64 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



ricd out and spread upon the minutes of Con- 

 gress in the form of a resohition or a dec- 

 laration in a statute. What I advise you to 

 do is to get that declaration. Then when 

 the time comes that political exigency shall 

 prevent the appropriation of sufficient money 

 from the current revenues to put the proper 

 part of the project through the coming year 

 or the coming two years, as economy re- 

 quires, the question of issuing bonds will 

 arise. I would get the declaration first, and 

 not have the bonds first, for the reason that 

 you will encounter the objection by Congress 

 that the issuing of bonds and the receipt of 

 the money will develop a desire to be ex- 

 travagant." 



Mr. Herbert Knox Smith, Commissioner 

 of Corporations, declared that "water termi- 

 nals are an important factor in connection 

 with river transportation. 



"If any one will travel considerably on our 

 inland waterways," he said, "he will perhaps 

 understand why we do not hear of terminals. 

 He will find that they are largely non- 



existent there in any modern commercial 

 sense, and where they do exist they are 

 usually controlled by some exclusive interest." 



Senator Theodore Burton, chairman of the 

 National Waterways Commission, said : "The 

 time has come when the individual protect 

 must be abandoned and a wise, compre- 

 hensive policy of waterway improvement 

 substituted. Selfishness must be eliminated 

 from the demands on Congress for appro- 

 priations, so that the entire country can 

 benefit from a comprehensive development of 

 waterways which would benefit individuals as 

 well as the Nation." 



Senator Burton said that he favored the 

 issuance of bonds if there were not sufficient 

 funds to complete a comprehensive policy 

 adopted by Congress. 



President Taft, in receiving the Ohio dele- 

 gation, expressed his regret that his remarks 

 before the Rivers and Harbors Congress had 

 cast a wet blanket over the convention, and 

 said that he only intended to help the gather- 

 ing along by pointing out the practical method 

 •of accomplishing the object desired. 



RECENT PUBLICATIONS 



"Fourteenth Annual Report of the Forestry 

 Commissioner of Minnesota, for the Year 

 1908" 



This report, by General Andrews, is an 

 especially interesting one. It contains a 

 reprint of his special report, issued in De- 

 cember, 1908, on the forest fires of that year, 

 which were exceptionally severe and caused 

 a total loss of over $2,000,000. It also con- 

 tains a summary of new forest legislation 

 enacted by the last legislature, which is a 

 decided step in advance and will undoubtedly 

 be of great value to the state. The new law 

 provides for additional fire warden and 

 ranger service with increased pay, and makes 

 an emergency appropriation, not to exceed 

 $14,000 a year, for fire fighting. Additional 

 precautions are taken to prevent the starting 

 of fires from camp fires, and the minimum 

 penalty for the violation of the forest fire 

 law is made $50. Every one cutting wood 

 or trees for commercial purposes is com- 

 pelled to burn the slashings as soon as prac 

 ticable. The legislature also passed a tax 

 of one-fifteenth of one mill on each dollar 

 of taxable property to form a permanent 

 fund to enable the state to purchase forest 

 lands at a cost of not over $3 per acre, and 



to maintain forests on these. This amend- 

 ment will be voted upon by the people at the 

 next general election in 1910. 



In addition to the regular report of the 

 forestry commissioner, the publication con- 

 tains a very suggestive article dealing mainly 

 with nursery and planting work, by Mr. 

 Knechtel, inspector of forest reserves for 

 the Dominion of Canada. The usual sketches 

 of forestry in European countries are also- 

 included, and many of these have been 

 wholly revised or contain additional infor- 

 mation. S. T. D. 



"Aids to Shippers, Oelrichs & Co., New York 

 City." 



This seventy-two page booklet is not of 

 special interest to foresters, but contains 

 much information of value to all engaged in 

 the export and import trade. The table of 

 foreign moneys with United States equiva- 

 lents, together with weights, measures, tar- 

 iffs, customs requirements, and similar in- 

 formation, will undoubtedly be of value to 

 all who have occasion to refer to such mat- 

 ters. The book will be sent postpaid on re- 

 quest to the publishers. S. T. D. 



