52 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



January 



160 acres or less, the cost of construc- 

 tion to be repaid into the reclamation 

 fund as provided in the irrigation law. 



We endorse the broad national work 

 of the Forest Service and the creation 

 of national forest reserves. 



We endorse the high, business-like 

 and non-political plane upon which the 

 Reclamation Service and the Forest 

 Service are being conducted. 



We endorse the fearless course pur- 

 sued by and the manifest rigid integ- 

 rity of the Secretary of the Interior in 

 his prosecution of public land thieves 

 and timber grafters, and congratulate 

 the country upon the success of his en- 

 deavors to 'purge the nation of those 

 who would rob it of one of its best 

 assets.' 



We urge upon Congress the immedi- 

 ate enactment of legislation to carry 

 into effect the recommendations of the 

 President as set forth in the report of 

 the Public Lands Commission (being 

 Senate Document 154, 58th Congress. 

 Third Session), to the end that the 

 Timber and Stone act be repealed 

 forthwith and a forest policy substi- 

 tuted providing for the sale of stump- 

 age, at market value (the title to gov- 

 ernment forest lands to remain forever 

 in the government), the net proceeds 

 therefrom to be divided equally be- 

 tween the Forest Service and the Re- 

 clamation Service, the latter of which 

 now receives the entire receipts from 

 the sale of government timber lands in 

 the arid states and territories ; that the 

 commutation clause of the Homestead 



act and the Desert Land act be repeal- 

 ed, or so amended as to require long 

 terms and actual residence and im- 

 provement, the predominant idea be- 

 ing that no more public lands shall 

 ever pass from the government except 

 for the purpose of actual and bona fide 

 home-making in small tracts, not to 

 exceed 160 acres each. 



We invite the attention of Congress 

 to the vital importance of creating for- 

 est reserves in the Southern Appala- 

 chian and White Mountain regions for 

 the preservation of both timber and 

 water supplies, and we urge an imme- 

 diate appropriation of at least $3,- 

 000,000 for the purpose of reserves 

 in the Southern Appalachian Moun- 

 tains and in the White Mountains of 

 New Hampshire. 



Members of the National Board of 

 Trade are urged to use their personal 

 influence with their representative sen- 

 ators and representatives for the repeal 

 of the Timber and Stone act and for 

 the passage of the bills for national 

 forest reservations in the Southern Ap- 

 palachian Mountains and in the White 

 Mountains, and to influence the press 

 favorably to these measures in their 

 respective cities and states. 



It is further Resolved, That copies 

 of these resolutions and accompanying 

 report be sent to the President, Secre- 

 taries of the Interior and Agriculture 

 and to the members of the public lands 

 committees of the United States Sen- 

 ate and House of Representatives. 



