FOREST SERVICE SALARIES 399 



hovering in the background, it is not at all improbable that the over- 

 throw of the whole system might follow. 



Grant, however, for the sake of argument, that so far all is lovely, 

 and that the public, local and general, is at this time thoroughly deter- 

 mined that the National Forests are a permanent institution. How 

 long will this determination endure? How long, for instance, will the 

 cattleman in his super-six acquiesce in the decisions of a ranger who 

 does not command the salary of the least of his straw-bosses? How long 

 will the timber operator abide by the judgment of the sale officer whom 

 he can command at will by making him his employee? Just so long 

 as such rangers and sale officers are big men who stick to small salaries 

 through a love of the work or a spirit of service. But carry the process 

 beyond the sticking point, and replace them by small men who accept 

 small salaries because they can command no other, and you have a 

 radically different condition and one which the forest-using public 

 will not long endure. Instead of small salaries evoking a premium of 

 additional respect, you pass very suddenly to the very opposite effect. 



There is much evidence to prove that the Forest Service is at this 

 moment passing the critical point where big men find it not only un- 

 profitable, but even impossible, to hang on any longer. It would be 

 idle to hope that the able men returning from military service will avert 

 the crisis, because they will no more than suffice to replace unqualified 

 men taken on during their absence. We arrive, therefore, at the end 

 of the same old circle — the point impending demoralization, the conse- 

 quent alienation of public support, and the possible undermining of the 

 whole structure. 



I assume it is unnecessary to argue that the collapse of the great 

 experiment in national forestry would have widespread efifect. State 

 forestry, private forestry, forest schools, the profession in general, and 

 even other fields of conservation would be profoundly affected. The 

 writer contends, therefore, that the Forest Service salary question is 

 a menace to the whole forestry movement in America. Its solution 

 is a matter that should interest every forester and every good citizen 

 interested in the conservation of natural resources. 



Now, the foregoing prognostications, correct or incorrect, are of little 

 consequence unless they suggest a prompt and practicable remedy for 

 the existing evil. I believe that they do suggest such a remedy. But 

 first let us inquire what remedies have been already tried, and find out 

 why they have failed. 



Redress in the past has been sought by furnishing Congress with 



