the powers of the states. we
have made wonderful progress and at
the same time have preserved with Jul
dicial exactness the restrictions OF the
constitution. There Is an easy way IN
which the constitution can be violated
by congress without judicial inhibl
ton. to-wit, by appropriations from the
national treasury for unconstitutional
purposes. 1t will be sorry day for
this country if the time ever comes
, when our fundamental compact shall
be habitually disregarded in this man'
ner.
Mineral Lands.
BY mineral lands mean those lands
bearing metals, or what are called
metalliferous minerals. The rules 81
ownership and disposition of these
lands were first fixed by custom in the
west, and then were embodied in the
law, and they have worked, on the
whole, so fairly and well that | do not
think it is wise now to attempt to
change or better them. The apex the
DRY Of tracing title to a lode has led
to much litigation and dispute and
ought not to have become the law, but
I it is so fixed and understood now that
the benefit to be gained by change IS
altogether outweighed by the incon-
yenience that would attend the intro
duction of new system. So, too, the
proposal for the government to lease
such mineral lands and deposits and
to impose royalties might have been
in the beginning a good thing, but now
that most of the mineral land has been
otherwise disposed Of it would be
hardly worth while to assume the en-
barrassment of radical change.
Forest Lands.
Nothing can be more important in
the matter of conservation than the
treatment of our forest lands. 1t was
probably the ruthless destruction OF
forests in the older states that first
called attention to halt in the waste
of our resources. This was recognized
by congress by an act authorizing the
executive to reserve from entry and
set aside public timber lands as ma
tional forests. Speaking generally,
there has been reserved of the exist
ing forests about 70 per cent OF all
the timber lands of the government.
Within these forests Including 26,00O..
900 acres in two forests in Alaska) are
1872, 900 900 of acres, Of which $1,000
900 of acres are in the United States
proper and include within their boun-
daries something like 22,000,00O ri
acres that belong to the state or to
private individuals. We have then. ex-
Guiding Alaska forests, a total OF about
IA, 100000 acres Of forests belonging
to the government which is being
treated in accord with the principles OF
scientific forestry. The law now pro-
hibits the reservation of any more for
est lands in Oregon, Washington.
Idaho, Montana. Colorado and Wyo-
ming, except by act Of congress. am
informed by the department of agri-
culture that the government owns 9TH
er tracts of timber land in these states
which should be included in our forest
reserves expect to recommend tC
congress that the limitation herein
imposed shall be repealed. In the pres
emit forest reserves there are lands
which are not properly forest land and
which ought to be subject to home
stead entry. This has caused some 10
cal irritation. We are carefully eltmin
ating such lands from forest reserves
or where their elimination is not prac
ticable, listing them for entry under
the forest homestead act. Congress
ought to trust the executive to use tn:
power of reservation only with re
spect to land covered by timber u
which will be useful in the plan OF re
forestration. During the present ad
ministration 6,250,00O acres of land
largely non-timbered. have been ex
cluded from forest reserves. and $500,
900 acres of land principally valuable
for forest purposes have been included
in forest reserves, making reduction
in forest reserves of nontimbered lant
amounting to 2,750,000 acres. The blu
reau of forestry since its creation ha
initiated REPRESENTATION on $500 acres
! A great deal Of the forest land is avail
able for. grazing. During the past yea
the grazing lesses numbered 25,40e
and they pastured upon the forest re
serves 100000 cattle. $3.50 horses
and 7,5S0,400 sheep, for which tn
government received $9s6.715-a dc
crease from the preceding year of $45
40, due to the fact that no money wa
collected or received for grazing o.
the nontimbered lands eliminated from
the forest reserves. Another source q
profit in the forestry is the receipts TO
| timber sold This year they amounte'
i to $1,043,0O0, an increase of 10000
over the receipts of last year. This in
crease is due to the improvement il
transportation to market and to tn
greater facility with which the timbe
can be reached.
The government timber in this cour
try amounts to only one-fourth of al
the timber, the rest being in privat
ownership. Only per cent of tina
which is in private ownership is locke
after properly and treated accordin
to modern rules of forestry. The usua
destructive waste and neglect cor
tinues in the remainder of the forest
owned by private persons and corpora
lions. 1t is estimated that fire alon
destroys fifty million dollars worth q
timber year. The management of fol
ests not on public land is beyond juris
diction of the federal government.
anything can be done by law it mus
be done by the state legislatures. / bt
L.. IL -.