1903 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



169 



ruing hold the state engineer responsible 

 for the safety of those living on streams 

 below reservoirs. He is obliged to ex- 

 amine plans for the dams needed in these 

 structures and should visit the work 

 during the time operations are in prog- 

 ress. Owing to the increased interest 

 in reservoir work and the impossibility 

 of the state engineer visiting all of the 

 sites, a bill was introduced in the legis- 

 lature providing that all persons con- 

 structing dams above a certain height, 

 already prescribed by law, should em- 

 ploy an engineer, who should also act 

 as a deputy of the state engineer, and 

 to whom instructions shall be issued 

 should such be necessary. 



' ' This departure upon the part of the 

 state will insure good construction and 

 put the state engineer in a position 

 where he will be willing to shoulder 

 the responsibility. 



' ' It has been a matter of some sur- 

 prise that the measure has become a law 

 without bringing forth criticism or com- 

 ment from those who do not understand 



or appreciate its provisions. It is held 

 by those best informed that government 

 construction will thus be under state 

 control, and must be carried on the same 

 way as other enterprises which come 

 under the supervision of the state en- 

 gineer." 



As Others An article in the Febru- 

 See Us. ary number of the Indian 



Forester on ' ' Progress in 

 the United States ' ' opens with the fol- 

 lowing paragraph : 



' ' How is it that the States have made 

 more moral progress in forestry as a 

 cause in ten years than India has done 

 or will do in a century ? There are vari- 

 ous reasons, but the fundamental one is 

 that the President, Congress, and an 

 increasing section of the people mean 

 forestry, whereas in India the progress 

 of the department has been a continual 

 struggle with the people, and often with 

 the local authorities. The other impor- 

 tant reason is that the people there are 

 educated to conviction." 



THE IMPORTANCE OF PRACTICAL 



FORESTRY.* 



A CLEAR AND CONCISE STATEMENT OF THE VALUE 

 AND AIMS OF SCIENTIFIC FORESTRY AND THE 

 GREAT WORK BEFORE AMERICAN FORESTERS. 



BY 



PRESIDENT THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 



I HAVE felt that this evening the 

 meeting was of such a character 

 as to not merely warrant, but to re- 

 quire, that I should break through my 

 custom of not going out to make speeches 

 of this sort, for I believe that there is 

 no body of men who have it in their 

 power today to do a greater service to 

 the country than those engaged in the 

 scientific study of and practical applica- 

 tion of approved methods of forestry for 

 the preservation of our woods in the 



United States ; and I am glad to see 

 here this evening not only the officials, 

 including the head of the Department 

 of Agriculture, but those, like ex-Gov- 

 ernor Richards, most concerned in car- 

 rying out the policy of the Department 

 of the Interior, for the forest policy of 

 any country must be an essential part 

 of its land policy. 



And now, first and foremost, you can 

 never afford to forget for one moment 

 what is the object of the forest policy. 



*An address delivered before the Society of American Foresters, at Washington, D. C., 

 Thursday evening, March 26, 1903. 





