The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1915-09-09
PAGE EIGHT

enterprise would have succeeded just
as well, but the public rights would
have been better preserved. Commits
sioner Davies, in his statement con
corning lumber, points out that in
southwest Washington two holders of
land w ~forty-nine per cent of the
timber; in northern California, six
have seventy per cent; in the redwood
area, ten have over half; and in north
central Idaho, four have ffty-nine per
cent. The Commissioner says:
"The control of our standing timber,
in a comparatively few enormous hold
ings speculatively held far in advance
of any use thereof, and the great in
crease in the value Of timber, result
ing in part from such speculative hold
ings, are underlying facts that will be-
come more and more important ele-
ments in determining the price OF lum-
her, as the supply Of timber dimin-
ishes." This is not ali; sixteen holders
own AZ 1890, 900 acres of timber land
equal to an area ten times the land
area of New Jersey. The legacy of
the land grants manifests itself by
showing that the Pacific railroads,
which carried away Uncle Sans real
estate prizes, are rich in timber hold
ings. and three land grant railroads,
according to the commissioner, "own
enough to give fifteen acres of land to
every male of voting age in the nine
western states"
1t is true that the United States gov
eminent has done some logging on its
own account, and in very recent years
it has disposed of some Of its timber at
somewhere near its market value. But,
as a rule, the federal government has
sat still while being exploited by pTi-
vate enterprise, thereby demonstrating
very clearly that the processes of com
mercialism are not a proper activity
for the government itself. However,
the failure of the government to exer-
for different evils existing. The ques-
tion is therefore pertinent whether the
government, no matter how firm may
be it's organic foundation, could in any
manner justify itself in ~supplanting
private enterprise since the latter has
furnished the only initiative in develop
ment, and, in addition, has M doubt
taken undue advantage Of the govern
ment while it mapped.
The time existed when our forests
were a great national possession. We
gave away empires to railroads, and
parted with our belongings like a lot
OF drunken sailors. Frederick Weyer-
hauser was a German lad who worked
as a day laborer for a few dollars a
week. He saw what the government
was doing, and picked up thousands Of
square miles Of forests for which we
seemed to have no USE. Recently he
died, reputed to be one of the richest
men in the world. However, states
manship moves in strange ways. and
the above are merely samples of the
inconsistent manner in which our pub
lie lands have been treated from the
beginning down to the present.
The government has undertaken
"some twenty-five projects" in irriga-
ton undertakings scattered through
all the arid lands" according to the
report of the secretary of the interior
for the year 1913, and in these the pub
lie investment is approximately $780,
000, 1000. The work has been permit
ted to drag, and congress and the in
terror department have agreed that
they have demonstrated too much OPP
timism in the success of these reclama-
ton projects, inasmuch as 1t was ex
pected that the settler would be able
to easily pay back to the government
all that had been advanced as capital
to provide for water, approximately
$4,000 for a ~forty-acre farm, or $4,000
for an eighty acre tract.
The foundation laid for water stor-
age, diversion and development con.
template an expansion of double the
present area contained in the irriga.
ton and reclamation projects of the
federal government. The secretary of
the interior in his 1914 report says
that 1t is possible with relatively little
additional cost, to extend or complete
the Diet "s of construction until nearly
5000, 0IJ acres have been supplied
with water" Secretary Lane asserted
the belief that a partial success has
been attained, but he, voiced the opin'
ion that the poor man is unable to car
ry out the original arrangement of re
paying his debt to the government. He
reported that effective agitation fol
extension Of time payment from ter
to twenty years resulted In the pass