.Minnesota Avhich are growing faster than this, and 

 yet we are permitting them to be destroyed by fire 

 without any compensation, or cut by some settler 

 who hopes often without much basis for his hope to 

 make a miserable five per cent on his investment. 



When will we awaken to the fact that these young 

 trees are amassing wealth faster than we can do it 

 in any other way? 



Taxing Forest Land 



Forest land is, ordinarily, in this country taxed an- 

 nually the same as any other property. This works 

 a hardship on the timber owner, who gets an income 

 only when the timber is cut. It often forces him to 

 cut before maturity because additional taxes will eat 

 up all his profits. In case the timber is burned, he 

 has a double loss, the loss of his ultimate income and 

 the loss of taxes paid to the State on timber which 

 he never harvests. 



The following application of the law in the State 

 of Utah shows where it is unjust and why private in- 

 dividuals can not hold land for the growing of tim- 

 ber alone : The average assessed valuation of timber 

 lands in Weber County, Utah, is $4,000 per acre. he 

 assessment is 14 mills on the dollar. In 100 years 

 this tax, compounded at three per cent annually, 

 amounts to $36.51 per acre, requiring at least twelve 

 thousand board feet per acre (stumpage value of 

 $3.00 per thousand) to meet taxes alone. 



The United States is practically the only large na- 

 tion which has not made reforms in its timber tax 



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