596 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



trol of all the forest reservations and timbered lands, subject to 

 supervision of the Secretary of Agriculture, who shall appoint 

 inspectors as assistants. 



Each reservation to have one superintendent, who shall have 

 full charge and control of the reservation for which he is ap- 

 pointed, and be responsible to the central bureau, and have such 

 assistants as may be needed. 



Rangers to be appointed by the Commissioner of Forestry to 

 act as police, against trespass and fires, and to supervise the timber 

 operations. 



Full details of forest management are specified, into which I 

 shall not here enter. 



To create as quickly as possible an efficient protective service, 

 the army may be employed for this purpose, as has already been 

 done in the Yellowstone and California Parks. The system pro- 

 poses a separate and complete administration, conducted by com- 

 petent men under expert instruction, and, while the protecting of 

 watersheds is of sufficient importance to warrant expenditure out 

 of Government funds, the service should be made to pay for itself 

 by the sale of surplus forest material. 



The suggestion that the army be employed for policing the 

 public forests is an admirable one. It has already done good serv- 

 ice in this direction, and it will prove to be a constabulary force 

 in which the country has full confidence. Military training has 

 given the army a thorough organization and an esprit de corps, 

 and it is free from political influence. Officers of the army made 

 the best commissioners in Indian affairs which the country has 

 ever had, and gained for themselves a just reputation for faith- 

 fulness, honesty, and courage. They will be equally good custo- 

 dians of our forest domain. Were our army twice as large as it 

 now is, it would be too small for war, but would find too little 

 employment in time of peace, unless its services are used in civil 

 channels. To supply qualities that are wanting for this particular 

 service a chair of Forestry should be established at West Point, 

 to give such instruction in forestry science as the case requires. 



If the reforms here outlined, whether embodied in the Pad- 

 dock bill or tlie McRae bill, or commended to our situation by 

 foreign experience, shall be persistently urged by forestry and 

 other associations, and the United States Government, heedful of 

 the danger of neglect or delay, shall respond with promptness 

 and energy and a proper regard for the future of the nation, a 

 forestry policy will be inaugurated which will meet present re- 

 quirements, and which may be extended and improved to serve 

 all future needs. 



Then the lesson of the forest fires will not have been learned 

 in vain. 



