The Carlisle independent., 1910-01-20

sage on the conservation oI the Da- ton $ resources sent to the senate and house representatives by Pres. ident Taft today:
 To the Senate and House of Representa-.
 I2 my annual message l reserved the subject or the conservation or our ua- tioral resources for disposition In d spe- eial message. follows:
 In several departments there is pre- sented the necessity for legislation look ing to the further conservation of onr national resources, and the subject is one or such importance to require more detailed and extended discussion than can be entered upon in ihIs comrauntca1 ton. For that -reaSon l shall take an early opportunity ta send a special mes sage to congress on the subject of the improvement Of our waterways upon the reclamation and Irrigation of arid semi ard ana swaE:p lands. upon the preser- Vaton of our forests and the re foresting of suitable areas: upon the re-classfnra- ton Of the public domain with a view of separating from agricultural settlement mineral coal and phosphate lands and sites belonging to the government bor- dering on streams suitable for the ttiii- zatfon of water power.
 In lS60 we had d public domain ot la55- 9ll,2SS acres. We have now y3I, ,354. .Osi acres. confined largely 10 the mountain ranges and the arid and senli-atid plains We have. in addition. 36s 0S5. g15 acres or land in Alaska
 Disbursement of Public Lands.
 The public lands were during the earIj est administrations. treated AS a national asset for the liquidation of t!,e public debt and as source of reward for our soldiers and sailors. Later they were donated in large amounts in aid or the construction of wagon roads and rail ways, In order to open up regions in the west then almost inaccessible All the principal land statutes were enacted more than quarter of century ago The homestead act, the pre-emption and tim ber-culture act. the coal land and the mining acts were among these.
 The rapid disposition of the public lands under the early statutes. and the lax methods of distribution prevailing due. think. to the helief that these lands should rapidly pass into private owner ship, gave rise to the impression that the public domain was legitimate prey for the interruptions and that it was not contrary to good morals to circumvent the land laws. This prodigal manner of disposition resulted in the passing of large areas of valuable land and many Of our national resources into the hands of persons who felt little or no responsi- bility for promoting the national wei rare through their development.
 Fraudulent Titles
 
 acres of public lands was frnuduIently obtained and that the right to recover n large part of such lands for the govern ment long since ceased by reason of stat utes of limitations There has developed in recent years a deen concern in the public mind respecting the preservation and proper use of our natural resources This has been particularly directed toward the conservation Of the resources of the public domain. vast amount or ho prints in Generalized form on this sub tect, but there has been little practical suggestion. It has been easy to say that the natural resources in fuel supply ,u forests in water power, and in other public utilities. must be saved from waste. monopoly. and other abuses. and the general public is in accord with this proposition. as they are with most truisms. The problem, however. is how to save and how to utilize how to con serve and still develop for no sane per son can contend that it is for the com mon good that natures blessings are only for unborn generations
 Noteworthy Reforms.
 Among the most noteworthy reforms initiated by my distinguished predecessor were the vigorous prosecution Of land frauds and the bringing to public atten- tion of the necessity for preserving, the remaining public domain from further spoliation. for the maintenance and ex- teDSiOn or our forest resources, and for the enactment of laws amending the ob- solete statutes so to retain govern mental control over that part of the pub lie domain in which there are valuable deposits of coal, of oil. and of phosphate and, in addition thereto. to preserve con trol. under conditions favorable to the pu olic, of the lands along the streams in which the fall of water be made to generate power to be transmitted in the form of electricity many miles to the point of its use. known water power' sites. The investigations into violations of the public land laws and the prosecution of land frauds have been vigorously con tiEued under my administration. has been the withdrawal Of coal lands for classification and valuation and the tenn porary withholding of power sites. Since March 4, 1909, temporary withdrawals of power sites have been made on 102 streams and these withdrawals therefore cover 229 per cent more streams than were covered by the withdrawals made prior to that date. The present statutes. except so far they dispose of the precious metals and the purely agricultural lands. are not adapted to carry out the modern view of the best disposition of public lands to private ownership. under con- ditions offering the one hand suff- cient inducement to private capital to take them over for proper develop
  the other which shall secure to the .public that character of control which eiil prevent a monopoly or misuse of e lands or their products. The power
 the secretary of the interior to with raw from the operation of existing Btatutes tracts of land. the disposition Vof which under such statutes would be detrimental to the public interests is not clear satisfactory. This power has been exercised in the interest Of the public. with the hope that congress might affirm the action of the execu- tive by laws adapted to the new condi- tions. Unfortunately. congress has not thus far fully acted on the recommen- dations of the executive. and the ques- tion to what the executive Is to do is under the circumstances. full of difficulty. It seems to me that 1t Is the duty of congress now. by statute. to validate the withdrawals which have been made by the secretary of the interior and the president and to use the secretary of the interior temporar- fly to withdraw lands pending submis- sion to congress of recommendations as