The Washington times., 1915-12-05

The tendency OF great areas OF tiTn-
Der lands in all parts OF the country to
come back into public ownership is de-
clared by the Forest Service to be high
ly significant The causes Of It are
working more energeticaIly every year.
and there il a public response that In
dicates willingness to encourage II.
Private ownership has proved a fall
ure in the case OF the timber lands.
This is the broad generalization Of the
subject which the officials Of the For
est Service state without much qualifica-
ton.
Private ownership has denuded the
lands OF their timber without giving
them a chance to restore 1t, 1t has
failed 10 justify itself in commercial re-
suits. 1t has at length brought the
numbering industry to the point where
II Is In an exceedingly unhealthy condi-
tion. and has even applied to the Ma
tiOnal Government for help in discover
Ing what alls Il, and what can be done
about Il. Speculation has hoisted prices
Of stumpage, and at the same time
caused the sacrifice Of much OF the
value in the timber
Great Areas Given Away.
All this relates back I'm an intimate
way to the public land policy of the
Government. Half a century ago most
Of the best timber In the country was
still within the public domain. The
Government allowed II to be taken over
TO private interests on terms that were
utterly unfair either to the Government
or to the public interest Great areas
were given away in land grants to COR
porauons, or ceded on conditions that
! either have been violated or elso were
utterly incapable Of protecting this great
| natural resource.
AS 2 result of all this, there has been
| IN about forty years the transfer Of
about four-ifths of the timber holding
OF the nation to private ownership.
This ts especially true Of the great
Cmbered areas OF the far Northwest
and OF the South ana Southwest. The
| public rushed in ana took the lands
| because II was realized that the Gov
ernn1ent was In effect giving them
away. They were divided up. parcelcd
out IN some cases, Or consolidated into
| immense holdings In others. 1t was per
fectly plain that there were great
| Ircfts ahead for the owners OF the
timbcr-if only they could get the
profits out. The private owners didn I
worry about that until IL was too late
now It Is giving tho whole industry
\ trouble.
In the Old Days.
Time was, a few years ago, when to
| capture a big acreage OF timber Iapd
at the prices then prevailing. was to
| become a millionaire. 1t was merely
Eec' ssary 10 rush in some sawmills, cut
W. the lumber, and sell 1t. There were
about 50.0Ol sawnills in the country
when the Industry was at its apex
thirds of million people we're en-
ployed in II. and II was rated as the
second industry in the country.
But there was one great difficulty
with II. A piece OF standing timber
| must be cut over and converted into
| lumber in order to get the money out
| of IL. With four-ifths If the timber
| of the whole country crowded into the
| hands OF speculatihg holders within a
| few years. all of them wanting and in
| deed requiring to convert il into cash
before interest charges and taxes
| should eat up their profits and tkeiI
capital, there was overproductlon. 80
long as the timber lard was owned by
| Uncle Sam, II paid taxes TO nobody
| State, county, town. or nation. Uncle
Sam was able to. own # as long as he
| liked. Nobody else was. When the
| ers there was a rush to impose taxes
| Owned generally by non-rcsidents, anC
looked upon as a drag on the "devel
| opment of the country" there was dis
position to tax 1t into use.
Conservation Impossible
The timber-holding corporations were
regarded as natural victims for assess
ors and tax collectors. Their real po
sition was that they wanted to hol