7IO 



CONSERVATION 



fully to recognize the necessity of pursuing 

 forestry reform by making liberal appropria- 

 tions for the purpose. The forest lands of 

 the United States ought to be surveyed and 

 carefully preserved and its jurisdiction in 

 respect to them clearly defined. The regula- 

 tion of forests in private ownership within 

 state boundaries is not plainly within the 

 scope of Federal jurisdiction, and it should 

 be undertaken by the states. I don't think 

 that the states have taken up the matter 

 with as much energy as they should, and 

 have not improved the opportunity which 

 was given them by way of example by the 

 Forestry Bureau of the United States. * * * 



"There are some thirty projects which have 

 been entered upon by the Reclamation Bu- 

 reau, and I believe that all of them are to 

 be commended for their excellent adapta- 

 tion to the purpose for which they were 

 erected and for the speed with which the 

 work has been done. It is believed, however, 

 that in the planning of a number of these 

 improvements the enthusiasm of the pro- 

 jectors has carried them to a point where 

 they begin to feel embarrassed in the matter 

 of resources with which to complete the 

 projects, and begin to show that prudence 

 was not observed by those engaged in exe- 

 cuting them. * * * 



"Now, it appears that it will take $io,- 

 000,000, or more, which is not available in ' 

 the reclamation fund at present, fully to com- 

 plete the projects, and it also appears that a 

 great number of persons, by reason of the 

 beginning of the projects, have been led into 

 making settlements, the expenditure of time 

 and labor, with the hope and upon the reli- 

 ance that such reclamation enterprises would 

 te carried through in a reasonable time. * * * 



"I think it wise to apply to Congress for 

 relief by urging the passage of an enabling 

 act which shall permit the Secretary of the 

 Interior to issue bonds in the sum of $10,- 

 ■000,000 or more to complete all the projects. 

 These bonds should be redeemed from the 

 money paid into the reclamation fund after 

 the completion of the projects. 



"Frorn conversation with Senators who 

 had visited much of the reclamation work, 

 I infer that such appeal seems to them to 

 be the ea.siest way out_ of the difficulty, and 

 I shall take pleasure in recommending the 

 passage of such a remedial measure by the 

 next Congress. 



"No one can visit this western country 

 without being overwhelmingly convinced of 

 the urgent necessity for the proper treat- 

 ment of arid and semi-arid lands by the 

 extension of systems of irrigation. The re- 

 sults in the productivity of the soil when ir- 

 rigated are marvelous. The mere fact that 

 the Reclamation Service has gone ahead too 

 fast ought not to prevent Congress lending 

 its aid to overcome the difficulty. * * * 



"I shall * * * urge upon Congress at its 

 next session the passage of a law authorizing 

 the disposition of such water-power sites 

 "pon terms to be agreed upon by the Sec- 

 retary of the Interior with the proposed 



purchaser. My impression is that the dc 

 mand for water-power is going to be so 

 great that these restrictions will not pre- 

 vent the investment of capital, but will ulti- 

 mately bring to the public coffers a revenue 

 from an entirely proper source and will 

 secure the development of a power for man- 

 ufacturing industries that will probably in 

 time exceed the utility and value of coal 

 and become a substitute for it. * * * 



"It seems wise, in the disposition of coal 

 lands, and, indeed, of all mineral lands hav- 

 ing agricultural value, to separate the sur- 

 face of the land from its mineral contents, 

 and then either to lease the right to take 

 coal from the lands at a specified compen- 

 sation per ton — that is, to provide a system 

 of royalties — or to sell the deposits of the 

 land outright to the coal miner. In every 

 case restriction by way of forfeiture ought 

 to be included to prevent monopoly of own- 

 ership. This is the greatest object of a 

 change in the method of their disposition. 

 The same provision should be made with 

 reference to the disposition of the phosphate 

 land in Wyoming and Idaho which contains 

 the wonderful fertilizer which it will soon be 

 necessary to use on much of the land in the 

 United States. The oil lands of California, 

 as well as the phosphate lands and prac- 

 tically all the coal lands, have been with- 

 drawn from settlement in order to await the 

 action of Congress, and I expect to recom- 

 mend to Congress legislation on the lines 

 above indicated. What, however, I wish to 

 make as plain as possible is that these pur- 

 poses cannot be accomplished unless Con- 

 gress shall act. The executive can recom- 

 mend, but the legislature must enact." 

 _ The President stated that his administra- 

 tion "is pledged to follow out the policies of 

 Mr. Roosevelt" (with respect to conserva- 

 tion), "and while that pledge does not in- 

 volve me in any obligation to carry them out 

 unless I have Congressional authority to do 

 so, it does require that I take every step and 

 exert every legitimate influence upon Con- 

 gress to enact legislation which shall best 

 subserve the purposes indicated. I hope noth- 

 ing will prevent our taking the further steps 

 needed when Congress meets. Secretary Bal- 

 linger of the Interior Department, upon 

 whomwill fall the duty of executing the new 

 provisions of the law, is in entire accord with 

 meas to the necessity for promoting in every 

 legitimate way the conservation of the re- 

 sources which I have named, and he can be 

 counted upon to use the great influence which 

 he must have as Secretary of the Interior to 

 this proper end." 



^ «? Mr' 



Mr, Pinchot at the Trans-'Mississippi 

 Congress 



At the Trans-Mississippi Congress, which 

 met at Denver, Colo., August 18, United 

 States Forester Pinchot said in part: 



"Conservation as a practical business pol- * 

 icy will grow, for it is based, like commerce 



