Arizona republican., 1913-06-08
acres to the settler.

These selfish interests give voice ! to the cry for state ownership of th" ] lands in federal forests and point to | the fact that they are escaping tax ! ation. but they fail to point out the {! the further fact if these forests We're 1 state owned the lands would not be- | subject to taxation. and to the fur | ther fact that the federal goverumcn i spent in 1911 about S493.0oo in our state alone for forest protection. while ! the receipts from sales of forest prod ucts and other sources amounted to but 5142.ooo. I doubt under existing conditions whether il would be good business for the state to take over these forests even f that privilege were to be extended by congress. Noi state. however, should ask such ac- tion upon the part of the government until il had through the adoption of an advanced forest policy through the passage of effective legislation placed itself in position to render due service and offer every protection toI 1 the public.
 Prior to the creation or the national forests our timber resources Were fast slipping from public ownership int"
 the hands or few large corporations, whose aim appears to be control of the industry. Their policy is to ac-
 quire and hold. letting the other frl- ] low supply the demand of today well [ knowing the time will come when they will control all that remains of our once vast timber supply. and therefore 1 be in position to dictate the prices at which il shall be sold IT is estimated | by the government authorities that
 the timber supply in this country ! .. al billion l nd ! if the present cut continues it will l last but fifty-five years
 The records show four-fifths of our { timber to have passed into private i ownership.
 The timber supply of the northwest i is placed at about 1900 billion, or ! little more than 50 per cent of that l of the nation. Two-thirds of the tim l Der in the northwest is in private i hands. One-half of it is held by thir 1 ty-seven owners and One-fOurth of , it by three Owners-the Southern Pa ! cific, Northern Pacific and the Meyer 1 haueser interests The holding of the l Southern Pacific amount to 106 bill
 lion feet of timber and about 3.300 GOO 1 acres of land; the Weyerhaueser in terests. 96.0OO. 100000 feet and 1,945.-
 900 acres. and the Northern Pacific 36 900 900 900 feet and 5000. GOO acres. These timber holdings of tine Big | Three in the northwest are more than one-half as great as the entire hold
 ings of the federal government. Their
 combined holdings in oregon and Washington are as great as that of the
 federal government in the said states. According to government figures, there are 545,OOO, ,0OO000 feet of tim Der in oregon. three-fOurths of which
 is in private hands. Of the latter 96,- 00O. GOO. 900 feet are owned by the Big | Three These interests own in Ore
 gon two thirds as much timber as the federal government. Their holdings in our state are greater than that of the II government in either Washington or ' Idaho.
 From the foregoing it will be seen
 that our timber resources have been
 gradually slipping to the control of
 selfish interests, and had not the pol icv of federal reservation and control been inaugurated at an early date, II every acre of desirable surveyed land
 would by this time have passed to pri- Vate ownership"
 Of particular interest to oregon IS ,I the question of indemnity school se- | lections In contrast to the wisdom