564 CONSERVATION 



over again as a complete betrayal of by the League, there is a great gulf 

 the sinister motives of the Federal "feu- fixed. They are polar opposites. They 

 dal baron," and as carrying with it its no more agree than do plus and minus, 

 own refutation and the final and utter or fire and water. Mr. Pinchot pro- 

 condemnation of its author. poses that "these reserves" shall be 



Again, the Forester is reported to "handed down as a national heritage." 



have said: The Public Domain League propose 



"In my judgment it is a perfectly fair that "every resource pertaining to the 



and right thing for any man who comes public domain * * * shall pass * * * 



and takes property belonging to all the into the ownership of the individual." 



people, which because he has it, some- The advocates of forest reserves be- 



body else cannot have, that he should Heve that "the public domain and all 



make a return of some kind to the peo- its resources," in so far as it may be 



pie. The time of free land, free timber, deemed wise to set these aside in the 



free everything, has gone by." form of National Forests, "belong to 



This declaration also, repeatedly quo- a n o f the people," collectively. The 



ted, fires the blood and rouses the ire of League, instead, "adheres to the * * * 



the Public Domain League. principle * * * that the public domain 



What the National Public Domain and a \\ o .f j ts resources belong to all of 

 League wants is shown by such declara- the peop ie to come, take and use" in- 

 tions as follow: dividually. The conservationists be- 

 lt is declared to be "the duty of every Heve in ma i nta i n ing a public property 

 citizen to urge the fullest possible liber- in cgrtain selected portions, at least, of 

 ahty on the part of the Government m the blk domain . The Pub li c Domain 

 passing the lands and their resources ^Jl^ believes in turning the who i e 

 into the hands of bona fide citizens. of this blk domain into ivate prop _ 

 Exactly the same principle is in- eft as quickly as may be . The con- 

 volved relative .to every natural resource servationists bdieve in limited col . 

 Pertaining to the public domain, m that lectiyi the L in unlimited in _ 

 they shall pass, in an equitable manner, d j v j dua ii sm 



into the ownership of the individual, in The irr re ssible conflict between the 



order that hat tremendous resource, yi int * f the conservationists and 



ever incident to the West, viz., oppor- that the pubUc Domain ^ , s 



tumty, may continue as an incentive to ... it. 



bring into our citizenship the best peo- furt f he , r f s . h ? by the proposal above 



pie of the land, and our prosperity be W ot f d > * h f ur P , T T^\ * 



accelerated through the full sway of accelerated through the full sway of 



our national characteristic, viz., 'm- our national characteristic, namely, m- 



dwidualism!" dividuaJism. ; 



"The League is opposed to the prin- In ^ s Outlook editorial of March 20 

 ciple that the public domain and all its last (P a S e 6l 9> Theodore Roosevelt 

 resources 'belong to all the people' in P omts out that "absolute individualism 

 the sense that those words were used would not " be compatible with civili- 

 by President Buchanan in 1860, in his zatlon at all : That every step to- 

 message vetoing the Homestead Bill ; ward civilization is marked by a check- 

 but the League adheres to the national on individualism." He continues, "The 

 principle immediately thereafter estab- ages that have passed have fettered the 

 lished, in adopting that Homestead law individualism which found expression 

 that the public domain and all its in physical violence, and we are now 

 resources belong to all of the people to endeavoring to put shackles on that 

 come, take and use." kind of individualism which finds ex- 



The meaning of such expressions as pression in craft and greed." 



these is unmistakable. Between the In seeking to ensure "the full sway 



position taken by Mr. Pinchot in the of our national characteristic, namely, 



language first quoted, and that taken ''individualism," the Public Domain 



