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AMERICAN FORESTRY 



The following telegram of condolence 

 to Mrs. Guild expresses the sentiment 

 of the members of this Association: 



"I beg to express on behalf of the 

 American Forestry Association, and of 

 the many friends of forestry of Mr. 

 Guild, deep regret at the termination of 

 a life so distinguished for public service 

 to his country and to its best interests. 

 His services in the cause of American 



the American Forestry Association of a 

 president of distinguished public ser- 

 vice, who brought to this office en- 

 thusiasm and a strong belief in the 

 cause which had developed by official 

 contact during six years of service as 

 Lieutenant Governor and Governor of 

 Massachusetts while that State was 

 shaping a constructive forest policy." 

 Mr. Guild, three times elected Gover- 



"I believe we all may take an honest pride in the object of our Association. The 

 passing of the Appalachian Mountain Bill marks a new epoch in the preservation of the 

 forests and especially in the preservation of forests on the watersheds upon which depends 

 absolutely the existence, not to say the prosperity, of any people. 



The wide tracts of wind-swept, rocky, sterile districts in Spain are an object lesson 

 that cannot be too strongly brought home to every American citizen. 



Without smoothly flowing rivers there is no permanency of fertility or even soil for 

 agriculture. Without forests to restrain the Spring freshets and to conserve the slowly 

 melting snows on the mountain slopes there can be no smoothly flowing rivers and without 

 conservation there will surely be no forests. 



It is all very well to restore by irrigation, though at terrific expense, as in Russia and 

 our own alkali districts, naturally fertile soil. But if the soil is swept away there is no 

 fertility to be restored. 



Forest conservation is more backward in the United States than anywhere else in 

 the world. It should be encouraged in every possible way for the sake of beauty, for the 

 sake of shade as a barrier against the blizzard and the cyclone, as a promoter of fertility 

 and through such promotion a promoter of a lower cost of living. 



The Biblical story of the tree as a source of human knowledge and civilization, the 

 Norsk legend that the whole earth rested on a tree, the prehistoric worship of the tree in 

 places as far apart as Hindustan, Germany and England is a natural instinct and the sur- 

 viving custom of celebrating victories by a green bough in the helmet are all evidences of 

 the human instinct to look to the tree as a natural protector and promoter of human 

 happiness. 



Faithfully yours, 



L^u^t^Cx/ 



A few days before his last illness Mr. Guild sent the above expression cf opinion on forest conservation 



to American Forestry. 



Forestry will ever be remembered with 

 appreciation and gratitude by the 

 friends of conservation in America. 



H. S. Drinker, 

 President, American Forestry Association." 



Mr. Guild became a member of the 

 American Forestry Association on 

 November 18, 1908, and remained a 

 member until his death. He did much 

 to further forest conservation in this 

 country and was a most valued official 

 of the Association. The following from 

 American Forestry of September, 

 1911, was a tribute paid him when he 

 resigned as president to become am- 

 bassador to Russia : 



'The appointment as ambassador to 

 Russia of the Hon. Curtis Guild deprived 



nor of Massachusetts and Ambassador 

 to Russia in the Taft Administration, 

 was born in Boston on February 2, 1860. 

 He was the son of Curtis and Sarah 

 Crocker Cobb Guild. His father was 

 the founder of the Boston Commercial 

 Bulletin. 



He graduated from Harvard with 

 highest honors in 1881. 



In 1884, after traveling in Europe, he 

 was admitted to full partnership with 

 his father and uncle in the ownership of 

 the Bulletin. In 1902 he took sol: 

 charge of the paper. His political 

 career began at the age of 21. In 1895 

 he was elected chairman of the Repub- 

 lican State convention. He was promi- 

 nent as a speaker for McKinley in 1896 



