Norwich bulletin., 1910-01-15

gross. earnestly recommend that all the suggestions which he has made with respect to these lands shall be embodied in statutes. and especially that the withdrawals already made
 shall be validated so far as necessary and that the authority of the secre-
 tary of the interior to withdraw lands for the purpose of submitting recon mendations as to future disposition of
 them where new legislation is needed
 shall be made completed and unques-
 toned.
 Must Maintain Forests.
 The forest reserves of the United
 States. some l9O.OO0, 900 acres in ex-
 tent, are under the control of the de-
 pertinent of agriculture, with author
 ity adequate to preserve them and to
 extend their growth so far as that
 may be practicable. The importance
 of the maintenance of our forests can
 not be exaggerated. The possibility of
 a scientific treatment of forests so
 that they shall be made to yield a
 large return in timber without really
 reducing the supply has been demon
 strated in other countries, and we
 should work toward the standard set
 
 applicable to our conditions.
 Upward of 4OO,0OO,000 acres of for est land in this country are in private ownership. but only 8 per cent of 1t is being treated scientifically and with a view to the maintenance of the for ests. The part played by the forests in the equalization of the supply of water on watersheds is a matter of discussion and dispute. but the general benefit to be derived by the public from the extension of forest lands on watersheds and the promotion of the growth of trees in places that are now denuded and that once had great, fiourishing forests goes without saying The control to be exercised over pri- vate owners in their treatment of the forests which they own is a matter for state and not national regulation. because there is nothing in the con- stitution that authorizes the federal government to exercise any control over forests within state unless the forests are owned in a proprietary way by the federal government.
 It has been proposed. and bill for the purpose passed the lower house in the last congress. that the national government appropriate a certain amount each year out of the receipts from the forestry business of the gov ernment to institute reforestation at the sources of certain nav1gable streams to be selected by the geologic | al survey, with a view to determining the practicability of thus improving 1 and protecting the streams for fed l eral purposes. think a moderate ex- penditure for each year for this purpose 1 for period of five or ten years would | be of the utmost benefit in the devel- Opment of our forestry system.
 improving Inland Waterways.
 I come DOW to the improvement Of l the inland waterways. He would be | blind. indeed, who did not realize that | the people of the entire west, and espe- | ciany those of the Mississippi valley, | have been aroused to the need there | IS for the improvement of our inland | waterways. The Mississippi river. | with the Missouri on the one hand and i the Ohio on the other, would seem to l offer a great natural means of inter- state transportation and traffic How | far, if properly improved, they would relieve the railroads or supplement | them in respect to the buIkier and cheaper commodities is a matter of | conjecture. NS enterprise ought to be undertaken the cost of which is not definitely ascertained and the benefit i and advantage of which are not known and assured by competent engineers and other authority. When, however, a project of a definite character for the improvement of a waterway has
  been drawn, the cost definitely esti- mated and the traffic which will be ac- commodated is reasonably probable, I think it is the duty of congress to un- 1ertake the project and make provision therefor in the proper appropriation bill
 One of the projects which answer the description I have given is that of dams into the Ohio river from Pittsburg to Cairo, so as to main tain at all seasons of the year by slack water a depth of nine feet. Up ward of seven of these dams have al ready been constructed, and six are under construction while the total re- luired Is ffty-four. The remaining cost is known to be $63, ,OOO, ,OOO..
 It seems to me that in the develop nent of our inland waterways it would be wise to begin with this par -t@ @uIar project and carry it through as -apidly as may be. I assume from re- fable information that 1t can be con structed economically in ten years. therefore, that the present congress in the rfver and harbor bill make provisior for continuing con- -racts to complete this improvement, and I shall recommend in the future. u 1t be necessary, that bonds be issued to carry it through
 What has been said of the Ohio river Is true in less complete way of the improvement of the upper Mississippi from St. Paul to St. Louis to a con- stant depth of six feet. and of the Mis- 'ourf from Kansas City to St. Louis to | constant depth of six feet, and from St. Louis to Cairo of depth of eight ,eet. These projects have been pro- bounced practical by competent boards 'f army engineers. their cost has been astimated. and there is business which will follow the improvement.