47 



want to find out how much a tree is valued, tell them to go over to France." 

 He then told me about an incident which happened in a rest camp in 

 which his battalion was placed. They were constructing a retreat when 

 a hard-boiled old sergeant concluded that they needed a tree as a sort of a 

 screen and began poking around to find one. He finally decided on a young 

 sapling about four inches in diameter and promptly cut it down. A hornet's 

 nest broke loose around his ears. A major rushed up and yelled, "Who cut 

 that tree?" The French had command of each billeting sector so a 

 Frenchman rushed up and demanded to know who cut that tree. Before 

 they got through with that sergeant, my son said that he was afraid the 

 story would get to General Pershing himself. Those people over there 

 no longer have the forests that we still possess. Practically all of their 

 trees were planted by man so they have learned to value them. But we 

 go on and waste our heritage like a nation of drunken sailors and when 

 somebody comes around with a suggestion that we should not only con- 

 serve and protect that which we possess, but map out a policy of replace- 

 ment, the matter is treated as a source of Jocularity. 



I met a friend of mine down stairs before I came up here to speak to 

 you and he said : "Well, what bunch of cranks are you going to talk to this 

 evening?" People of this day consider a person who has a problem a 

 crank. I thank God that you men are here to work out ways to protect 

 our land for coming generations. It is necessary to cut our trees, of course, 

 but they should be cut only as our needs demand, and cut wisely. 



I am not going to make a speech, I am just going to present Professor 

 H. H. Chapman of Yale Forest School. (Applause) 



PROF. H. H. CHAPMAN : When I was asked to address this confer- 

 ence, I consented, but I did so before I knew I would have to present my 

 paper at a banquet. I am afraid this is going to seem very dry to you and 

 I think another subject might have been presented with much better grace 

 at this time. The subject of forest taxation has the reputation of emptying 

 the hall faster than any other subject. (Laughter) 



From the time when the possibility of handling forest lands to produce 

 future crops of timber, instead of stripping and abandoning them, was 

 first discussed in this country, two arguments have been advanced by for- 

 est owners as imposing insuperable obstacles to the undertaking of for- 

 estry; namely, fire and taxes. Lumbermen in Minnesota and elsewhere 

 expressed themselves eager to maintain their forest lands in growing tim- 

 ber, but unfortunately such a policy required investments in holding land, 

 young timber, etc., and there was no reasonable chance of realizing on 

 this investment because of the certainty of destruction by fire, or confisca- 

 tion by taxation. Therefore they were reluctantly compelled to strip the 

 land bare and let it burn. 



Foresters met this challenge by undertaking to provide fire laws and 

 administration and the time is approaching when the risk of destruction 

 by fire will be brought under reasonable control it never did present much 

 of a problem in hardwood regions of farm woodlots. 



At the same time the question of reform in forest taxation was taken 

 up, but here very great obstacles were encountered and up to the present 

 time no general solution has been reached, nor are there any laws in oper- 

 ation which have become generally used or promise to meet the situation. 



