IQ08 



EDITORIAL 



251 



Bill have recently been widely scat- 

 tered. It was stated that the Commit- 

 tee, by a majority vote, had declared 

 the whole proposal unconstitutional. 

 Instead, the Committee had, at that 

 time, taken no action, for or against, 

 save to consider the measure. 



On April 22, however, the Commit- 

 tee unanimously adopted the follow- 

 ing resolutions : 



"Resolved, That the Committee is of 

 the opinion that the Federal Government 

 has no power to acquire lands within a 

 State, solely for forest reservation; but 

 under its constitutional power over navi- 

 gation the Federal Government may ap- 

 propriate for the purchase of lands and 

 forest reserves in the States, provided it 

 is made clearly to appear that such lands 

 and forest reserves have a direct and sub- 

 stantial connection with the conservation 

 and improvement of the navigability of 

 a river, actually navigable in whole or in 

 part; and any appropriation made there- 

 for is limited to that purpose. 



"Resolved, That the bills referred to 

 in the resolutions of the House, H. R. 

 10456 and H. R. 10457, are not confined 

 to such last mentioned purpose, and are 

 therefore unconstitutional." 



To the superficial, this action might 

 appear to block the entire movement 

 for establishing the forests proposed. 

 Such, however, is not the case. It is 

 now only necessary so to modify the 

 Appalachian bill as to bring it into 

 harmony with the requirements of the 

 Judiciary Committee. Representa- 

 tive Weeks, of Massachusetts, has in- 

 troduced a bill. Representative Pol- 

 lard, of Nebraska, has also introduced 

 a far-reaching bill providing for con- 

 tinued private ownership of the Ap- 

 palachian area, but for Government 

 regulation of cutting. Both these bills 

 have been referred to the House Com- 

 mittee on Agriculture, which is ex- 

 pected to meet this week. Still anoth- 

 er bill may be offered in Committee, as 

 a substitute for the Currier and Lever 

 Bills. 



Friends of the Appalachian-White 

 Mountain forest proposal should con- 

 centrate their attention upon the Agri- 

 cultural Committee, urging the favor- 

 able report of a measure which will 

 protect the forests, streams and de- 



pendent interests of the areas involved. 

 Following are the names of the Com- 

 mittee : 



Committee on Agriculture, House 

 of Representative: 



Charles F. Scott, Kansas, Chairman, 

 2nd District; Jack Beall, Texas, 5th 

 District; W. W. Cocks, New York, ist 

 District ; Ralph D. Cole, Ohio, 8th Dis- 

 trict ; G. W. Cook, Colorado, at large ; 

 Clarence C. Gilhams, Indiana, 12th 

 District ; Kittredge Haskins, Vermont, 

 2nd District; Gilbert N. Haugen, 

 Iowa, 4th Disrict ; W. C. Hawley, Ore- 

 gon, ist District; J. T. Heflin, Ala- 

 bama, 5th District; John Lamb, Vir- 

 ginia, 3rd District ; A. F. Lever, South 

 Carolina, 7th District; William Lori- 

 mer, Illinois, 6th District ; J. C. Mc- 

 Laughlin, Michigan, 9th District; 

 Ernest M. Pollard, Nebraska, ist Dis- 

 trict; Wm." W. Rucker, Missouri, 2nd 

 District ; A. O. Stanley, Kentucky, 2nd 

 District ; J . W. Weeks, Massachusetts, 

 1 2th District, Wm. H. Andrews, New 

 Mexico, Territorial Delegate. 



Of these Messrs. Cocks, Haskins, 

 Lamb, Lever, Lorimer and Weeks are 

 counted as certainly for the desired 

 legislation, except that Mr. Lorimer is 

 away; Messrs. Gilhams, Heflin, Mc- 

 Laughlin and Stanley are also be- 

 lieved to be favorable. 



The fact that Representative Pol- 

 lard, who has been regarded as an- 

 tagonistic to the legislation, should 

 have reported a measure of such com- 

 prehensive character is a favorable 

 omen. 



There is talk of adjournment about 

 the middle of May; no effort should 

 be spared to secure the enactment of 

 this legislation in the present session. 



Some 



Criticisms 



Considered 



An editorial from the 

 Great Southwest Maga- 

 zine (Denver) is being 

 distributed anonymously as a folder. 

 The folder is entitled "The West to 

 the East, An Appeal." The editorial 

 is said to be representative of the sen- 

 timent of the mountain States. 



This editorial makes some important 

 concessions. It says: "It is proper 

 enough that the Nation should be edu- 



