64 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [DEC. 9, 



practicable, the further growth of forests thereon. It shall also 

 have charge of the public interests of the State, with regard to 

 forests and tree-planting, and especially with reference to forest 

 fires, in every part of the State. It shall have, as to all lands 

 now or hereafter included in the Forest Preserve, but subject to 

 the provisions of this Act, all the powers now vested in the Com- 

 missioners of the Land Office and in the Comptroller as to such 

 of the said lands as are now owned by the State. The Forest 

 Commissioners may, from time to time, prescribe rules or regu- 

 lations, and may, from time to time, alter or amend the same, 

 affecting the whole or any part of the Forest Preserve, and for 

 its use, care, and administration ; but neither such rules or 

 regulations, nor anything herein contained, shall prevent, or 

 operate to prevent, the free use of any road, stream, or water, 

 as the same may have been heretofore used, or as may be 

 reasonably required in the prosecution of any lawful business." 



This clothes the Commission with very ample authority and 

 power over the important interests entrusted to it. As a general 

 provision, it seems all that could be asked. 



The provision empowering the officers under the Commission 

 to arrest without warrant and prosecute for violations of the 

 forestry laws, has proved of little avail, and must continue so to 

 prove, from the fact that in the Adirondack region nine-tenths 

 of the residents are either directly or indirectly connected with 

 the lumbering industry, and have so large a sympathy with those 

 who cut timber or otherwise trespass upon the lands of the 

 State, that no local magistrate will bring the accused to an 

 impartial trial, and hardly could if he were so disposed. A 

 criminal conviction is quite impossible. 



The Commission has found the same difficulty in its endea- 

 vors to recover damages for trespass under civil process, and it 

 has asked the Legislature to make a law providing for the trial 

 of such cases in any county within the Preserve which the Com- 

 missioners may designate. Bat so far such enactment has not 

 been had, and the damages awarded by the courts for the cut- 

 ting and removing of timber and bark from the State lands have 

 been very meagre in comparison with what they should have 

 been. 



Ample provisions are made for the prevention of forest-fires. 

 The supervisor of every town in the State, outside the counties 

 named in the Forest Preserve, is charged with the duty of pro- 

 tecting the State lands against trespass, under the direction of 

 the Commission. He is also ex-officio the fire-warden of his 

 town. 



Every railroad company whose road runs through waste or 

 forest lands, or lands liable to be overrun with fires, in this 



