THE PERIOD FROM 1878 TO 1891 79 



cation to a very small fraction of the public timber lands ; while the 

 Timber and Stone Act applied to only four states, and, even in those 

 states, provided for the sale of tracts too small for efficient lumbering. 

 Thus, after the passage of these acts, just as before, there was no way 

 by which timber for commercial uses could be honestly obtained from 

 a considerable portion of the public lands. Congress, in trying to 

 make timber available, cast aside the idea of selling the timber with- 

 out the land, as making a great, unamerican land monopolist of the 

 government; and, following the dictates of the lumber representa- 

 tives, mining, and allied interests, extended the two laws of 1878. 

 The results of this action will be treated later, but the point to be 

 noted \ re is that from 1878 to 1891, just as before 1878, there was 

 no general law for the purchase of timber on the public lands. In- 

 evitably the timber which could not be secured honestly was secured 

 by fraud. 



It is important to bear in mind that no attempt is made here to 

 measure the moral obliquity involved in these land frauds. From the 

 point of view of a conservationist writing in 1919, it would be very 

 easy to exaggerate the moral turpitude involved in stealing timber 

 lands in the seventies and eighties. As just pointed out, there was no 

 legal and honest way of acquiring timber lands in large enough tracts 

 for efficient lumbering. Furthermore, speculation and frauds have 

 always characterized the frontier, since the earliest years of the 

 nation, and moral values have corresponded to the environment. The 

 frontier has always attracted the adventurous element. In many 

 regions of the West, even within very recent years, it has not been 

 regarded essentially immoral to make a fraudulent entry with the 

 intention of transferring to some timber company, even to commit 

 perjury in making the entry. The practice has been too common to 

 be viewed seriously. 



Besides the frauds practiced under the two acts of 1878, there was 

 a vast amount of stealing under other public land laws. The Pre- 

 emption Law, the Commutation Homestead Law, and the Desert 

 Land Law were still in force during this period, and were often used 

 to obtain title to timber lands. 



■ Millions of acres were taken up fraudulently under the Pre- 

 emption Law. Gangs of men were often employed to make entries, a 



