CONDITIONS ON CASS LAKE RESERVE. 339 



this fall when this subject came up for discussion. Four-fifths 

 of the people in that room had never heard of this forest re- 

 serve, and to those who had it was simply a name without any 

 meaning, and they took no special interest in it, but as soon as 

 they knew what it was and what it meant, immediately there 

 was a deep interest evinced, and a movement was started by 

 one of our prominent business men, and it is supported by the 

 best business men of our town. If the people could be educated, 

 as was suggested last summer, if an exhibit be prepared next 

 fall and shown to the people at the state fair you could not 

 teach them any better business or in a better way than that. 

 (Applause.) 



The President : This reminds me of a report I saw some 

 time ago from one district in the state of Maine which stated 

 that there were cut over two million trees from six, eight to 

 ten feet in height for the Christmas trade. Every winter we 

 see in our markets huge piles of trees sacrificed for this Christ- 

 mas holiday — which is one that we should keep for our chil- 

 dren — and yet are we not taking what belongs to the future 

 generation in order to please the children of today? From 

 three to five and eight cents apiece are paid for the trees, and 

 yet for that paltry sum they go through the for-est and cut off 

 the young trees that are growing. 



PRESENT STATUS OF THE MINNESOTA NATIONAL 

 FOREST RESERVE, AUGUST 10, 1906. 



MRS. LYDIA PHILLIPS WILLIAMS, SEC'y. 



Congress closed without passing any legislation affecting the 

 Morris Act under which the forest reserve was created. 



A bill, drawn by the friends of forestry, was introduced by 

 Congressman Tawney June 4th, 1906, which provided for the pay- 

 ment to the Indians for their land and seed trees, and also for a 

 modified boundary line, to which the entire Minnesota delegation 

 agreed. 



The bill was expected to pass and close a long protracted con- 

 troversy, and it seemed to fail of passage merely because it was 

 not taken up in committee early enough in the year. 



