EDITORIAL 47 



Some states acquire forests by pur- The forests will cost the state noth- 



chase. In the South, however, this is ing, save the expense of maintenance, 



impracticable, partly because of inade- which should be met from the proceeds 



quate state revenues and partly because of the forest itself. 

 of the slight return which the state Meanwhile, the public will have 



would secure from such forests as it gained through the demonstration of 



could purchase. the practicability and profitableness of 



How, then, may a system of state state forests administration, 

 forests be inaugurated in the South ? To secure the best results, a con- 

 Mr. Finney pointed out that, scattered siclerable area should be offered at the 

 over the South, are considerable forest outset. The income from 20,000 acres 

 areas in private ownership, largely or o f fair forest land would, in Mr. 

 wholly held out of use. Finney's judgment, suffice to maintain 



Some of these belong to private es- a state bureau of forestry with an in- 



tates, some to water-power companies, come of probably $10,000 per annum, 



some to municipalities holding them as \yhh the growth of the area would 



watershed protectors, some to public come a growth in income and in the 



utility corporations, and still others to efficiency of the forest bureau, 

 railways. These 20,000 acres need not lie in 



Such forests, he declared, if under a single body> Smaller areas scat- 

 state control and conservatively handled tered throughout the state while more 

 would yield an income more than suf- expensive for maintenance would be 

 ficient to offset the cost of their man- correspondingly more valuable for 

 agement. demonstration purposes, as the effects 



But if the state cannot buy them, of state administration would be wit- 

 how can they come under state con- nessec i by a far larger body of citi- 

 trol? ze ns. 



Mr. Finney's proposal is that the whether the proffer of such an area 



owner of such a forest tract either give wouM be a ted b the state is not , 



it outright or loan it to the state for a in Mr _ Fmney > s judgment> a ques tion 



[ yf ars - , , for debate. Public sentiment would 



Lands loaned the state for a con- , ., , ,, 



, , re. 111 demand its acceptance and the enact - 



siderable time, as fifty years, could be .... 



j c / i',- ment of necessary legislation to provide 



offered under definite conditions, in- , . , . . 



, ,. ,, r 11 for its administration, 

 eluding the following: 



First, the tract should be known as That the P lan a j Sl l cceed . 



a "state forest " sary, apparently, that only a single donor 



Second, it should be placed in charge of sufficient breadth of view and public 



of a state forester, and handled in ac- s P int shal be fo nd to ke the m ' tial 



cordance with forestry principles ; offer - Jhe offer will be accepted 



Third, taxes should be remitted othe r ffer s will follow, the area wil 



throughout the period of the loan ; S^w, the bureau will grow the wis 



Fourth, the tract should be carefully dom of the plan will promptly become 



protected by the state against fire ; manifest and similar tate forests wil 



Fifth, the returns from the forest quickly spread throughout 



during the loan period should go to the limits of the Southland, to the mfiti: 



state advantage of that great and growing 



This plan should, in many instances, section. 



commend itself to the forest owner; Can the man be found large enoug 



under it, he escapes taxation on his to grasp the opportunity 



forest land during the loan period, and, benefactor to the South, outrival Ml 

 at the end of that period-, receives Carnegie with his libraries, or 

 back his tract in better condition than Rockefeller with his anti-hookworm 

 before. fund ': 



