8 



MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS 



MICHIGAN 



ROADS AND FOREST: 



official Paper of The Michigan Road Makers Association ami 

 Michigan Forestry Association. 



70 Lamed Street West, Detroit, Michigan. 



Kntercd as Second-class Matter April 27. 1907. at the Post Office at Ue 

 troit. Michigan, under the Act of Congress of March J. 1879. 



Frank E. Carter ..Edito 



PUBLISHED EVERY MONTH 



THE STATE: REVIEW PUBLISHING co., 



SUBSCRIPTION) ONE DOLLAR A YEAR, 

 PAYABLE IN ADVANCE. 



FOREST LEGISLATION SHOULD BE 

 PASSED. 



The officials of the state land office are mak- 

 ing a characteristic fight against the bills sug- 

 gested by the Commission of Inquiry for the 

 benefit of the state in its land department, 

 and it behooves the people who have an in- 

 terest in the conservation of the resources of 

 Michigan to let their senators hear from them 

 in no uncertain manner and demand that they 

 pass this legislation. 



The bill withdrawing from sale all lands 

 held by the state has passed the house, and 

 is now in the senate. In order to prejudice 

 the latter body against these reform measures, 

 the officials in the land office are going to 

 all lengths, even to the grossest misrepresenta- 

 tions of the facts. 



The report of the commission, beginning on 

 page 100, sets forth specific instances to show 

 that the state has been absolutely robbed of 

 an immense amount, and immediate steps are 

 demanded to prevent a continuance of these 

 conditions until laws are passed taking better 

 care of the situation. 



The report shows that valuations were 

 placed on lands without the appraiser of the 

 state land office going near them taking 

 supervisors' figures, etc. The method was such 

 a lax one that no business man would tolerate 

 it for a minute. The average loss to the state 

 which was made possible by these low figures 

 on the 21,455 acres examined was $10.20 per 

 acre. The investigation brought out the fact 

 that less than 5 per cent of the lands sold 

 went to actual settlers, but that they did go 

 to speculators, many of them not even resi- 

 dents of the state. 



The land office also issued homestead grants 

 without the requirements of the law as to the 

 making of a home being complied with, the 

 grantee in many instances never having lived 

 on the place. 



The agents of the land office collected tres- 

 pass, and the money was not turned in to 

 the state. Telegrams and letters from the 

 land office show this. The commission also 

 found that trespass settlements were made on 

 a basis that did not pay for the hundredth 

 part of the timber removed, and also found 

 cases where some poor devil of a settler, who 

 did not have a "stand-in" with the agents, was 

 squeezed dry. The land office evidently had 

 absolutely no control over this part of the 

 work. It was also discovered that certain 

 speculators were selling lands from weeks to 

 months before they bought these lands of the 



state, clearly showing that they had the "pull" 

 to get what they wanted from the land office 

 and when they wanted it. 



The land commissioner states that 1,022,424 

 acres of land were sold for $1,2S4.'.)!I2.S1. Th 

 81,455 acres examined were scattered over th 

 lower peninsula, and, although these lands did 

 not compare with the upper peninsula lands 

 for timber values, even here the average loss 

 to the state shown was above $10 per acre 

 so that the state really lost over $10,000,000 

 and the land office has nothing to 'boast o 

 in bringing only 10 per cent of the land values 

 into the treasury. That such an enormous 

 loss would naturally have to follow is showr 

 by the fact that the land office had appraisec 

 200 acYes in Section 22 of Town 35 east, in 

 Cheboygan county, at $1 per acre, or $200 

 and the value of the timber, as shown by the 

 experts employed by the commission, alone 

 was $4,436. This particular timber stand was 

 sold, after our men had examined the land 

 to a lumber company for $4,000, clearly estab- 

 lishing the correctness of the estimate. 



The land office apparently inspired the Lans- 

 ng State Republican to say, in its issue of 

 February 27, that "certain large holders of 

 unimproved lands are pressing for the with- 

 drawal from sale of all state lands, or their 

 appraisal at prohibitive prices. There is al- 

 ways considerable demand for such lands, and 

 f the private holdings are all that are obtain- 

 tble a material advance in price can be se- 

 cured," and further insinuates that the com- 

 plete withdrawal of the lands for a period of 

 ive years is the object sought for in the 

 bills. 



This is a gross misstatement. What is in- 

 ended is to put a price on the lands that will 

 bring in their value to the state, and not leave 

 hem, as they are now, the prey of unscrupul- 

 ous individuals, who do not hesitate to take 

 advantage of the rotten conditions that exist 

 i ml buy the lands for a song. 



That the Commission of Inquiry has brought 

 ut some truths is shown by the fact that a 

 and company has made application for prac- 

 ically all the state tax lands in Chippewa 

 and Mackinac counties, and is getting a list 

 if all the state lands in Gogebic and School- 

 raft counties. This shows that the land grab- 

 icrs are making an effort to get under cover 

 >efore all the "soft snaps" are taken away 

 rom them. 



On page 136, Section 9, of its report, the 

 ommission suggests that a minimum price of 

 15 be placed on the lands, plus the value of 

 he timber. Where the land for agricultural 

 urposes is worth more than $5 per acre this 

 igher valuation should be placed. Land that 

 s not worth $5 per acfe for agricultural pur- 

 oscs is not fit for this use at all, and should 

 >e reserved for a purpose to which it is 

 dapted. At the present no-limit policy the 

 ands are taken for the timber values only, 

 ml after the buyer has removed the timber 

 e allows the land to revert to the state for 

 on-payment of taxes, where it becomes the 

 otirce of endless expense to the state in clerk 

 ire in the auditor general's office, advertising, 

 tc. The urgent necessity for the emergency 

 ill is readily seen by a perusal of the above 

 acts, as the conditions become worse from 

 ay to day and the Inss to the state greater. 



with every delay. The bill fixing a minimum 

 price of $5 per acre, plus the value of the 

 timber, should be enacted, so as to put an end 

 to the present system, which is making rich 

 men of all who are willing to take the lands 

 at the stupidly or fraudulently low valuations 

 placed on the land by the land office 

 appraisers. 



The land commissioner will find few of these 

 grabbers anxious to mandamus him to compel 

 him to sell the lands if he will follow out the 

 present law, which requires him to put an 

 honest and true value upon the lands; for if 

 these individuals know that they will have to 

 pay $12 per acre for lands worth only $12 per 

 acre for land and timber, they will not be so 

 eager for them. It is only the present policy 

 of the land office of giving $12 of value for $1 

 that makes them anxious to buy state lands. 



Having placed a minimum price on the 

 lands, the state must protect them from fire, 

 which is the only police duty that the state 

 can undertake at this time in return for the 

 taxes it imposes. 



Another of the deliberate misstatements 

 made by the opponents of these bills is that 

 the commission recommends reforestation. 

 This is not the case. On page 29 of the report 

 the commission says that "Natural, rather than 

 artificial reforestation should be relied on." 



The present appeal of the land commissioner 

 : or an investigation of his office appears to 

 ie merely a subterfuge, and intended to blind 

 the legislature and the public. He knows that 

 t took a full year's steady work on the part 

 of at least five men to prepare the report of 

 the commission, and that any investigation 

 hat the legislature could make in the short 

 time allotted it would develop nothing of im- 

 portance. It looks as if he hoped to delay 

 action, if possible, until after the end of the 

 session, and thus kill the suggested measures. 



The cause of the friends of these bills is 

 i clean one, and has the best interests of 

 he state as the ultimate object. 



PLANTING THE TREE. 



What do we plant when we plant the tree? 



We plant the ship which will cross the sea; 

 We plant the mast to carry the sail; 



We plant the planks to withstand the gale 

 The keel, the keelson and beams and knee; 



We plant the ship when we plant the tree. 



What do we plant when we plant the tree? 



We plant the homes for you and me; 

 We plant the rafters, the shingles, the floors; 



We plant the studding, the laths, the doors, 

 The beams and siding, all parts that be 



We plant the home when we plant the tree. 



VYhat do we plant when we plant the tree? 



A thousand things that we daily see; 

 We plant the spires that out-tower the crag, 



We plant the staff for our country's flag, 

 Ye plant the shade from the hot sun free; 

 We plant all these when we plant the tree. 



Henry Abbey. 



An interesting meeting of the Stanton For- 

 stry Association was held recently. Progress 

 ias reported in securing low prices on shade 

 and forest trees for planting. Plans were for- 

 mulated for interesting the schools of Mont- 

 calm county in Arbor Day exercises. It was 

 voted to offer a prize of live dollars in gold 

 to the pupils of the County Normal for the 

 best essay on "Forestry," from an outline to 

 be suggested by the association. 



