THE PERIOD FROM 1878 TO 1891 99 



no results ever came of the bill proposed, the report itself, as later 

 extended and revised,^^^ was a valuable storehouse of information 

 relating to the public lands, and doubtless it exerted some influence 

 on the trend of legislation during the following decade, and even later. 

 At any rate, most of the legislation which was not clearly dictated by 

 the timber interests and their allies, followed out policies strongly 

 urged by this commission. 



Throughout the period under consideration, conservation activity 

 In Congress generally followed the precedent laid down in the bill 

 drawn by the Public Lands Commission In 1880, In attempting a com- 

 plete revision of the entire system of land laws. Since forest preserva- 

 tion was not the main object sought in these efforts, and was In fact 

 given little attention In the debates, It will be unnecessary to trace the 

 history of the bills which appeared in every session of Congress, "To 

 secure to actual settlers the public lands of the United States adapted 

 to agriculture, etc." It suffices here to say that finally, In 1891, Con- 

 gress accomplished a fairly complete revision of the land laws, in- 

 cluding the repeal of the Timber Culture and Preemption laws, the 

 amendment of the Desert Land Law to make frauds less easy, the 

 amendment of the Homestead Law to allow commutation only after 

 fourteen months' residence and cultivation, the abolition of public 

 land sales, and, most Important of all, provision for setting aside 

 forest reserves. ^^^ 



FAILURE OF THE TIMBER CULTURE ACT 



The Timber Culture Act, it will be recalled, had been amended soon 

 after Its passage and entirely revised in 1878. It was predestined to 

 failure, however, and in the early eighties this became generally recog- 

 nized. The law was intended for the prairie, or so-called semi-arid 

 region, and most of the entries were made there ; yet, in many of these 

 sections, successful tree planting was not to be expected of settlers 

 who came from the humid regions of Iowa or Illinois, or further east, 

 or even from Europe. These settlers had no knowledge whatever of 

 the climate or soil or of the kinds of trees adapted thereto, were gen- 



130 H. Ex. Doc. 47; 46 Cong. 3 sess.: H. Misc. Doc. 45; 47 Cong. 2 sess. Donald- 

 son wrote the history of the origin, organization, and progress of the public land 

 system, while Britton undertook the compilation of the land laws. 



131 Stat. 26, 1095. 



