NATIOXAL OR STATE CONTROL 109 



istration? Jn more than one State the forest departments are steril- 

 ized ; in some, to my personal knowledge, positively bad. ^ 

 Success in keeping forest lands productive calls for unity and sta- 

 bility in policy and management. To scatter the control among the 

 States would be to subdivide and distribute it among numerous com- 

 parativel\- weak and frequently changing hands. A variety of State 

 jurisdictions over what is distinctly one problem, nation-wide in scope 

 and in effect, in my judgment cannot but fail. Moreover, there is no 

 argument for State control which does not advocate with equal force 

 the transfer of the National Forests to the States, with similar stan- 

 dards, supervision, and inspection by the Nation. 



THE NATION ONLY CAN SUCCEED. 



Once more, the kind of executive machinery we use to keep trees 

 growing on forest lands is simply a question of how best to get the 

 desired results. I am clear that only the National Government can do 

 what the situation demands. To try State control first would, I think, 

 be merely to lose time. The problem is National, and the Nation alone 

 is strong and steady enough to handle it.^ 



^ Articles will follow on the industrial and other phases of the Com- 

 mittee's Report. 



