238 



CONSERVATION 



forced this measure through, but paid 

 for so doing with his life. His brother 

 Caius, later elected tribune, attempted 

 to enforce the above "Sempronian" 

 law, but, for so doing, was compelled 

 to pay the same penalty as his brother. 

 In the light of such history, with 

 other that might be cited, including the 

 enclosure of the commons in England 

 in the sixteenth century, we may un- 

 derstand that the private appropriation, 

 or occupancy without leave, of public 

 lands in the United States is no new 

 phenomenon. However, we may feel 

 encouraged that opponents of the Gov- 

 ernment's attempts to reassert its riglit 

 in these lands, instead of executing its 

 officials for treason, or beating them 

 to death with fragments of broken 

 benches, after the good old Roman 

 fashion, merely consume time and 

 breath in criticising them for robbing 

 squirrels' nests. 



)t' }^ )^ 

 The Fight Just Begun 



WHEN John Paul Jones, in battle 

 with the Serapis, was asked 

 whether he had "struck his colors," his 

 reply was, "I have just begun to fight." 

 This laconic declaration represents the 

 viewpoint of the friends of Appalachian 

 legislation. There are victories, such as 

 was that of Pyrrhus, which presage de- 

 feat; and defeats, such as those encoun- 

 tered by George Washington in the 

 American Revolution, which are merely 

 milestones on the pathway to ultimate, 

 permanent victory. A good cause may 

 be obstructed and its triumph delayed 

 by hostile tactics, but its final victory is 

 sure. The proverb that "No question is 

 ever settled until it is settled right" is 

 to-day accepted as true by an ever- 

 increasing multitude. For many years 

 American abolitionists led an apparent- 

 ly forlorn hope. A former president of 

 the United States, day by day and year 

 by year, presented, in the House of 



Representatives, petitions innumerable 

 favoring limitation or abolition of hu- 

 man slavery, only to have them uni- 

 formly laid, first on and, later, under 

 the table. Yet slavery was even then 

 dying, and its disappearance is to-day 

 approved by the descendants of those 

 who were once its champions. 



The persistency with which Appa- 

 lachian legislation is opposed by a few, 

 first. in one house and then in the other, 

 will but give zest to the fight, and will 

 add strength to the arms of those who 

 are convinced of its righteousness and 

 resolved on its triumph. So absolute 

 is the commitment of The American 

 Forestry Association to this cause, and 

 so fully convinced is this organization 

 of the wisdom and necessity of this 

 legislation, that its own course is pre- 

 determined beyond question. Like Nel- 

 son, in Trafalgar Bay, it recognizes that 

 its membership and friends "expect 

 every man" connected with its affairs 

 "to do his duty." 



It is not too soon to begin prepara- 

 tions for the next campaign. Now, in 

 the interval which must elapse before 

 the measure can again be presented in 

 Congress, let the lines of battle be re- 

 formed, let the munitions of war be 

 replenished and the organization 

 strengthened and perfected for the re- 

 newal of the struggle. The resources 

 of the United States must be conserved ; 

 National action to this end, including 

 Congressional legislation, is essential ; 

 obstruction and dilatory tactics must be 

 met ; the people must be aroused still 

 further and their demands focused more 

 perfectly upon Congress, and the battle 

 must be led by those already informed 

 and aroused and pledged to this cause. 

 No leader in thought and opinion for a 

 moment counsels abandonment of the 

 fight; instead, as in the Sinaitic wilder- 

 ness of old, the cry again rings forth, 

 "Speak to the people, that they go for- 

 ward !" 



I 



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