WHAT I SAW OF FORESTRY IN EUROPE. 219 
of the legislature and congress to work for or against it, but the peo- 
ple voted on it directly and settled it. I asked if there was no legal 
objection or obstruction thrown in the way of the state acquiring 
possession of the railroad. They looked at’me with astonishment. 
“What do you mean?” Ireplied: “In our country when the people 
pass on a matter we have a court that sometimes declares that a 
law is not good, and the will of the people is overruled.” “What 1s 
this court? Where does it come from? Do the people make the 
court?” “Yes.” “And yet the court overrides the will of the people 
as expressed by their representatives?’ “Yes.” “Well, we have 
nothing of that kind here; the people are their own courts.” (Ap- 
plause.) 
Mr. Underwood: In your estimation how great a figure does 
the conservation of the timber or the growing of timber cut in the 
conservation of moisture? 
Mr. Owen:s As to the annual rainfall it does not seem to cut 
much of a figure. But in the distribution and control of rainfall 
forests exert a powerful influence for good. There are great forests 
in Switzerland that must remain there because they are absolutely 
inaccessible. So that it must be sufficiently well forested to have a 
favorable influence on rainfall. I was traveling through a valley 
one day and saw trees that must be large, though from the distance 
they were above me they seemed small, and it seemed they were 
growing right against the face of a perpendicular wall. I asked: 
“Must that timber be assigned by an official to be cut if anybody 
wants it?” “No,” was the reply, “if one wants to cut that he is 
welcome to it.”’ If it is cut it will fall into a bottomless abyss below 
or lodge against other trees, or must be hauled by ropes to the top 
of the cliff after cutting if it is secured. I said, “You say under 
these circumstances the timber is free?” “Yes.” Then never tell 
me again that republics are ungrateful! (Laughter.) 
Mr. Underwood: I asked what part those conditions would 
play in regard to the rainfall in our state? 
Mr. Owen: That is pretty well settled. The presence of 
forests, judged by the records we have, do not seem to have an im- 
portant influence on the total annual rainfall, but with the distribu- 
tion of rainfall they have much to do, We know that countries 
are much better off with forests than without, and we do know that 
deforested regions have proven so disastrous that reforesting was 
absolutely necessary. 
Mr. Sargent: What distance apart do they plant their trees? 
Mr. Owen: They don’t care much about that, unless it is to plant 
irregularly, or more as trees grow naturally. You see little farms, 
