140 FOREST LANDS FOE THE PROTECTION OF WATERSHEDS. 



lands onto the Government, especially when the price is to be very 

 high, and will insist that there he an equitable distribution of these 

 billions of dollars; and considering also the enormity of the whole 

 proposition, is it not the part of wisdom, common sense, and sound 

 business judgment first to obtain detailed, accurate, and reliable infor- 

 mation in order that a comprehensive, well-devised, and practical 

 policy may be worked out and followed? 



Considering also that the proposed bill is an entering wedge to such 

 a gigantic proposition, I feel constrained to dissent from the views of 

 the majority, and believe that for the present that H. R. 21986, passed 

 the first session of this Congress, is the proper legislation. Its pro- 

 visions are clearly set forth in Report No. 1700, a copy of which is 

 appended. 



GILBERT N. HAUGEN. 



[House Report No. 1700, Sixtieth Congress, first session.] 



The Committee on Agriculture, to which was referred House bill 21986, has had 

 the same under consideration and reports as follows: 



At the beginning of the present session a number of bills were introduced and 

 referred to the Committee on Agriculture having for their general purpose the pur- 

 chase of certain tracts of land in the White Mountains and in the Southern Appala- 

 chain Mountains with a view to preserving the forests on said lands and conserving 

 the flow in the rivers having their sources therein. The committee considered its 

 most pressing duty to be, first, to prepare the appropriation bill for the Department 

 of Agriculture. Before the consideration of this bill had been completed a resolu- 

 tion was introduced by Representative Bartlett, of Georgia, providing that the bills 

 above mentioned, commonly known as the White Mountain and Appalachain Park 

 forest-reserve-bills, be referred to the Committee on the Judiciary with the request 

 that that committee render an opinion as to the constitutionality of the proposed 

 measures. This resolution was adopted by the House, and the bills were referred 

 accordingly. Pending the report of the Committee on the Judiciary the Committee 

 on Agriculture was of the opinion that it could not properly give consideration to 

 these measures. 



On April 20, 1908, the Committee on the Judiciary rendered an opinion to the 

 effect that the United States would have no right to purchase lands for the purpose 

 of creating a forest reserve, but that Congress might appropriate for the purchase of 

 lands having a direct and substantial connection with the navigability of navigable 

 rivers. As a result of this decision, Representatives who had introduced the bills 

 which had been referred to the Committee on the Judiciary modified and reintro- 

 duced them, and they were again referred to the Committee on Agriculture, which 

 took up the consideration of them at the earliest possible date. After hearing testi- 

 mony and considering the bills for several days it became evident that the commit- 

 tee, with the information then before it, was unwilling to favorably recommend any 

 measure committing the United States to the policy of purchasing forest lauds. The 

 whole matter was therefore referred to a subcommittee, with instructions to recom- 

 mend to the full committee such action as it was deemed proper to take. As a result 

 of the deliberations of this subcommittee, the bill, H. R. 21986, was reported to the 

 full committee, and by its action is herewith reported to the House. 



It is a matter of common knowledge that the forests in the White Mountains and 

 in the southern Appalachian Mountains are being rapidly destroyed, and the desira- 

 bility of preserving what remains of them, or at least of introducing methods of 

 lumbering which will prevent the destruction of immature timber and will protect 

 the forests from fire, is universally conceded, not only for the perpetuation of the 

 timber supply, but also for the conservation of the flow of water in the streams 

 having their source within these forests. The problem as to how this desired end 

 should be reached has been widely discussed and has awakened profound interest 

 throughout the entire country. As a result of this discussion four distinct methods 

 have been suggested. 



First. It has been held by many that the problem was one belonging exclusively 

 to the States concerned. Those holding this view have argued that the Federal 

 Government has no constitutional authority to purchase lands for the purpose of 

 conserving the forests upon them, even though such preservation may conserve the 



