THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 15 



less others requires the same precaution not to let fire escape, 

 and the same activity in extinguishing fires he discovers, 

 that are accorded as a matter of course in cities and towns. 

 In reality they are more important. A San Francisco can 

 burn down and it is soon replaced. Insurance and capital 

 come to the rescue, labor is employed, and business is re- 

 sumed. But when the forest burns, industry dies and labor 

 is driven away empty handed. It is a big price to pay for 

 neglecting the slight effort required to prevent it. 



Fairly good fire laws are on our statute books. Presumably 

 they were intended to prevent fires. Yet almost every forest 

 community sees fire after fire set through ignorance, careless- 

 ness or purpose, and so far from punishing the offenders ac- 

 cords them every privilege of business and society. In cities, 

 however insignificant the damage, arson leads to the peni- 

 tentiary. A forest fire may destroy millions and the cause 

 not even be investigated. If, aggravated by a particularly 

 inexcusable case of malice or carelessness, some property 

 holder (seldom the people) secures an arrest, acquittal is 

 practically certain because the community considers the mat- 

 ter none of its business. Then the value of the fire law is at 

 an end in that region. Certainly we cannot expect the timber 

 owner to protect our forest interests until we ourselves respect 

 and at least attempt to enforce our forest laws. 



Patrol Service Absolutely Essential 



But necessary as is better public sentiment, we must also 

 have practical machinery for enforcing the laws and for 

 stopping the fires that do start. Just as a city is safeguarded 

 best by an organized fire department, so the forest can be 

 protected effectively only by trained men who know the work. 

 And the man who prevents the most fires is the man who is 

 looking for them, not the man who goes after the fire is under 

 way. 



Theodore Roosevelt says : "I hold as first among the tasks 

 before the states and the nation in their respective shares in 



