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complish the object sought for, and will, in due time, place Pennsyl- 

 vania in the front rank of forestry work. 



The act of May 25, 1897, "for the preservation of forests and par- 

 tially relieving forest land from taxation," promises, to quote from 

 the Commissioner's report, "to be one of the most important enact- 

 ments of the last session of the Legislature." It is not only based 

 upon one of the most profound principles of political economy that 

 "the forests are actually of more use to the State than they are to the 

 individual," but it came to the relief of the farmer and land-owner 

 just at a period when they most needed relief from the burden of ex- 

 cessive taxation under which they labored. The fact has for years 

 been beyond dispute that taxation of timber which so long as it 

 stood was yielding no revenue, swallowed up the profits of the farmer 

 and drove the lumberman, in self-defence, to sacrifice lands which 

 in the future might have yielded him a fair compensation. The taxa- 

 tion not only robbed the owner, but, to an even greater extent, the 

 State." 



This law provides that "in consideration of the public benefit to 

 be derived from the retention of forest or timber trees, the owner or 

 owners of land in this Commonwealth, having on it forest or timber 

 trees of not less than fifty trees to the acre, and each of said trees to 

 measure at least eight inches in diameter at a height of six feet from 

 the ground, with no portion of the said land absolutely cleared of 

 trees, shall, upon making due proof thereof , be entitled to receive 

 annually from the Commissioners of their respective counties during 

 the period that said trees are maintained in sound condition upon the 

 said land, or so much of the said eighty per centum as shall not 

 exceed the sum of forty-five cents per acre. Provided, however, That 

 no one property owner shall be entitled to receive said sum on more 

 than fifty acres." 



The act of March 30, 1897, enabled the Forestry Commissioner to 

 take a very important step in a comparatively new direction, viz., in 

 the enforcement of the laws relating to forest fires. This act makes 

 the constables of the townships ex-officio fire wardens, and the Com- 

 missioner reports to me that "the present method by means of con- 

 stables and their posses has given satisfactory results. There has, 

 in some counties, been a little friction growing out of the method and 

 time adopted by the Commonwealth in paying its half of the expenses 

 incurred in fighting the fire, and in one county the friction caused, 

 was, on the other hand, on the doubt as to the right of the county 

 to pay its half. There is no doubt, however, as to the efficiency of 

 the law, and as to its force and constitutionality, and the friction 

 is not more than is to be expected from the new application of an 

 old principle involved in the State and county sharing the expense." 



The Commissioner also reports that the act of June 2, 1870, was 



