The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1930-05-09

any agricultural lands, or lands es-
pecially fitted for agricultural pur-
poses, that were covered in our pet
itions, such lands could be omitted
from the petitions, and used for agri-
cultural purposes If desired. In short
we tried to impress upon you, by an
unprejudiced statement of facts,
wherein the granting of these pet
itions would result in very advantage
Gus benefits to this county. We did
not expect, when we filed these pet
itions, that any agitation or contro-
versy was to be created thereof. It
seemed to us that these petitions
should be treated on their merits alone
and solely from an economic and bus
mess point of view.
"We have deeply appreciated the at
titude and efforts of the many business
men and others, who have given the
subject matter considerable thought
We appreciate the attitude of the
press, and the consideration which you
have given our petitions. We fully
agree with you that the problem of
reforeStation of cut over lands in
northern Minnesota, and the tax de-
linquency constantly increasing, is one
Of the economic problems now con-
fronting the general public, and the
governing bodies of the state We be-
lieve that reforestation of much land
in northern Minnesota will be for the
benefit of the general public, and
should be for the benefit of the land
owners as well, and we sincerely hope
that you will be able to secure legis-
lation which will be satisfactory to
the public, and which will at the same
time encourage land owners to take
advantage of it. We feel, however,
that we should again state that our
plans, mentioned in our letter of Jan.
2, for the expansion of our local wood
working industries, will not permit of
another years delay in bringing the
matter to head. These plans must
necessarily be completed Immediately,
and necessarily upon the assumption
that there is no assurance, to say the
least, that an adequate permanent
supply of raw material may be OBJ
tanned in Minnesota, under the present
reforestation act or any amendments
to it.
eff any new legislation should be
passed, we shall be glad to consider
the possibility of developing any lands
which we may own or purchase at
that time. It is manifestly impossible
for us now to obligate ourselves to be
bound by any future legislation, con-
corning which at the present time
neither we nor anyone else can fore
cast what the requirements would be.
For some time past, we have been
reluctantly but necessarily coming to
the conclusion that greater benefits
may ultimately accrue to the COM
munity, if the study which must be
given to this problem by the public,
and especially by the legislature and
the county boards, be Unaffected and
uninfluenced by the presence of any
controversial issue, such as our pend
ing applications, which might inter-
fere with the soundest conclusions of
those bearing responsibility We be-
lieve that legislation for the promotion
of reforestation should be considered
and enacted with the primary purpose
of providing for the best possible use
of lands involved, and uninf1uenced by
the ownership of any of the land or
pending applications, and uninfluenced
by unwarrantable agitation on the
part of any person or persons. We,
therefore, feel that we are cooperating
most effectively to encourage reforest-
alton by withdrawing our applications,
although we do so with much hesit-
ancy in view of the request of your
honorable body, and in view of the
efforts which have been unselfishly
made by many of the business men,
others and civic organizations of this
community"