EDITORIAL 



The Weeks Bill Reported 



AS FORESHADOWED in the pages 

 of this magazine last month, the 

 Committee on Agriculture of the House 

 of Representatives voted to report the 

 Weeks bill for the purchase of national 

 forest land. The vote in the committee 

 was ten to seven in favor of so report- 

 ing. Chairman Scott, Mr. Haugen of 

 Iowa, Mr. Hawley of Oregon, Mr. 

 Howell of Utah, Mr. Chapman of Illi- 

 nois, Mr. Beall of Texas, and Mr. 

 Rucker of Missouri, voted against it 

 as they have always done. Mr. Stanley 

 of Kentucky, a good friend of the bill, 

 was absent on account of illness, so that 

 the actual poll of the committee on re- 

 porting the bill was eleven to seven. 

 Two or three of those who voted for 

 the report, however, reserved the right 

 to take such action as they deem wise 

 when the bill comes up in the House. 

 The report for the majority of the com- 

 mittee was put in charge of Mr. Lever 

 of South Carolina, and Mr. Plumley of 

 Vermont. 



Mr. Weeks has reintroduced his bill, 

 with certain minor amendments that do 

 not change in any respect the substance 

 of the bill. This statement is made here 

 to explain variations that may be found 

 between the bill as it will be before 

 the House and the copies of it that have 

 been issued up to this time. 



The bill is now before the people of 

 the country for action. There will be 

 a hard fight against it in the House and 

 probably another in the Senate. The 

 work of informing the people and their 

 senators and representatives must, 

 therefore, go on with increased thor- 

 oughness, for the bill must be passed 

 at this session. A recent advice from 

 New England says that "the condition 

 246 



in the White Mountains is such that 

 if the matter goes over to the short ses- 

 sion it means grave and irreparable 

 loss." We know that this is no idle 

 word. The men who play with consti- 

 tutional quibbles, or spend their time 

 in considering engineering subtleties, 

 should go up into the great woods 

 among the hills and see what destruc- 

 tion is being wrought by man and the 

 forces of nature that his work has let 

 loose. One day of the real thing would 

 be worth a week of arguments in com- 

 mittee rooms. 



In the Sixtieth Congress, Mr. Weeks 

 of Massachusetts and Mr. Lever of 

 South Carolina were actively in charge 

 of the bill in the committee. In the 

 present Congress, Mr. Weeks is no 

 longer a member of the Committee on 

 Agriculture, though he retains his keen 

 interest in this legislation and has per- 

 sonally prepared the bill which bears 

 his name and which he will actively 

 champion in the House. The work of 

 managing the bill in the committee this 

 year was borne by Mr. Lever of South 

 Carolina, and the thanks of every friend 

 of the Appalachian Mountains, north 

 and south, are due to him for his ear- 

 nest, painstaking, and capable work. 

 He has made a thorough investigation 

 of this subject, his efforts in its be- 

 half have been a labor of love as well as 

 duty, and his management so far has 

 been most wise and successful. He 

 has been ably assisted by Mr. Plumley 

 of Vermont, a new member of the 

 House and a new member of the com- 

 mittee, but one who has brought to the 

 consideration of this subject a valuable 

 knowledge of New England conditions 

 and the legal acumen which long ago 

 won him recognition as one of the fore- 

 most lawyers of his state. Friends of 



