THE PERIOD FROM 1878 TO 1891 69 



jarried on. That manufacturing consists principally in manufactur- 

 ing lumber which is made into cradles to rock the children, shingles 

 md roofs to cover the heads of the citizens, coffins in which to bury 

 le dead, and lumber in the various forms which the necessities of 

 pivilized man have through considerable experience designated as wise 

 Imd useful and comfortable and convenient. . . . There is not the 

 smotest desire on the part of the citizens of the State which I repre- 

 lent, or of the neighboring States and Territories that topographi- 

 jally are like my own, to get timber land or timber for nothing; but 

 khe simple fact is that they cannot get it ; they cannot buy it unless 

 they go up to Oregon or to Minnesota, distant from 700 to 1100 or 

 1200 miles. Now it is wise, I say it is just, it is beneficent that these 

 needs that exist there and that must be supplied shall be supplied and 

 may be supplied and provided for by law, may be supplied without 

 subjecting the persons to a criminal prosecution or to civil action." 

 Senator Sanders was very bitter in his denunciation of the efforts of 

 the government to suppress timber stealing, and he spoke of the 

 government as "represented by a very small, and very narrow-minded 

 and very malignant representative who grabs a citizen of the United 

 States and says : 'We will wreak upon you some imagined and pent-up 

 vengeance that we owe to this entire community for having cut this 

 timber.' " 



One reason why the western men felt that they were entitled to free 

 timber, even for manufacturing purposes, was that forest fires were 

 destroying immense amounts of timber each year anyhow, and there 

 was no apparent reason why this timber should not be used rather 

 than allowed to go up in smoke. Sanders also claimed that the settlers 

 in the West had earned the right to generous free timber privileges 

 by their services in helping to put out fires ; but it is doubtful whether 

 most people in the West had performed any very important function 

 in protecting the forests in this way. 



Sanders' amendment encountered very little* opposition in the 

 Senate, except that of Senator Edmunds, and finally passed with 

 only three opposing votes, those of Edmunds, Quay of Pennsylvania, 

 and Spooner of Wisconsin. In the next session, the amendment was 

 agreed to by the House, but President Harrison refused to sign it 

 until provision was made for the regulation of timber cutting b}"^ the 



