IViRKST CONSERVATION 



415 



well: if n<>t. he would, fur the immediate 

 present, lie out tliat much more money tlian 

 his competitor, and during dull period-, such 

 as now, when prices wciv close to the cost 

 line, even for the hctter grades of lumher, he 

 would hardly feel di-po-ed to contract for 

 such an outlay. 



The Government only owning ahout 

 twenty-two per cent, of our forest area, can- 

 not alone, to am threat degree, effect what 

 we are seeking in this conference, so far as 

 forests are concerned. It might, however, 

 accomplish the purpose in one of the follow- 

 ing ways : 



First. The Government could, by a con- 

 tractual relation with the owners of the for- 

 ests where lumhering operations are now be- 

 ing carried on (who constitute at least eighty 

 per cent, of the timber holdings of the 

 I'nited States), provide that conservation and 

 reforestation should be practiced under rules 

 prescribed by the Forest Service, and assess 

 the cost thereof against the timber lands pro- 

 portionately. These rules should provide 

 that the lumbering operations, so far as con- 

 servation and reforestation were concerned, 

 should be conducted under governmental 

 control ; that no more timber should be cut 

 than was necessary to supply the current de- 

 mands, thus maintaining such uniformity of 

 prices as would justify the operator to utilize 

 every log the tree would produce ; that only 

 trees of a certain size should be cut: that 

 seed trees, properly distributed, should be 

 left : that the young growth should be pro- 

 tected from fires and other elements of de- 

 struction, and it would seem clear that the 

 establishment of such a relationship would 

 certainly accomplish this highly desired ob- 

 ject. 



Second. A plan might be worked out 

 jointly between the owners of the timber 

 lands, and the Government, by which conser- 

 vation and reforestation would be practiced 

 along such lines as the Government might lay 

 n. as outlined above, and the timber own- 

 lie protected in the prices of all lands 

 cut over and handled under the conditions 

 scribed. 



\Yhatever plan is adopter! must furnish an 

 incentive, a substantial inducement to the 

 timber owner, to forego a present gain for 

 the public good, and in tlvs matter it can 

 onl\ plishcd by governmental 



ration. And \\liat i- done should he dour 

 quickly, for the time i- fa-t approaching 

 when our f- vill be so n< 'hat 



it will br tOO late. 



\Vill the Government avail it-elf of this 

 ''u opportunity to lend its ad to the 

 conservation of this -plcndid natural 

 source, in order to -nppl\ tin- timber for fu- 

 ture gener lie wise and patriotic 



provide for the inevitab' 



that must occur 1" fore the middle of the 

 twentieth century, and thereby perform the 

 true function of all good g. ,\ ernments in the 

 promot : on of the liralth, \\<alth, and p- 

 perity of the people? ' 'r. with climatic 



changes following the destruction of n u r for 

 . shall manufacture' die with them, and 

 commerce fail as a natural r- icul- 



tural and manufacturing decadei 



Disclaiming all partisan or polr '. r 



ences, and speaking only of econi >ndi- 



tiou- as we find them. I <'. think I 



nld neglect to say that the pr< :mor- 



alizing conditions existing m our commer- 

 cial and manufacturing life, and th> 

 quent wa-te and loss incident thereto, and 

 <--l>ccially incident to the wasteful dc-truc- 

 t on of hundred- of thousands - > of 



timber annually is. in my judgment, 

 largely to the pernicious effect of that cla-- 

 of legislation which, by its application, ha- 

 placed an absolute prohibition on every form 

 of agreement looking to rvation; ha- 



placed a ban upon all meetings and discus- 

 sions having for their object the adoption of 

 the most salutary measures for the preserva- 

 tion of this natural resource, and the instant 

 and unfair denunciation of every meeting of 

 the so-called "Lumber Trust." which does 

 not and never did exist; has produced such a 

 condition of mind among lumbermen, that 

 they feel that they can no longer meet to- 

 gether for the general discussion of m.v 

 so vitally affecting their interests and the 

 welfare of this nation, without subjecting 

 themselves to the humiliation of a prosecu- 

 tion. This condition in the lumber busr 

 ha- led to the reduction of the wage scale of 

 hundreds of thousands of men, affecting 

 many millions of people; it has left twenty 

 per cent, of the timber in the forest to wa 

 and unless we have relief, these evils will 

 increase and others will follow in their wake. 



Attempts at compulsory competition is our 

 present commercial nightmare. Such com- 

 petition is not healthy but disastrous, and 

 serves only, in the end, to create the r 

 pernicious monopoly by destp ill com- 



petition it mean- the survival of the 

 slnni^rst and not the "fittest." 



Is it not sufficient for all that our re- 

 -hould be con-crvcd and saved for 

 all generation-; j>, it right ,or just that a 

 TV should sMt'tYr. and generati 



to live hereafter be deprived of an a 

 supply of lumber, in order that a preji; 

 be vindicated, and the con-umer of to 

 buy his lumber at le-s than c. 



\nd in tin- com it may be wer 



-ay that a ndretion of ,,i>r tariff on lur 

 would at once bring M- into direct an.' 



competition with lumber from Cat-. 

 \\here stuii'p and wages lo- 



an d wh ' tendency 



'ue-- u<vr--itai <--poiiihng di- 



5, and adds 

 ptiou \\Y want 

 i. but \\ 

 produce, not wa 



Tlii- part played by tl - ' 



in the 



maintenance of ~i aple prices, \\hilc obtaining 

 a profit and not improperly r 



most snh-tautial I the 



