7Z^ 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



cited. Hence for the purjx^se enumer- 

 ated in the last paragraph — "construc- 

 tion and maintenance of roads, trails, 

 bridges, fire lines, telephone lines, cab- 

 ins, fences and other permanent im- 

 provements necessary for the proper 

 and economical administration, protec- 

 tion, and development of the natural 

 forests" — the Service was restricted to 

 the specific appropriation of six hun- 

 dred thousand dollars. 



Senator Carter knows these things, 

 he has heard the work of the Service 

 discussed, and its needs presented. 

 Has he ever assisted the service to se- 

 cure a more adequate appropriation for 

 the guarding and improvement of the 

 forests, he need of which he urges in 

 the article to which we refer? 



The educational work of the Service 

 costs but a few thousand dollars a 

 year, is limited in scope by legislation, 

 but has accomplished much in enlighten- 

 ing the public on an economic question 

 not generally understood. Yet Senator 

 Carter refers to this work almost con- 

 temptuously and implies that it is a 

 useless extravagance and has absorbed 

 very large sums. Has he any objec- 

 tion to having the people enlightened as 

 to their national domain and its proper 

 management? Nothing would show 

 more conclusively the importance and 

 necessity of this kind of work than the 

 state of mind on this subject of the 

 Senator from Montana. If he, charged 

 with legislative responsibility for the in- 

 terests of government, understands so 

 little the purposes, accomplishments, re- 

 sources, and needs of this bureau how 

 much must the public generally need 

 information ? 



The Senator protests his regard for 

 the forestry work of the government 

 and his support of it, yet he advocates 

 putting all of the appropriation into 

 guards and improvements for the na- 

 tional forests ; that is, he would support 

 the Service by cutting off its head, 

 making it all legs and arms with no di- 

 recting mind and nerve centres. He 

 knows perfectly well th^t a great bu- 

 reau like this, charged with varied and 

 important scientific investigations and 

 experiments, with the dissemination of 

 accurate knowledge, and with the prac- 



tical administration of a vast public 

 domain, must have a great organiza- 

 tion, must be a big administrative ma- 

 chine, with all its parts co-ordinated. 

 For this purpose and this work the 

 organization of the Forest Service is 

 none too large or costly. It is, on the 

 other hand, an efficient and economi- 

 cally conducted bureau. There is be- 

 ing built up year by year an operating 

 system and a working force in the na- 

 tional forests of which the nation may 

 well be proud. Its improvement can be 

 hastened by more liberal appropria- 

 tions. 



Why then, this demagogic attempt to 

 show that the modest appropriations for 

 the Forest Service should all have been 

 expended for guards and improvements 

 in the national forests? The Senator 

 knows something of business organi- 

 zation. Does he think the government 

 bureaus can retain their efficiency with- 

 out it? 



Senator Carter cites the German for- 

 est system as one we could have emu- 

 lated to better effect. Does he know 

 anything of the highly developed Ger- 

 man organization, of what machinery 

 is required to keep the model system 

 working smoothly, of the training of 

 the forest officers and guards, and of 

 what is required of them as compared 

 with our own? The German national 

 forest system has been the growth of 

 over two centuries of experience, 

 scientific investigation, and its practi- 

 cal application. Our system is less 

 than twenty years old. The present 

 organization has had about five years 

 in which to shape its practice. Ger- 

 many spends about two dollars an acre 

 on its forests ; we spend a little less than 

 two cents. 



Since Senator Carter has introduced 

 this little comparison, which seems to 

 us the most unfortunate that he could 

 have made, it seems to be fair to ask if 

 he will assist in providing the funds 

 necessary to attain at the earliest per- 

 iod a like complete and perfect organi- 

 zation here? 



Will he assist us to establish national 

 forests in the White Mountains and 

 Southern Appalachians, which Germany 



