SUMMER MEETING. 277 



Pursuing the question with regard to forestry, we have Mr. 

 M. O. Nelson, correspondent of the "Northwestern Lumber- 

 man." of Chicago; and I would like to call upon him to say a 

 few words on forest preservation from the standpoint of Min- 

 nesota lumbermen. 



ADDRESS OF M. O. XELSOX. 



Mr. Chairman, mcnibers of the horticultural and forestry asso- 

 ciations, I have been asked by the commercial club of Minneapolis 

 to 8i)eak a word in behalf of the club to the members present 

 today, and to e.xpress to theui the faithful and substantial interest 

 of the Minneapolis Commercial Club in the matter of forest preser- 

 vation. I think those of you who are acquainted with the birth of 

 the law that we have for the protection of our forests from fire know 

 full well the action of the commercial club in Minneapolis in the 

 passage of that law. I think, had it not been for the united action 

 of the commercial club of Minneapolis and Major McGinnis, that 

 law would have slipped into the waste paper basket of the legisla- 

 ture, even after all the stirring up our state had had from the forest 

 fires of 1894. And you will always find in any practical plans for 

 the preservation of the forests of Minnesota substantial friends and 

 co-workers in the members of these two commercial clubs of Minne- 

 apolis and St. Paul, which represent perhaps twenty-five hundred of 

 the strongest and best business men of the two cities. 



I want to say something to j'ou from the stand point of the lum- 

 bermen themselves. lam acquainted with, perhaps, the majority, 

 certainl\- the majority of the leading lumbermen of the state, from 

 my connection with them in a newspaper way. As Mrs. Partington 

 has said, I believe, " there is as much difference in people as in any 

 other class of men." I can say the same of lumbermen. There is 

 just as much difference in lumbermen as in any other class of men. 

 You will find a considerable portion among the lumbermen who 

 will be enthusiastic battlers for any practical plan laid out by the 

 forestry association for the preservation of the forest; others who 

 will give a tacit consent to anything carried on; but there are lum- 

 bermen who are veritable bandits in the destruction of the forests, 

 men who would burn the earth if they could do it. I have spoken 

 with them within the last few days concerning some plans which 

 the forestry association had in mind for the preservation of tlie 

 forests of the state; and I find that the sentiment with regard to the 

 question ranges all the way from a mild contempt to a real hopeful 

 interest. I find some of them quite favorable towards any measure 

 that may be taken for the preservation of the forests, and the}' have 

 been very helpful thus far in carrj-ing out the provisions of the law 

 that provides for the extinguishing and the prevention of forest 

 fire.**. I see here one of the posters which have been distributed in 

 the lumber districts during the past year to be posted bj- the various 

 counties for the prevention of forest tires. The lumbermen have 

 been very active in the enforcement of these rules, and have given 

 the help of their men all around to prevent fires in every way: and 



