15 



Another step in the same direction was secured by the passage of the 

 act which authorizes all peace officers to arrest, without warrant, such 

 persons as may be guilty, either through carelessness or design, of 

 causing fires in forest areas. It is true that by some, this step is re- 

 garded as dangerous and possibly not warranted by custom or prece- 

 dent, yet it is believed that it will, when supplemented by other legis- 

 lation, effect much good. 



An act was drafted by this division providing that all unsealed lands 

 and lands sold for taxes should become the property of the State for 

 the formation of forest reservations, which shall assist in the protec- 

 tion of the headwaters of our streams and water courses, the theory 

 being that as now situated they are totally unproductive and that, 

 under the provisions of the act, they \vill not only in time become 

 productive, but will also materially assist in the restoration of the 

 balance required by physical laws which have too long been vio- 

 lated. 



The Forestry Division, assisted by the Department and its other 

 sub-divisions, has also secured the enactment of a law which partially 

 relieves forest lands from taxation and which, in a similar manner, 

 encourages the intelligent care of cleared lands by which the growth 

 of valuable timber is encouraged and rendered possible. 



The passage of the act of May 25, 1897, probably constitutes the 

 greatest achievement of the Department in the direction of forest 

 protection and water supplies. It was at first met with strong opposi- 

 tion because its merits and intentions were misunderstood, but after 

 it had been thoroughly explained to our people through the medium of 

 farmers' institutes and to the Legislature through its proper commit- 

 tees, nearly all opposition was removed, and it is safe to state that ap- 

 propriations and investments made by the State, under the provisions 

 of this act, will prove to the citizens of the future the most profitable 

 investment that could have possibly been made, and, as its operations 

 are founded upon one of the most solid of all theories relating to the 

 interests under the care of the Forestry Division, it is not too much to 

 say that, if properly supported by subsequent legislation, our State 

 will soon take the foremost position with her forest reservations and 

 the protection of her water supplies; and it is, indeed, fortunate that 

 the location of the head waters of our main streams is such that three 

 reservations, if of sufficient size, will effect the same results that 

 would require many smaller ones in other states. 



In bringing the subjects under his care to the attention of the public 

 and especially to that portion most deeply interested in agriculture, 

 the Commissioner of Forestry has had a powerful aid in the extensive 

 series of farmers' institutes which have been held in every county of 

 the State during the past three years, and he has made use of this po- 

 tential influence for good by delivering more than fifty illustrated lee- 



