The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1915-04-06
Only Eight and Three-tenths
Per Cent. in Appa-
lachians
THIS IN REPLY
TO CHARGES
Titles Found to Be Very Diff
ficult of Adjustment and
Service Almost Impossible

Washington, April eight and three
tenths cents out of every dollar appro
prated for purchasing land under thu
! Weeks Appalachian law is spent for sal
aries, field expenses, supplies, equipment
and other expenses incident to acquisi
ton, according to a statement prepared
by the forest service. This statement
was for the purpose of answering the
criticism, based on the last report of the
national forest reservation commission
that the cost of acquisition was more
than SO per cent. of the money spent for
land.
The forest service states that in ac-
quiring wild lands in the Appalachian re.
gion the government has undertaken to
| straighten out "the most involved land
titles to be found anywhere i'll the United
States. Many of the tracts" continues
the statement, "have never been surveyed
or the surveys were not marked upon
the ground. There was no system adopt
ed by certain of the states to prevent
the lines of one tract conflicting with
have to deal with every conceivable kind
of lap and claim with all sorts of de-
fects of conveyance reaching back to more
than 100 years. The surveyors and title
attorneys must ferret out all of these
old complications and they must either
adjust them or show their effect upon
the present title. In spite of this ex.
tremely complicated situation, the gov
eminent insists upon a perfectly clear
title from the state or from the crown
of England down to the recording of the
conveyance to the United States. Before
the Weeks law was ever passed it was
claimed by some who knew the Appa-
lachians very well that the government
could not acquire title at all to these
lands"
Up to date the United States has
bought and paid for some 335000 acres
in the Appalachian region. Titles at the
rate OF several thousand acres per month
are passing to the United States. For
the three years between July |, 1911, |
and June 30, 1914, appropriations were |
made at the rate of S2.000.000 wear, !
or s6.000.000 in all. OF these $4,000. 900, /
S503, 1896 were used for expenses incl l
dent TO acquisition. Thus OIL per cent. 1
of the money was actually used in pay. 1
ment for land or remained available for /
that purpose on July |, 1914. while The |
expenses OF acquisition to June 3. 1914. |
amounted TO s per cent. of the appro-
priated fund. Apparently expenses OF
acquisition for the lands 20 he bought 4
with what remains, II any. Of this So /
100000 will have to be paid out Of the
money here calculated as set aside for
the buying of land.
Assistant Forester William l.. Fall, in
charge of the acquisition of lands for
The protection of the watersheds OF navi.
"a BILE streams, has this to say about the
cost of the processes 10 the govern
nent:
'If Il be said that this Is more than
I costs private parties or companies TO
acquire land. | answer that except in rare
asses no individual or company has gone
10 the trouble TO straighten out the titles
" these lands back 70 the original source.
The timber companies usually find IL
10 carry the title back only
ew years, far enough 10 make them SIRE !
hat they can remove the timber. But |
he government is buying this land 10 ,
lold for all times and that sort OF meth. 4
"a cannot be followed Hence the slight
y larger expense"