The Detroit times., 1910-01-14
TAFT SAYS ne
FOLLOWING STEPS
OF ROOSEVELT
Under His Administation vigueouo
Investigation Into Land yfanfb
Have Been Continued H ~
clares in Special Messses.
Urges Legislation TO Conserve H.,
ural Resources and Asks $s0Ooo,-
600 To Complete Reclamation.

WASHINGTON. Jan. ll.--Ure1ne
that congress proceed Immediately q
dispose Of the Taft-Ballinger conservn,
outcome OF the congressional inveGk1-
cation OF the BallingerPi Pinchot d.
pute. President Taft today transmitt66
his special message to congress o.
the conservation OF natural resourcoo.
The president recommends legfslo-
tion providing for the conservation q
the public lands: the safeguarding ol
power sites along rivers In the pub
lie domain; the validating OF the with
drawals from entry made by the sec-
rotary OF the interior under the dis
puted Supervisory power" q detailed
classification OF public lands accordtne
20 their use; the disposition Of the agr1-
cultural and mineral resources Of tn
same portions OF the public laxdo
separately; the rapid completion oe
the reclamation projects now under
way, and a $30.000.000 issue to nni6h
and extend these projects; the exteAs
sion OF the activities Of the forest Sen
vice: the conservation Of the soil: am1
the carrying out Of an extensive pro-
gram Of inland waterways improve
ment. n
All of these matters. with the excep.
tion Of the forest and inland water
ways recommendations. the president
says. have been embodied In q series
Of bills prepared by Secretary Of the
Interior Ballinger.
The bills are now on the president's
desk awaiting introduction into con-
gress.
The message reviews at length the
history of the public land law. setting
forth that the present statutes have
been In operation for more than =
quarter OF century. and that under
them the nation has been defrauded
out OF millions Of acres Of land.
I The president says that. under his
administration. there have been con-
tinued the vigorous investigation Into
| land fraAds that we're initiated BY bIe'
lsIutinEuishedy predecessor and thpSs
| the withdrAwal Of coal lands and paw:
ef sites frouf entry has been ccnfln
Along this line the president ~
mends that congress validate WIN
drawals made by the secretary Of H.
interior and authorizes the secretary
to make such Withdrawals.
On the subject OF inland waterways
the president comes out fiatly in favor
Of the Mississippi. Ohio and Missour1
river improvements. recommendinx
that congress include an appropriation
for carrying on the work In the river
and harbor bill. He approves a nine
foot channel In the Ohio from Pitts
burg to Cairo; a six-foot channel y
the upper Mississippi. from st. Pa1il
to st. Louis, and In the Missouri, from
Kansas City to ST. Louis, six feet, ana
from st. Louis to Cairo. eight feet.
The presidents message follows:
To the Senate and House of Represents
tatives.
In my annual message reserved the
ional resources for discussion In spe-
cial message. as follows:
"Tn several departments there - pre-
sented tho necessity for legisiet04
looking to the further conservation of
our national resources. and the subyeos
is one Of such Importance as 20 requlIe
sion than can be entered upon IN tme
communication. For that reason snau
take an early opportunity TO send .
iect OF the Improvement OF our water
ways upon the reclamation and irri-
gation OF arid. semi-arid. and swamp
forests and the reforesting OF suitable
areas: upon the reclassification OF the
nuhIic domain with view OF seper-
ating from agricultural settlement min
erai, coal. and phosphate lands ana
sites belonging to the government Dor
dering on streams suitable Tor the uu-
lization OF water power.
ass SIS aiiass S acres. We have now 7si.-
35a0sf acres. confined largely TO the
mountain ranges and the arid and
semi-arid plains. We have. In addt-
tion, 3Gs,0y5.9T5 acres OF land In Alas
ka. -
earliest administrations. treated a. .
national asset for the liquidation Of
the public debt and as a source OF re-
ward for our soldiers and sailors Later
ON they were donated In large amounts
I'm aid Of the construction OF wagon
roads and railways, In order to open
up regions I'm the west then almost tn-
,,rcessible. All the principal land sta
tutes wero enacted more than q quar-
ter OF a century ago. The homesteeo
act. the pre-enption and timber-cuI-
ture act, the coal land and the mtniuI
acts were among these. The rapid ods-
position of the public lands under the
early statutes, and the lax methods %
distrlhution prevailing. due. I think. 90
the belief that these lands should rap
idlv pass into private ownership. Geve
, rise 10 the impression that the pubic
domain was legitimate prey for the
unscrupulors, and that IL was not con
trary TO good morals 70 circumvent tn3
land laws. This prodigai manner q
disposition resulted In the passing q
large areas or valuable land and many
OF our national resources into the
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