1908 



EDITORIAL 



355 



who thereupon inquired into his lord- 

 ship's title. 



"Where did you get this land?" 



"From my father," answered the 

 duke. 



"And where did he get it?" asked 

 the tramp. 



"From his father," answered the 

 duke. 



"And where did your first ancestor 

 get it?" asked the tramp. 



"He fought for it," answered the 

 duke. 



"Then I will fight you for it," an- 

 swered the tramp, who proceeded to 

 suit action to word. 



This whole question of rights to 

 land was learnedly discussed in 1850 

 by Herbert Spencer in Chapter IX, 

 of his Social Statics. He there reached 

 the conclusion that the duke reached. 

 His readers were left to draw, if they 

 chose, the same inference drawn by 

 the tramp. 



Jefferson declared that "the earth 

 belongs in usufruct -to the generation 

 at any time living upon it." And this 

 apparently is the President's view. 

 The application of this principle will 

 seriously interfere with the time-hon- 

 ored custom whereby generations, 

 long since gone, control, in funda- 

 mental ways, the generation living. 

 It will interfere seriously with the pro- 

 cess whereby the "dead hand" reaches 

 forth from the grave and rules a liv- 

 ing world. 



The President's principle will, of 

 course, be challenged. But let the 

 wordy contest come. For wars on the 

 forum may prevent wars on the field. 

 In any event, they clear the air; and, 

 with the modern growth of the trust 

 and special privilege, the air must be 

 cleared if the nation would escape 

 the advent of evil days. 

 )^ 5>i !^ 

 The Appalachian Bill in Congress 



In his message of April 27 Presi- 

 dent Roosevelt said : "Forest reserves 

 should be established throughout the 

 Appalachian-White Mountain region 

 wherever it can be shown that they 

 will have a direct and real connection 



with the conservation and improve- 

 ment of navigable rivers." 



On April 20 were introduced into 

 the House the Pollard Bill, H. R. 

 21220; the Weeks Bill, H. R. 21221 ; 

 and on April 28, the Lever Bill, H. R. 

 21357. Epitomes of these three bills 

 appeared in Bulletin No. 39 of The 

 American Forestry Association. No 

 one of the bills was favorably reported. 



On May 16, the Senate passed the 

 Brandegee Bill, S. 4825. Its leading 

 provisions follow : 



The Secretary of Agriculture is to pre 

 serve navigability of navigable streams, 

 to acquire lands more valuable for regu- 

 lation of stream-flow than for other pur- 

 poses, and situated on watersheds in 

 Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North 

 Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Ala- 

 bama, Kentucky, Tennessee, New Hamp- 

 shire and Maine. Minerals and mer- 

 chantable timber may be reserved by 

 owner, to be cut or mined under Gov- 

 ernment regulations. 



The Secretary is to advertise for lands 

 and accept lowest bids. No land must be 

 taken over until State Legislature has 

 consented, and ceded to the United 

 States jurisdiction over offenses against 

 Federal laws. Land titles must be sat- 

 isfactory to Attorney General. 



Five million dollars are made immediate- 

 ly available. The Secretary is to report 

 annually to Congress on lands purchased, 

 with cost. 



Small agricultural areas included may 

 be sold by Secretary in eighty-acre 

 homesteads, jurisdiction over land there- 

 upon reverting to State. The Secretary 

 may authorize sale of products of lands 

 acquired. 



Lands acquired under this act to be 

 held and administered as National For- 

 est lands, under provisions of Section 

 24 of Act of March 3, 1891. The State 

 to retain criminal and civil jurisdiction 

 over persons, save for offenses against 

 the United States. Twenty-five per cent 

 of annual receipts from each National 

 Forest to be paid to State for benefit 

 of public schools and public roads. 



Secretary may administer and protect 

 private forest lands upon watersheds 

 upon which are forest reservations; 

 owner to cut and remove timber ac- 

 cording to regulations agreed upon. 



Senator Brandegee accompanied his 

 bill with a fifteen-page supplemental 

 report, Calendar Number 490. This 

 report gives reasons why National 

 Forests are necessary: i. To protect 



