50 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



The attitude of the President is still 

 in doubt. The general conservation 

 question was passed over in his message 

 to Congress with the statement that it 

 would be considered in a later special 

 message. Whether, however, this com- 

 ing message will extend hope to the 

 friends of the Weeks bill is uncertain. 

 Such of them as have visited him in 

 behalf of the measure have thus far re- 

 ceived little encouragement. ''Mr. Can- 

 non," we are told, "has let the President 

 know that he is opposed to the project 

 at this time, and, although the President 

 has a strong liking for Mr. Weeks and 

 greatly respects his judgment, yet in 

 this case he is more inclined to side 

 with Mr. Cannon than he is with Mr. 

 Weeks." 



The principal objection thus far 

 raised is the old one of "expense." We 

 are told that the present administration 

 must make a record for "economy," and 

 that such legislation, before its conclu- 

 sion, is liable to involve the country in 

 an enormous outlay. 



As has been repeatedly pointed out, 

 however, in these columns, the cost of 

 such legislation is trifling in comparison 

 with the returns. The question is sim- 

 ply that of "saving at the spigot and 

 wasting at the bung-hole." Foreign 

 countries have deferred action until 

 forced by necessity to take it and have 

 then found that the cost was vastly 

 greater and the gain far less than would 

 have be»n the case had the "stitch in 

 time" been taken. 



But should the expense be consider- 

 able, the wisdom of a bond issue to meet 

 it is now being discussed. Says tlie 

 Boston Journal: 



"The issue of bonds to carry on a 

 great forestry program seems to be one 

 of the most logical and easily justified 

 employments of the national credit. 

 The argument that 'jx^sterity will get 

 the benefit, so let posterity pay,' is gen- 

 erally illogical. Apjilied to a great 

 public work the rule is that the work 

 has to be paid for after its greatest 

 utility is exhausted. But in the case of 

 forests, which must grow before they 

 can be used, there is certainly logic in 

 the argument of letting posterity pay." 



To what extent the Speaker will ui- 

 terfere with the consideration of this 

 measure is an interesting question. 

 That he is able to keep legislation from 

 the House everybody, of course, knows 

 though not everybody cares to admit. 

 One of his followers, Congressman 

 C. A. Sulloway, in defending the 

 Speaker against criticism makes an in- 

 teresting admission. As quoted in the 

 Manchester (N. H.) Mirror, he says: 



"Speaker Cannon did not vote for the 

 (Weeks) bill, but he permitted it to re- 

 ceive consideration in the House when 

 he could have prevented it." 



When fighting the United States 

 Bank, Benton made good use of the ad- 

 mission of the friends of the bank that 

 that great institution had not injured 

 other banks, although it might have 

 done so. The Senators emphasized the 

 point that the power to injure rival con- 

 cerns was too dangerous to leave with 

 such an institution. 



It is for the country to judge whether 

 the Speaker's power to prevent the con- 

 sideration of legislation reported favor- 

 ably from a committee and ready to be 

 passed by the House, is not too great 

 a power for any man to wield. 



Meanwhile the friends of the meas- 

 ure will rally. They will concentrate 

 their efforts, first upon the Agricultural 

 Committee, in which the bill now re- 

 poses, and then upon the members of 

 the House to ensure its enactment, 

 realizing that, if they would obtain some 

 fraction of the kernel instead of being 

 required ultimately to buy the mere 

 shell of the Appalachian forests, they 

 must act at once and with all their wis- 

 dom, persistence, and energy. 



1« i« Mr 



A Congressional Investigation 



AT THE adjournment of Congress 

 - for the holiday recess arrange- 

 ments were being made for an in- 

 vestigation of the Department of the 

 Interior, as a result of the controversy 

 of the last few months, the features of 

 which have become so familiar to the 

 American people. Secretary Ballinger 

 has demanded also the investigation of 



