20 PRACTICAL FORESTRY IN 



est as well as his, is upset by two factors the danger that 

 his investment will burn up and the practical certainty that 

 taxes will eat up all profit before the harvest. If he figures 

 on fire protection at his own expense against the hazard as it 

 now exists, and the tax burden on cut-over land which is 

 indicated at present, his engagement in forest growing will 

 be negligible from the point of view of public welfare. In 

 some cases he may hold the land awhile, in few can he afford 

 to protect it, in still fewer is he justified in actually doing 

 anything to insure reforestation. 



If a man proposes to build a factory or railroad in a com- 

 munity the inhabitants usually encourage him. They do not 

 refuse him fire protection in the first place and then, if his 

 plant burns down, threaten to burn it again and keep up full 

 taxation on the vacant land. They offer every fair induce- 

 ment to get the industry and keep it flourishing. They expect 

 it to pay its just share of taxation, but want it to continue 

 to do so as long as possible. 



TAX NEW CROP WHEN HARVESTED 



It has been shown that the first obstacle to reforestation of 

 private land can be removed only by supporting a fire patrol 

 and creating public sentiment which will reduce the number 

 of fires. The second is even more wholly in the hands of the 

 people, for by the system of taxation they impose they decide 

 whether it shall continue an earning power and a tax source 

 forever or be abandoned to become a desert; non-producing, 

 non-taxable, and a menace to stream-flow. Whether its owner 

 has made money on the original crop has no bearing on the re- 

 sult, nor has his being rich or poor, resident or alien. Cut- 

 over land presents a distinct problem to him. He will and 

 should pay a full tax on its earning power, which will be 

 demonstrated when he successfully brings another crop to 

 maturity. But he cannot carry an investment for fifty years 

 or more without return, with a risk of total loss by fire up to 



