12 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Among the Benguet Pines. 

 A sample of the admirable roads constructed under the united states administration. 



some years since. An unsuccessful 

 effort was made at that time to have it 

 consolidated with the bureau of agri- 

 culture, and it has since had to struggle 

 to justify its existence as a separate entity 



As the executive official exercising 

 control over it, I sought to accomplish 

 two things. The first was to demon- 

 strate that its continued existence was 

 justified on financial grounds, regardless 

 of the importance of preventing wasteful 

 forest destruction, by the increase in 

 insular revenues which resulted from 

 its activities in stimulating healthful 

 development of the lumber industry, 

 and in assisting the bureau of internal 

 revenue to collect the amounts due the 

 government from lumbermen. 



My efforts in this regard met with a 



considerable degree of success. I was 

 at first refused an increased appropria- 

 tion necessary if officers of the Forest 

 Service were to be sent into the great 

 island of Mindanao, where practically 

 unrestricted cutting operations were 

 being conducted, and was advised that 

 I could in my own discretion take such 

 officers from other places where they 

 were then employed and put them into 

 this territory if I felt that their presence 

 there would result in profit to the govern- 

 ment. I acted upon this suggestion 

 and the increase in forest revenue from 

 Mindanao within a year was such as 

 fully to demonstrate the correctness of 

 my contention. This brought a small 

 permanent increase in the working force 

 of the bureau. 



