71 



conformity to the laws of the State for the conduct of those who 

 iish therein, and to enforce the penalties for any infraction of the said 

 regulations. 



Sec. 7. The general control of the said public reservations so ac- 

 quired for the use and behoof of the State shall be vested in the 

 JState Board of Agriculture, and the annual report of the said Board 

 ,sliall contain a full statement of the actual conditions of the said 

 reservations and their general relation to the industries and the 

 health of the State. 



Sec. 8. The necessary expenses of travel and all other necessary 

 expenses incurred under the provisions of this act in ordaining the 

 lands for the public reservations shall be paid by the State Treas- 

 urer on the warrant of the Auditor General, after being duly certi- 

 fied. 



The state of New York acquired most of its present reservation 

 in the Adirondack (I believe), by sale for unpaid taxes. 



This raises the question as to whether Pennsylvania might not 

 do the same. It is within bounds to say that there is a million of 

 acres within our limits upon which the owners now refuse to pay 

 taxes. Or to speak exactly, we may put it thus, that "in 1894, the 

 amount of land, seated and unseated, advertised to be sold for taxes 

 in the different counties of the Commonwealth, so far as heard from, 

 was upward of 1,500,000, or 2,358 square miles." These figures 

 come from lists furnished by county treasurers. This land lies in 

 ^reat part within the limits which the Forestry Commission has 

 suggested as being suitable for State forestry purposes. One may 

 then readily see that if the State were to acquire title to all such 

 lands, but few years would elapse before either taxes would be paid 

 to the counties, or the State would be in possession of all the land 

 required for its forestry purposes. The chief objection to land so 

 acquired would be: It would at first be more or less scattered and 

 therefore relatively costly to protect and manage. 



It is no longer a problem as to whether forest lands, under proper 

 State management, can, or should be, made a source of revenue to the 

 government. The magnificent results attending the forestry opera- 

 tions of Germany, Sweden and Norway, and England in India, leave 

 HO doubt that no other line of public policy returns a surer or larger 

 revenue, involving at the same time less injury to the individual 

 or less loss to the government. That it can be made to pay here we 

 may infer from the prices which are offered to New York for spruce* 

 under state protection. 



