354 AMERICAN FORESTRY 



property and that control is vested in Congress. Against the contention 

 of some of the western states that the public lands are held in trust for the 

 people of those states, the Court sets up the broader doctrine that "All the 

 public lands of the nation are held in trust for the people of the whole 

 country," and it is for Congress, not the courts, to determine how that trust 

 should be administered. 



To those who have followed the discussion of questions relating to the 

 powers of the national government with regard to public lands, it will be 

 evident that these decisions of a united court settle clearly and finally the 

 fundamental questions of the rights of the nation as an owner, the legislative 

 powers of Congress, and the administrative powers of the executive depart- 

 ment, which may be in charge of such lands. The development of a national 

 policy for dealing with our natural resources can now proceed with surer 

 footing along a road more fairly marked. 



A FORCED ISSUE 



^T^E REGRET to see Mining Science giving currency to sensational reports 

 r I I of unrest in Alaska caused, it is alleged, by the regulations of the national 

 ^^ Forest Service. According to the correspondent of Mining Science, 

 the only remedy is the purchase of Alaska by Canada, The chief sponsor for 

 this amazing proposal is a Canadian "who has important holdings in the 

 province (British Columbia) and territory." A great deal is said by this 

 gentleman about the unsatisfactory boundary and the difficulty of operating 

 on both sides of the line. It is not a new suggestion that the Alaskan 

 boundary is unsatisfactory to Canadians. But what has that to do with the 

 rules of the Forest Service? It almost always happens that an international 

 boundary line is unsatisfactory if there is a considerable amount of natural 

 wealth on both sides of the fence. Two or three citizens of this country who 

 have had mining interests in the North are quoted as agreeing with the 

 Canadian. 



The grievance at the root of all these complaints is the familiar one of 

 men who find that the great property purchased of Russia, through Secretary 

 Seward's foresight, by and for the whole nation, cannot be used solely for the 

 immediate profit of a few individuals, but is to be guarded and maintained as a 

 permanent contributor to the general welfare. It is undoubtedly true that 

 a check has been placed temporarily upon the development of the resources 

 of Alaska, but the responsibility for this lies not with the very reasonable 

 rules of tbe Forest Service, but its root is to be found in the attempts which 

 have been made by large moneyed interests to exploit these resources for their 

 own benefit and without much regard to national regulations. Under the^c 

 circumstances it became necessary to call a halt, and if many enterprising 

 and self-reliant individuals who have gone into Alaska to better their fortunes* 

 have suffered somewhat by this delay, it is to be regretted, but it is 

 difficult to see how it could be prevented and the interest of the greater number 

 be properly protected. 



It is quite natural that men who have gone into the wilderness and stood 

 alone, measuring their strength against the strength of the frozen North until 

 they seemed to be the center of the universe, should find it difficult to turn their 

 gaze backward to the increasing millions whom they left behind them, and to 

 reduce the colossal fortunes of their dreams to a reasonable share in that 



