394 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



for that year (1877) with a discussion of methods of dealing with 

 depredators upon pubHc timberlands, which concluded with the fol- 

 lowing recommendation for legislation embracing certain of the basic 

 principles underlying a national forest policy : 



"Having thus given in brief what has been done in the past and what is 

 being done now, it remains to examine the question with reference to the meas- 

 ures which should be adopted in the future for protecting and preserving the 

 timber, or for the survey and sale of the remaining timber lands. In consid- 

 ering this question it may, I think, be safely assumed that the laws which are 

 now in force' providing for the disposition of the public lands are not the 

 best, when applied to timber lands. . . . That some distinction and separate 

 legislation in regard to the timber lands is now necessary, will not be ques- 

 tioned by any person who will take the trouble to investigate the question of 

 timber supply and its probable duration under existing laws. 



"If the problem of future supply and the means necessary to secure it did not 

 enter in, some legislation for the purpose of protecting the Government against 

 mere pecuniary loss would be necessary. But the necessity of early adopting 

 some policy looking to the preservation of timber for future supply is of so 

 much greater importance that I desire to call your attention more especially to it. 



"Assuming, therefore, that present laws are inadequate, either for the sale or 

 preservation of the timber lands, the inquiry to what end should future legis- 

 lation be directed is now to be considered. Shall the timber lands be surveyed 

 and sold at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, or shall they be ap- 

 praised and said at a fair valuation, or shall their extent and location be ascer- 

 tained, and they be held by the Government, and the timber sold under such 

 rules and regulations as may be provided by law, looking to a renewal of the 

 iorest by a careful preservation of the young timber, as is provided by law and 

 carried into effect in some of the states of Europe. . . . (Italics are the 

 author's.) 



"All past history shows only two successful methods of preserving timber in 

 densely populated countries ; the one, by the Government retaining the title to 

 the land and exercising a watchful supervision over the sale and disposition of 

 the timber, as in Germany, where large revenues are annually derived from 

 this source; the other, through law of entail, as in England, by means of which 

 a landed aristocracy holds the soil and has the aid of the strength and [of] 

 well executed laws to enable the preservation of the timber. . . . 



"In an official report, which must necessarily be brief, a subject of the in- 

 terest and importance of this cannot be discussed at such length or in such 

 manner as to present all the arguments as to what should be done. The disas- 

 trous climatic effect resulting from the removal of forests might be urged sep- 

 arately as a reason for their preservation, if the scope or extent of an official 

 report would warrant it. As I cannot enter this field of argument, for the 

 reason above given, I will venture only to express the hope that you may be 

 able to secure investigation by Congress into this very important subject. 

 . . . From the examination I have been able to give this question, I have 

 concluded to recommend to you : 



