Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-06-02
CHARGE Of WASTE
BYFOREST SERVICE
Public Reserves Alleged to Be
Maintained for Benefit
of Railroads.
NATIONAL ANNUAL LOSS
IN EARNING CAPACITY
Mr.. Humphrey Alleges Collusion for
Private Gain and Moves an
Investigation.

In an attack on the forest service de-
livered this afternoon in the House. in
which he makes the charge that the pub
lie forest reserves are maintained and
operated for the benefit of a few railroads
and for the glorification of certain gov
ernment bureaus. Representative Humph-
rey of Washington takes the words and
figures of Clifford Pinchot. former chief
OF the forest service. to support the claim
that the United States is losing the earn
ing power of a billion dollars and more of
valuable property.
Clifford Pinchot is probably the lead
ing exponent in America of this national
forest policy" he said He is my friend
and a most pleasing personality. In a
recent issue of Pearsons Magazine he
discusses this identical proposition. In
one portion of the article ne did what a
conservationist seldom does and what
they should never do. 1t was a fatal mis-
take. He used figures. instead of ad-
Jectiyes.
Calls It Scathing Denunciation.
These figures given by him are the most
scathing denunciation OF the forest serv-
Ice ever uttered. If they did not come
from the highest authority. l would hesi-
tate TO use them. They demonstrate moi
only the utter worthlessness OF the for
est service. but they further demonstrate
that through the incompetency and negli-
gence of this service millions of dollars
worth of timber on the public domain ir
the state of Washington each year ha.
been wasted.
Quotations from Clifford Pinchot wer,
| then read by Mr.. Humphrey as follows
THE facts are that in the eight years
| $50, to 1917. during which the forse
| service has had charge of the nationa
| forests 415.512.3GO feet of timber hav,
| been sold from the national forests of tn,
| state of Washington. The average Gu
/ during that period was not seven but sew
| enteen and one-half million feet annually
| For the last three years the cut has aver
aged a little over thirty million feet an,
| during the last year it reached thirty
| seven million.
Alleged Criminal Waste.
Mr.. Humphrey continued:
| NO enemy could have so convicted tn
forest service of criminal waste and stu
pidity as do these figures. What do thes
figures mean? They mean that in tn
most densely forested regions OF tn
world. where 10000 feet are frequently
cut from single tree. the forest seryic
is cutting from each acre less than a foo
and half. They mean in that boaste'
= "
forced to sell some fre-killed timber. the.
actually cut from the forest reserves il
the state of Washington at the rate o
| one plank from each acre, three feet AM
a half inch long, twelve inches wide ant
one inch thick. They mean that on an EN-
pire cont aiming 1900 square miles, a re
gion greater than Rhode Island greate
than Connecticut. greater than New Jer
| sey. greater than Massachusetts. greater
than all these states combined, the fOres
service in the name of conservation Il
annually cutting OH this vast domain :;J
| acres of timber.
"They mean that single mill in the
state of Washington will cut the entire
output from the national forest running
less than three months each year. lr
the state of Washington the forest.
fully reproduce themselves in from thirt,
to fifty years. For the purpose Of WOOD
pulp used for making paper they full,
reproduce themselves in from sixteen t.
twenty years.
"Cut Over" Would Require Years.
How long. at the present rate o.
cutting that has been practced by th'
forest service for the last eight years
as pointed out by Mr.. Pinchot, will il
take to cut over once the national for
ests in the state Of Washington? Only
$1,000 years. That is ALL
Mr.. Humphrey has introduced a reso
luton looking to an immediate investt
CATION of the forest service and to {
settling of certain questions. He claim.
that there has been collusion betweer
the service and certain western rail
roads and timber syndicates. which ha:
resulted i'm great profits for private in
diyiduals and loss by the government
|