of forestry, or the possibilities of making a piece of timber 

 land pay continuous revenue. They had seen in the East 

 where towns, which the lumber industry had built up, dry 

 up after the logging ceased and completely disappear from 

 the map. That was their only experience. It was impossible 

 for them to see any future in a timber country. Under these 

 conditions, there was nothing for them to do but to sell the 

 land for farms. That looked like the only possible source of 

 revenue. 



But are we fulfilling our trust by simply taking over these 

 laws as they have been laid for us and putting them into prac- 

 tice year after year without any reference to the results? 

 Let us suppose a case of private investment. Suppose that 

 some trustees of our private funds made some investments 

 fifty years ago, which then looked to them the best thing that 

 were to be had. Suppose, after they have passed their trust 

 on to us, that these investments appear obsolete; that many 

 chances turn up whereby the interest on this money can be 

 more than doubled. Would we consider it necessary to hang 

 to the old investment because our grandfathers thought it a 

 wise one? Would we be satisfied for a minute with their ar- 

 rangements? We certainly should not. No sooner would the 

 possibility of a better investment appear than we should 

 bring forth innumerable arguments to show the futility of 

 following the old plans. No amount of reverence for the old 

 people would induce us to hold to their investments, if we 

 could see a better one. 



Yet that is exactly what we are doing with our public trust. 

 It is not merely a case of changing our minds, and deciding 

 that we no longer want to do a thing this way, but we prefer 

 to do it that. Our minds are still turned in the same direc- 

 tion. We want to make money for our schools. We want to 

 do the best we can for the generations to follow, but the con- 

 ditions the very facts have changed. We know that all the 

 lands covered by the forest in the North are not fit for farms. 

 We know that at least a million acres of the three million yet 

 owned by the state are either too hilly, too rocky, or too 

 sandy to make successful farming possible. We know that a 

 sustained revenue from timber lands is not impossible; that 

 it is in fact the best possible way of utilizing poor land. We 



