iio PROCEEDINGS OE THE 



Modern civilization cannot exist in the shade nor 

 live on mast. The forests had to be cleared away in 

 order to give- place for growing corn and wheat. So 

 there was the peculiar combination of dependence upon 

 the forests for fuel and building supplies and at the 

 same time the obligation to remove them to make room 

 for other crops. The lumberman, therefore, was not 

 a devastator, but performed a useful function in the 

 community at a profit to himself by removing that 

 which had, as it stood, little or no value. The public 

 cannot with justice condemn the lumberman for chop- 

 ping down the trees when it recalls the conspicuous 

 example set by the Father of his Country. 



Furthermore, until recent years the Government, 

 which owned the forests in the unused areas of the 

 United States, placed no special value on them. It 

 invited acquisition by any one, including the lumber- 

 man ; consequently the lumbermen came into possession 

 of much of the timbered area and practically all the 

 pine, hemlock, and similar woods which grow in solid 

 forests. There was thus set up a property interest 

 which had to be treated like any other private interest. 

 Many had their fortunes invested in timber and the 

 only way in which they could realize on the investment 

 was by manufacture. 



It is true that with recent years standing timber has 

 come into greater prominence as an opportunity for 

 investment, and there are now large holdings in the 

 hands of capitalists who have never owned nor 

 operated a saw mill and perhaps never expect to do 

 so. Such owners hold their timber for an enhancement 

 of values as would an investor in real estate, but they 

 expect to hold only so long as it seems more profitable 

 to hold than to sell. They are not holding their timber 

 for posterity, but only for the best marketing oppor- 



