DISCUSSION OF THE PINCHOT REPORT 457 



rest of the two million people dependent on sawmilling, logging, and 

 naval stores? And what shall we do with the rest of the 50,000 saw- 

 mills in the country? 



If we are to have forestry universally applied to private timberlands, 

 we must first place ourselves in the position of the lumberman in order 

 to understand the condition? under which he is working. Then, in- 

 stead of condemning him in the public eye, let us rather show the pub- 

 lic what needs to be done for him before we can reasonably expect him 

 to undertake to handle his timberlands so as to keep them productive. 



A yield tax system on limber with a very nominal tax on the land. 



A means by which the lumberman may secure loans at a low rate of 

 interest, the interest and principal to be paid when lumber is cut. 

 These loans could be secured by the timber during its growth ; the 

 timber covered by some kind of fire insurance and fire protection, 

 either Government or otherwise. Such loans to be applied only to the 

 payment of additional costs under forestry methods. 



Provision should be made for purchase or long-time lease b}^ the Gov- 

 ernment or State of timberland and logged-ofT land suitable only for 

 forest growth, the price paid for such lands lo depend largely upon 

 their forested condition at the ^ime of purchase or lease. 



These steps would go a long way toward solving the application of 

 forestry to private lands. They would enlist the sympathy and inter- 

 est rather than the antagonism of the lun,berman._ Further steps 

 would doubtless be advantageous and might become necessary, but 

 the steps described above should precede any other legislation. 



A possible method of post])r.ning the ultimate timber famine to which 

 there has been given little if any publicity is that of teaching the public 

 through an educational campaign the uses to which certain classes of 

 lumber may be put and the uses to which other higher grades and classes 

 should not be put, as well as the necessity of avoiding waste in the use 

 of forest products. When a frame house is built how many odds and 

 ends of boards and dimension material are left strewn about on the 

 ground when the carpenters have finished their work? Have vou 

 stopped to think that this source of waste is tremendous in the ao-o-rc- 

 gate? And who is it but the lumberman who has devised the standard 

 house with lumber ready cut to put together, involving the minimum 

 of waste? What becomes of all the old scrap paper? How much of it 

 is saved for the making of lower grades of paper which otherwise must 

 be made from fresh supplies of wood cut in the forests? If the short- 



