FOREST CONSERVATION 



415 



well ; if not, he would, for the immediate 

 present, be out that much more money than 

 his competitor, and during dull periods, such 

 as now, when prices were close to the cost 

 line, even for the better grades of lumber, he 

 would hardly feel disposed to contract for 

 such an outlay. 



The Government only owning about 

 twenty-two per cent, of our forest area, can- 

 not alone, to any great degree, efifect what 

 we are seeking in this conference, so far as 

 forests are concerned. It might, however, 

 accomplish the purpose in one of the follow- 

 ing ways : 



First. The Government could, by a con- 

 tractual relation with the owners of the for- 

 ests where lumbering operations are now be- 

 ing carried on (who constitute at least eighty 

 per cent, of the timber holdings of the 

 United States), provide that conservation and 

 reforestation should be practiced under rules 

 prescribed by the Forest Service, and assess 

 the cost thereof against the timber lands pro- 

 portionately. These rules should provide 

 that the lumbering operations, so far as con- 

 servation and reforestation were concerned, 

 should be conducted under governmental 

 control ; that no more timber should be cut 

 than was necessary to supply the current de- 

 mands, thus maintaining such uniformity of 

 prices as would justify the operator to utilize 

 every log the tree would produce; that only 

 trees of a certain size should be cut ; that 

 seed trees, properly distributed, should be 

 left ; that the young growth should be pro- 

 tected from fires and other elements of de- 

 struction, and it would seem clear that the 

 establishment of such a relationship would 

 certainly accomplish this highly desired ob- 

 ject. 



Second. A plan might be worked out 

 jointly between the owners of the timber 

 lands, and the Government, by which conser- 

 vation and reforestation would be practiced 

 along such lines as the Government might lay 

 down, as outlined above, and the timber own- 

 ers be protected in the prices of all lands 

 cut over and handled under the conditions 

 prescribed. 



Whatever plan is adopted must furni?-h an 

 incentive, a substantial inducement to the 

 timber owner, to forego a present gain for 

 the public good, and in this matter it can 

 only be accomplished by governmental co- 

 operation. And what is done should be done 

 quickl}', for the time is fast approaching 

 when our forests will be so nearly gone that 

 it will be too late. 



Will the Government avail itself of this 

 golden opportunity to lend its aid to the 

 conservation of this splendid natural re- 

 source, in order to supply the timber for fu- 

 ture generations ; be wise and patriotic 

 enough to provide for the inevitable result 

 that must occur before the middle of the 

 twentieth century, and thereby perform the 

 true function of all good governments in the 

 promoti©n of the health, wealth, and pros- 

 perity of the people? Or, with climatic 



changes following the destruction of our for- 

 ests, shall manufacture die with them, and 

 commerce fail as a natural result of agricul- 

 tural and manufr.cturing decadence? 



Disclaiming all partisan or political refer- 

 ences, and speaking only of economic condi- 

 tions as we find them, I do not think I 

 should neglect to say that the present demor- 

 alizing conditions existing in our commer- 

 cial and manufacturing life, and the conse- 

 quent waste and loss incident thereto, and 

 especially incident to the wasteful destruc- 

 tion of hundreds of thousands of acres of 

 timber annually is, in my judgment, due 

 largely to the pernicious effect of that class 

 of legislation which, by its application, has 

 placed an absolute prohibition on every form 

 of agreement looking to conservation ; has 

 placed a ban upon all meetings and discus- 

 sions having for their object the adoption of 

 the most salutary measures for the preserva- 

 tion of this natural resource, and the instant 

 and unfair denunciation of every meeting of 

 the so-called "Lumber Trust," which does 

 not and never did exist; has produced such a 

 condition of mind among lumbermen, that 

 they feel that they can no longer meet to- 

 gether for the general discussion of matters 

 so vitally affecting their interests and the 

 welfare of this nation, without subjecting 

 themselves to the humiliation of a prosecu- 

 tion. This condition in the lumber business 

 has led to the reduction of the wage scale of 

 hundreds of thousands of men, affecting 

 many millions of people; it has left twenty 

 per cent, of the timber in the forest to waste ; 

 and unless we have relief, these evils will 

 increase and others will follow in their wake. 



Attempts at compulsory competition is our 

 present commercial nightmare. Such com- 

 petition is not healthy but disastrous, and 

 serves only, in the end, to create the most 

 pernicious monopoly by destroying all com- 

 petition — it means the survival of the 

 strongest and not the "fittest." 



Is it not sufficient for all that our re- 

 sources should be conserved and saved for 

 all generations; is it right or just that a 

 great industry should suffer, and generations 

 to live hereafter be deprived of an adequate 

 supply of lumber, in order that a prejudice 

 be vindicated, and the consumer of to-day 

 buy his lumber at less than cost? 



And in this connection, it may be well to 

 say that a reduction of our tariff on lumber 

 would at once bring us into direct and disas- 

 trous competition with lumber from Canada, 

 where stumpag.e is cheaper and wages lower, 

 and where the consequent tendency toward 

 wastefulness necessitates corresponding dis- 

 regard on our part. Waste is loss, and adds 

 nothing to consumption. We want greater 

 consumption, but we should conserve and re- 

 produce, not waste. 



The part played by the United States Steel 

 Corporation since its organization, in the 

 maintenance of staple prices, while obtaining 

 a profit and not improperly using its power, 

 is a most substantial demonstration of the 



