i9o8 NATIONAL FORESTS AND PUBLIC OPINION 



83 



I am authorized to state that Gover- 

 nor Harris, of Ohio, is in favor of any- 

 practical method of restoring and pre- 

 serving our forests, whether by pri- 

 vate enterprise or Government appro- 

 priation. 



Governor James H. Higgins, of 

 Rhode Island, gives this endorsement : 



"Under present conditions, I am 

 heartily in favor of a bill substantially 

 similar, or looking to the same end, as 

 that presented in the last Congress, 

 concerning the Appalachian and White 

 Mountain Reserves." 



From Senator F. E. Warren, of 

 Wyoming, I am pleased to present 

 the following: 



"The forests of our country form 

 one of its valuable assets. It is good 

 business and governmental policy to 

 conserve this asset by providing as 

 far as possible against all forms of 

 depreciation, whether by fire, reckless 

 use for commercial purposes, or ac- 

 quisition by speculators. At the same 

 time the people should not be deprived 

 of the necessary and reasonable use 

 of the products of the public forests 

 for home-building, fencing, mining, 

 road-making, and all similar beneficial 

 uses incidental to the growth and set- 

 tlement of a new country. Intelli- 

 gent supervision of the use and care of 

 forests by Federal or State officers, or 

 both acting in co-operation, working 

 under legislative authority, with a 

 view to the fullest utilization and 

 proper conservation of their products, 

 in my opinion, would be an ideal con- 

 dition. To aid in bringing this about 

 would be a worthy act on the part of 

 every citizen desirous of promoting 

 the general welfare of the country." 



Governor F. M. Ansel, of South 

 Carolina, says : 



"I feel very great interest in the Ap- 

 palachian National Forest, which is 

 the one nearest to us; and I am also 

 interested in the White Mountain Na- 

 tional Forest. I hope Congress may 

 soon pass an act providing for these 

 forest reserves, and that the will of 



the people may be carried out. They 

 will be of great benefit to the entire 

 country. The old song I used to hear 

 when a boy, "Woodman, spare that 

 tree, touch not a single bough," does 

 not seem to be the order of the day, and 

 unless we can get these reservations 

 it will not be a great many years be- 

 fore our great forests will be things 

 of the past." 



Mrs. Ellen S. Cromwell, president 

 of the Women's National Press Asso- 

 ciation, and secretary of the Federa- 

 tion of Women's Clubs for the Dis- 

 trict of Columbia, says : 



"There is no subject of more vital 

 importance and interest to the present 

 and coming generation than those of 

 irrigation and the preservation of the 

 forests." 



The following "straight from the 

 shoulder" statement is from Curtis 

 Guild, Jr., Governor of the great 

 Commonwealth of Massachusetts : 



"I have steadily urged with all the 

 strength that is in me National pro- 

 tection of the Appalachian and White 

 Mountain Forest Reserves. Massa- 

 chusetts has been officially represent- 

 ed in every delegation that has waited 

 upon Congress on this subject. We 

 do not grudge the Western States 

 their much needed irrigation system. 

 Indeed, though not a conspicuous fea- 

 ture of the Roosevelt Administration, 

 I believe that the reclamation of the 

 alkali deserts of the West is likely to 

 remain with the Panama Canal as 

 the two most durable monuments left 

 for the increase of human happiness. 



"We in the East believe that we 

 should in similar fashion receive the 

 support of the West in our attempt 

 for the protection and preservation of 

 the Eastern water powers and water 

 supply. This is not a sectional ques- 

 tion, but a National question, and 

 should be treated in the National 

 spirit, in which Nevada and Massa- 

 chusetts should strive, not for their 

 own advantage at the expense of each 

 other, but for the common advantage 

 by mutual help." 



