TT1K STATE REVIEW. 



merely reads, thinks whole counties up north 

 to lie wasteland: tin.- ardent newspaper man 

 who i- anxious to put hi.- statement in a strik- 

 ing form, is apt to exaggerate IHI\V anil then. 

 The interested land 6n the other 



hand, tlu- man who does not farm the land. 

 but who buys lands from the state at r>o cents 

 and divides them up into lots, resorl lot-, or 

 other.-., and Rets twi-uty limes what he pay- 

 lor the land, he naturally enough is con\-inced 

 that this is all plowland. a regular paradise, 

 and he re only any discussion of the 



subject, but feels it his duty to dictate to the 

 .state what it shall do with its lands. 



The truth is usually along the middle line, 

 and so in this cage. In \Vashtenaw county the 

 good sense of the farmer has left aboui 25 

 per cent of all land in wood lots. In addition. 

 there are thousands of acres which the farmer 

 cleared year,- ago and now farms really at a 

 \\hat is true of \Yaslitcnaw holds for 

 mosl of -outhcni Michigan, and it is probabh 

 a conservative estimate to say that '2^ per cent 

 of the southern half of our state, an area. then. 

 ere-, i- largely WOpds now, 

 and ought to remain woods for all time. 



The Northern Half. 



As regard- the northern bait" of our state. 

 three points should be kept clearly in mind in 

 this discussion. 



1. There is no thought of discrediting 01 

 "running down" any county or community: it 

 is clear to any one that in each county there 

 are, as in Washtenaw, good lands and pool- 

 lands. 



:.'. The friends of forestry are not con- 

 cerned at present in the waste body of pri- 

 vate land-, the greater part of every county. 

 and land-, which in all probability make up 

 the better part of each county. 



3, What we are interested in. in this mat- 

 ter of forestry, are the state lands and the 

 tax lands, the" lands which have reverted ^ to 

 the state, over and over again, simply be- 

 cause people did not think enough of them' to 

 pay their tax. It is that body of laud which, 

 as "much as :>o years ago, amounted to about 

 U.OOO. 01)0 acres, and Ihictuatiugly stayed with 

 the state all these many yea;-s, so that as late 

 as 1807 they still amounted to 8,970,00;), or 

 practically half of all the north county lands. 

 Whether these land- are good or had, it seems 

 a useless enterprise to continue the past and 

 present policy of the state, namely of spending 

 the money of the state to try to force them 

 on the market at any price, spending millions 

 in doing so. when by keeping them and spend- 

 ing a little money in their protection we might 

 produce a forest and soon make these lands 

 not only self-supporting, but productive. At 

 present they are bought, denuded, burned and 

 turned back to the state, and the result you 

 all know. Tis the howling wilderness of man 

 made desert. 



As regards the character of these l-'iids. 



there is always one criterion which appeals to 



me more than all other claims put together. 



It is the verdict of the American farmer, the 



man who understands agriculture as his busi- 



, the man who has known these lands for 



iitury. the man to whom these lands were 



red by the state at any price, who could 



have them as early as 1SS1 at price's as low as 



cent per -10 acres. The American farmer 



ha- rendered his verdict; he has refused 



them, even as a. gift; '.^< per cent of these 



lands are unsettled anil unlilled; they are of 



no good to town, county or state, and are even 



nace to the owner of lands situated among 



them. These are the land- and their character. 



Ownership of the Lands. 



As regards the ownership of the lands in 

 Michigan, it is evident to any one, who is 

 willing to read the history of other people, 

 that today the state has a better cbanei to 

 foster forestry than it will have in time to 

 come Once cohmi/ed, even your jack pine 

 plains will present difficulties which an agri- 

 cultural state, a conservative state, will not 

 readily care to undertake. Today and for 



years the state has really owned these lands; 

 .ill it needs to do is to hold them and protect 

 ihem. and in addition save the useless expen- 

 diture of millions of dollars. 



A regards our second po:iit, little need be 

 said. The facts are so patent to us all. and 

 EV< ry time we need a piece of lumber we have 

 our memory jogged on this point. Our lum- 

 ber yard- are lull ol stuff which we ought to 

 raise and have to sell, while today tins mate- 

 rial is shipped thousands of miles and the 

 le of .Michigan are wasting hundreds of 

 thousands of dollars every year on freight 

 rates alone. The lumber and timber famine in 

 .Michigan has begun and is here to stay; the 

 farmer and townsman are hampered in their 

 building, by extortionate prices which are go- 

 ing higher every day. The development ol 

 Our state is beginning to feel the effect- of 

 nir wastefulness. 



As regards the sentiment of the people, it is 

 :t fact, and a most valuable part of our great 

 opportunity. We are your people, drive out 

 your woodsman and your woodworker, as we 

 have done during the past \"< years, teach the 

 people to live in tenement or hovel, and the 

 time will come when the people will settle 



huvn to a do nothing policy, just as all peo- 



get used to the so-called inevitable. 

 Our opportunity is before its, we may choose 

 an easy victory which will mean millions of 

 dollars in money every year. The right use 



if all of our land, our second greatest indus- 

 try assured, the people of onr state protected 

 against an exti tribute levied in form 



>f timber import. Yes-, it will mean far more, 

 it will do much to assure to us a good stal 

 beautiful state, peopled by good, pi 

 men and women. Let us choose wisely, that 

 vvc may earn the thanks, and not the censure. 

 of the ">. 01)0, oi)!> people who will be in our 

 before the end of thi.'. centurj. 



DISCUSSIONS OF FORESTRY. 



EX-MAYOR SWEET, LAND COMMISSIONER 

 ROSE AND MR. LORD JOIN IN THEM. 



Edwin F. Sweet, former mayor of Grand 

 Rapids, was called on for a word and he spoke 

 in part as follows: 



"I have interests in the southern part of 

 North Dakota, the James river valley region, 

 which is a rolling surface-, alluvial with clay 

 -nli soil. This was a part of a vast treeless 

 section and when the timber-culture act was 

 passed by the government many people took 

 advantage of it and planted here -box elder 

 and cottonwood principally, for these varie- 

 ties, though worthless, were most likely to 

 live. These tree claims were failures, due 

 principally to these three causes prairie lire.-. 

 drouth aud neglect. The people have made 

 no effort to protect the trees or to keep them 

 growing, yet trees will grow there. I have 

 white elms :'.() years old that are :'.0 feet in 

 height, green ash of the -ame age that .11 

 to 30 feet high, cedars and other varieties. 

 le there are beginning to reali/.e that they 

 have missed a great opportunity in not caring 

 for their trees. Timber protects crops and 

 orchards from hot winds in summer and trom 

 cold winds in winter. Artesian wells are help- 

 ing the growth of trees in that section, and 

 many farmers are putting them down. An 

 inch well driven to a depth of 1.0.">0 feet costs 



"Our own city has been put in jeopardy 

 through the elision of the- forests in its basin, 

 and tiiere is not a person here loday who has 

 not been affected financially by the destruc- 

 tion of the- u ' ii ids." 



The Land Commissioner. 



\\in. II. Rose, state land commissioner, was 

 next called to the platform and the lively dis- 

 cussion that followed, in which Mr. Rose. I'roi. 

 Roth and Mr. l.ond were the leading figures. 

 was the feature of the convention and was 

 productive of good. 



"Two great ipiestions are confronting the 

 people of Michigan," said Mr. Rose, with a 



smile, as 1 K - glanced at Mr. Hill "reforesta- 

 tion, and who \\ill be the next I'niled Slates 

 senator." lint the speaker did not continue 

 long in a jocular mood, lie took up the cud- 



al once and swung them vigorously 

 in awakening of the people. 



"Prof. Roth tells us that the people are 

 aroused, but there are some vacant seats here. 

 and there should not be. It is a question 

 whether the people of the state are as inter- 

 ested in this subject a- they should be. U 

 forestation so far has been nearly a failure. I 

 had hoped to bear discussion of changes in 

 statutes, if they need changing, and to learn 

 that you Were doing- things at this meeting. 

 There are too many generalities, and t bey- 

 have all been gone over time and again. 



"Why not do something? The present lire 

 law is no good, and there are proofs of it al 

 most every day. A number of people from the 

 norlh were in my office last evening, men i 

 had spent $000 in lighting fires, but in no ease 

 could 1 remunerate them in excess ol 

 limit fixed by law. There i- no fin 

 erative at all south of the south line ol Rbs 

 common county. I think that the law should 

 be extended to include the entire stale. \- 

 to the taxation question. 1 think that it should 

 be handled- carefully. The state land de, 

 mi-lit has been censured for the laws as they 

 now exist. .Vow, as to new laws, amendments 

 and the best policy to pursue what i- \oiir 

 iudgnient in the matter? I want to have the 

 opmion oi representative men." 



Prof. Roth "1 was in the ofiice of Mr. Wil- 

 dey. your predecessor, in I'.KI:;, inquiring al 

 certain description.-, and he said to me. 'I 

 nothing of these northern lands.' T 



1 northern country and 



to me up there, 'these hinds are appraised b\ 

 men wh < go through the country in top hue. 

 and who d-ui'l know a thing about them.' 



Mr. IJo.-i " to what my predece- 



may have knov. ,i. or of their methods, 1 can 

 say nothing, but I can gi\e you ueiailed - 

 ments regarding the state's holding-." 



Prof. Roth "I have the highest regard for 

 Mr. Rose, and ha\e the same high opinion of 

 Mr. Wildey, but the fact still remains that the 

 -tat'- land ofiice was without these records up 

 to l!);):;." 



Mr. Rose- -"I have these records, and they 

 have been secured at considerable expen-c Ir. 

 the sending out of competent men to examine 

 these lands." 



Prof. Roth "The states of Wyoming and 

 Montana do not have real good farming lands 

 except through irrigation, and in Washington 

 one side is tlooded while the other is arid, yel 

 these three states have set ?10 as a minimum 

 price on their slate lands. There was a hue 

 and cry over the matter at first, but this has 

 long since ceased and the wisdom of ihe law 

 is now recogni/ed. If this is true in an arid 

 country, is it lair for .Michigan to sell her 

 lands for a song:" 



Mr. Rose "Would you place a minimum 

 price of .*."> on Michigan's lands, and then 

 \\ould you permit grazing on them?" 



Prof. Roth -"If the state were unable to re- 

 -i them, 1 should say graze them until 

 -uch time as it can do 



Mr. Ko,e "The gracing propoMU' 

 to me directly opposed t reforesting." 



Prof. Roth- -"I stand .squarely on the plat- 

 form with President Roosevelt and the 

 eminent for the use. and the best Use, ot the 

 laud for the people." 



Mr. Rose "lo establish a minimum prn 

 v"> would exclude the sale of these lands. Then 

 the homestead law would come in. This con- 

 dition exists -the northern people say their 

 lands are good; they want neighbors, and 

 \oii ean scarcely blame them. 1 have adopted 

 this policy: When a man wanls a homestead 

 I look it up, and if located in the sand plains, 

 I tell him that it's not good enough for him. 

 Mow do you stand on the homestead privilege, 

 Prof. Roth?" 



Prof. Roth "The homestead act was all 

 right for Washicnaw county, but it's a pom 

 device on our barren plains. The act wa- good 



