1908 



EDITORIAL 



355 



who thereupon inquired into his lord- 

 ship's title. 



"Where did you get this land?" 



"From my father," answered the 

 duke. 



"And where did he get it?" a-ked 

 the tramp. 



"From his father," an-wered the 

 duke. 



"And where did your first ancestor 

 get it ?" asked the tramp. 



"He fought for it," answered the 

 duke. 



"Then I will fight you for it," an- 

 swered the tramp, who proceeded to 

 -nit action to word. 



This whole question of rights to 

 land was learnedly discussed in 1850 

 by Herbert Spencer in Chapter 1 X , 

 of his Social Statics. He there reached 

 the conclusion that the duke reached. 

 His readers were left to draw, if they 

 chose, the same inference drawn by 

 the tramp. 



Jefferson declared that "the earth 

 belongs in usufruct to the generation 

 at any time living upon it." And this 

 apparently is the President's view. 

 The application of this principle will 

 seriously interfere with the time-hon- 

 ored custom whereby generations, 

 long since gone, control, in funda- 

 mental ways, the generation living. 

 It will interfere seriously with the pro- 

 cess whereby the "dead hand" reaches 

 forth from the grave and rules a liv- 

 ing world. 



The President's principle will, of 

 course, be challenged. I'.ut let the 

 wordy contest come. For wars on the 

 forum may prevent wars on the field. 

 In any event, they clear the air; and. 

 with the modern growth of the trn-t 

 and special priviUge. the air mu.-t be 

 cleared if the nation w-nld e-cape 

 the advent of evil day-. 



The Appalachian Bill in Congress 



Tn his message of April 2- Presi 

 dent Roosevelt -aid: "Foresl reserves 



-hould be establi-hed throughout the 



\ppalachian-While Mountain region 



wherever it can be -ln-wii that they 



will have a direct and real connection 



with the coiiM-rvalion and impn. 

 meiit of navigable river-." 



< >n April _'n were introduced into 

 the House the Pollard I'.ill. II. K. 



2I22O; tin- Week- I'.ill. II. l\. 2I22I; 



and on April _>S. the Lever I'.ill. II. l\. 

 21 357- Kpitomc- of the-e three hill- 

 appeared in I'.ulletin \o. y> of The 

 \nierican Fore-try Association. \o 

 one of the bills was favorably reported. 



( 'ii May in. the Senate passed the 

 llrandegee Hill. S. 48_>5. Its leading 

 ] provisions follow : 



The Secretary of Agriculture is to pre- 

 serve navigability of navigable streams, 

 to acquire lands more valuable for regu- 

 lati'in of stream-flow than for other pur- 

 P< ses. and situated on watersheds in 

 .Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North 

 Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Ala- 

 bama, Kentucky, Tennessee, New Hamp- 

 shire and Maine. Minerals and mer- 

 chantable timber may be reserved by 

 owner, to be cut or mined under Gov- 

 ernment regulations. 



The Secretary is to advertise for lands 

 and accept lowest bids. No land must be 

 taken over until State Legislature has 

 consented, and ceded to the United 

 States jurisdiction over offenses against 

 Federal laws. Land titles must be sat- 

 isfactory to Attorney General. 



Five million dollars are made immediate- 

 ly available. The Secretary is to report 

 annually to Congress on lands purchased, 

 with cost. 



Small agricultural areas included may 

 be sold by Secretary in eighty . 

 homesteads, jurisdiction over land tli' 

 upon reverting to Slate. The Secretary 

 may autliori/e -ale of products ot lands 



acquired. 



Lands acquired under tin- act to be 

 held and administered a- National I ; or- 

 e-t land-, under provisions "I Si, -lion 

 _>4 of \>-t of March .}. iSn The State 

 to retain criminal and civil jurisdiction 

 o\ er persi >n-. sa> e t"> r f m-t 



the I'niied States. Twenty-live p. r c, nt 

 annual reeeipi- from each National 

 !', in Si to he paid to Stal 

 of public -chooN and public road-. 



Secretary may administer and pr< 

 private fi upon 



i;p..n which are fof itioiis; 



owner to i-nt and renio\ e timber ac- 

 cording to re-til. iti' upon 



Senat r I'.rande-. e a,-.-, .nipanie.l hi- 

 bill with a lift jjje -upplemental 



n-]i'rt. C'alendar Xunilu ' Thi- 



repi-rt .^ive- reasons why National 

 F irests are necessarj : i . T" pro; 



