THE PROPRIETY AND NEED OF 

 FEDERAL ACTION 



BY 



Hon. Hoke Smith, Governor of Georgia 



MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN- : 



I desire, on behalf of those who are 

 here, from Maine to Georgia, and 

 from as far west as Ohio, to thank 

 you for the courteous hearing that you 

 have given us. We believe that we 

 come in support of a measure that has 

 great National importance one that 

 we believe it is impossible to carry 

 out except, first, by National action. 

 It has been suggested by members of 

 the committee that the States should 

 handle the problem. That is an im- 

 possibility. The forest experts who 

 have come before you have shown 

 how impossible it is for South Caro- 

 lina to handle her problem ; and it is 

 as impossible for North Carolina to 

 handle hers. How impossible it is to 

 expect West Virginia to handle the 

 problem. The beneficial results 

 would reach away over into Kentucky 

 and into Indiana and into Illinois. 

 How unreasonable it would be to ask 

 North Carolina to handle the prob- 

 lem, when the streams there rising flow 

 on down through Tennessee and Ala- 

 bama, and back up through Tennes- 

 see, and even to Paducah, Ky., and 

 then down the Mississippi. The bene- 

 ficial effects of this bill are so Nation- 

 al in their character that it is utterly 

 impos?ible to apportion the responsi- 

 bility between the States where the 

 land lies. I wish, however, to say to 

 you in behalf of the Governors of the 

 States of the Southern Appalachian 

 Range, of West Virginia, of Ken- 

 tucky, of Tennessee, of Alabama, of 

 South Carolina, of North Carolina, 

 and of Virginia, that they have asked 

 me to be here to speak for them, as 

 well as for myself. All of them, ex- 

 cept two. have Legislatures on hand. 

 and found it impossible to be here ; 



and the other two had meeting - 

 weeks ago of such importance that 

 they could not leave. I have received 

 letters from a number of them in the 

 last three weeks ; and I come to say 

 to you from them, as well as from my 

 own State, that when the Nation 

 takes hold of this great problem and 

 does its part, then I believe you can 

 readily expect to see the States follow 

 in the line of your action and help 

 handle nobly all that part of the re- 

 sponsibility which should properly 

 fall upon the States. And, further- 

 more, with the inspiration of the ser- 

 vice that will come from the Nation- 

 al work, and with the further stimu- 

 lant of the local forestry work done by 

 the States, we may well expect to see 

 the people along the lines of these 

 streams themselves inspired to make 

 efforts that heretofore they would 

 have been discouraged from making; 

 we may well expect to see them in- 

 spired by National and State effort, 

 responding, with their small pieces of 

 land, to carry on the good work to 

 preserve the streams, so important to 

 the welfare of our glorious country. 



Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, the 

 last speaker has called your attention 

 to the important problem of health. 

 We have piled testimony from . 

 perts before you. upon the probing 

 the timber. They have -ho\ V n you 

 that in these two ranges of mountains 

 is now the last hope for that j> 

 the country < the V 



preserve timber for the future u 

 the people. We have 1: t"a-t 



here, our resources ha\ at. 



that we have been careless -ih.'Ut them. 

 Tiling up wealth easily, we f 

 conserve the natural resouro <ur 



country for those who are to come af- 



*Rem?rk=; at the hearing on the Appalachian Bill, hefnrc the House Comrr 

 on Agriculture, January 30, 1908. 



