The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-15

body convened today. Pension legislation was interrupted for the reading of the document and the speaker advised mem- bers to pay close attention thereto, be- cause no printed copies of the same had arrived for distribution among them.
 When the reading of the message had been concluded @ roar of applause arose from the republican side of the cham Der and several democratic members also joined in the demonstration of approval.
 The speaker motion of Majority Leader Payne, referred the document to the committee of the whole House, after | which the House returned to considera- | ton of its pension bills.
 The message is as follows: To the Senate and House of Represen l
 tatives.
 In my annual message reserved the | subject of the conservation of our na
 tural resouces for discussion in a spe- l cial message, as follows:
 Tn several departments there Is | presented the necessity for legislation 1 looking to the further conservation of l our natural resources, and the subject I is one of such importance as to re- | quire a more detailed and extended dis |
 
 this communication. For this reason, | 1 shall take an early opportunity to | send special message to Congress on | the improvement of our waterways; | upon the reclamation and irrigation of | arid, semi-arid and swamp lands; upon | the preservation of our forests, and The | re-foresting of suitable areas; upon Me | reclassification of the public domain | with a view of separating from agri- l c,1f ,ira nd phosphate lands and sites belonging to | the government bordering on streams l suitable for the utilization of water | power" In 1860 we had a public domain of l 1,055,911.288 acres. We have now 751,- 454,0S1 acres, confined largely to the 1 mountain ranges and the arid and semi l arid plains. Fe have in addition 36s,- 0S5,s75 acres of land in Alaska. The public lands were during the | earliest administrations treated as a national asset for the liquidation of the l public debt, and as a source of reward for our soldiers and sailors Later on they were donated in large amounts in aid of the construction of wagon roads and railways. in order to open up regions in the west then almost tn- accessible. All the principal land stat utes were enacted more than a quarter
 
 the pre-emption and timber culture act. the coal land and the mining acts were among these.
 Public Lands Going Fast.
 The rapid disposition of the public l lands under the early statutes and the l lax methods of distribution prevailing 1 due, l think, to the belief that the lands sh ould rapidly pass into private OwnerGlin n a fD1nrAs9iOn that the public domain was legitimate prey for the interruptions and that 1t was not contrary to good morals to circumvent the land laws. This prod | igal manner of disposition resulted In the passing of large areas of valuable | land and many of our national re- sources into the hands of persons who , felt little or no responsibility for pro- noting the national welfare through their development. The truth is that title to millions of acres of public lands was fraudulently obtained and that the right to recover a large part of such lands for the govern ment long since ceased by reason of statutes of limitation. There has developed in recent years a deep concern in the public mind respect ing the preservation and proper use of our natural resources. This has been particularly directed toward the conser vaton of the big resources of the public domain.
 The problem is how to save and how to utilize, how to conserve and still to develop; for no sane person can con tend that it is for the common good that generations.
 Fraudulent Land Deals.
 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 spoiation, for the maintenance and ex- tension of our forest resources and for the enactment of laws amending the obsolete statutes so as to retain gov ernmental control over that part of the public domain in which there are val uable deposits of coal, of oil and of phosphate, and in addition thereto, to re- serve control, under conditions favorable to the public, of the lands along the streams in which the fall of water can be made to generate power to be trans mitted in the form of electricity many miles to the point of its use, known as water power sites. The investigations into violations of the public land laws and the prosecution of
  tinued under my administration as has been the withdrawal of coal lands for classification and valuation and the tenn porary withholding of power sites.
 Since March f. 1909. temporary with drawals of power sites have been made on 102 streams and these withdrawals, therefore cover 22s per cent more streams than were covered by the withdrawals made prior to that date.
 Private Ownership. The present statutes, except so far as they dispose of the precious metals and the purely agricultural lands, are not adapted to carry out these modern views of the best disposition of public lands to private ownership under conditions offer ing on the one hand sufficient induce ment to private capital to take them over for proper development, with restrictive conditions on the other, which shall se- cure to the public that character of control which will prevent a monopoly or misuse of the lands or their products.
 The power of the Secretary of the In- terior to withdraw from the operation of existing statutes tracts of land, the disposition of which under such statutes would be detrimental to the public in- terest is not clear or satisfactory. This power has been exercised in the interest of the public with the hope that Con- gress might affirm the action of the ex- ecutive, by laws adapted to the new conditions. Unfortunately Congress has not thus far fully acted on the recom- 1mendations of the executive and the question as to what the executive is to 5o under fbe circurp at pcos ftill of