THE PERIOD OF BEGINNINGS 28 



The repeated depredations of Algerian pirates upon American mer- 

 chant vessels during the first years of our national life, led to a demand 

 for a navy, and in 1794* Congress authorized the President to provide 

 for several vessels. Aggressions of the French navy upon American 

 merchantmen led to further legislation in 1798, authorizing the Presi- 

 dent to provide for twelve more war ships. 



The building of the vessels authorized by these early acts served to 

 impress upon government officials the necessity of making provision 

 for a future supply of timber for defense, and, by an act of 1799, 

 Congress appropriated $200,000 for the purchase and reservation of 

 timber or timber lands suitable for the navy.* Florida and Louisiana 

 contained most of the oak timber then known to exist, oak being recog- 

 nized as the most valuable timber, and, as that region was in foreign 

 hands, little was done for some time, only two small purchases being 

 made on the Georgia coast. These were Grover's Island, comprising 

 about 350 acres, purchased for a consideration of $7,500, and Black- 

 beard's Island, with an area of 1600 acres, bought for $15,000.^ 



In 1816, after the second war with Great Britain, the United States 

 entered upon a policy of naval expansion, and this again brought up 

 the question of material for construction. The result was the act of 

 1817, authorizing the Secretary of the Navy to explore and select 

 tracts of land producing oak and red cedar, and imposing a penalty 

 for cutting such timber from these lands or any other public lands of 

 the United States.^ 



In 1819, Florida was ceded to the United States by Spain, and, it 

 presently appearing that the valuable stands of live oak in the new 

 territory were being wasted and destroyed by trespassers, an act was 

 secured in 1822, empowering the President to use the land and naval 

 forces of the United States to prevent these depredations. Three 

 years later, however, an agent of the government, appointed to in- 

 vestigate the timber resources of Florida, reported that live oak was 

 being exported in considerable quantities from the eastern coast of the 

 peninsula, and recommended the purchase and reservation of timber 



« Stat. 1, 622. 



7 Hough, Franklin B., "Report on Forestry," made in pursuance of the act of 

 Congress of August 15, 1876. Three volumes, published in 1877, 1878 and 1882 

 respectively. Vol. I, pp. 9-11: Kinney, "Forest Law in America," Ch. VII. 



8 Stat. 3, 347. 



