I 



THE PERIOD FROM 1878 TO 1891 101 



ABOLITION OF PRIVATE SALE IN THE SOUTH 

 Perhaps more significant than these appropriations, and more 

 important than the abolition of public sale in 1891, was the abolition 

 of private sale in several of the southern states in 1889.^^^ It will be 

 remembered that in 1876 Congress had provided for the sale of all the 

 public lands in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and 

 Florida — some of the greatest timber states in the United States. ^*° 

 In 1888, Senator Walthall of Mississippi introduced a resolution pro- 

 viding that public lands in Mississippi should be subject to disposal 

 only under the homestead laws until pending legislation relating to 

 the public lands should be disposed of or Congress should adjourn. It 

 seems strange that a man from a public land state should have wanted 

 conservation in his own state, but the committee reporting the reso- 

 lution added Alabama to the list of states, and also Arkansas, at the 

 request of Senator Berry of that state. As thus amended, the resolu- 

 tion was agreed to in both Houses, and a few weeks later another joint 

 resolution extended these provisions also to Florida and Louisiana.^*^ 

 Meanwhile Senator Walthall had introduced a bill to withdraw the 

 public lands in his state from sale at private entry. The Committee on 

 Public Lands reported it, with amendments broadening its applica- 

 tion to all public land states,^*^ and as thus amended, Missouri being, 

 however, excepted at the wish of a senator from that state, the bill 

 passed the Senate without a comment, and later became a law. Such 

 a complete reversal in the attitude of the southern senators is difficult 

 to understand, but doubtless one factor in the moral transformation 

 since 1876 was the fact that the most valuable timber lands had 

 already been taken.^*^ There had also, no doubt, been some growth in 

 conservation sentiment. 



INDIRECT ENCOURAGEMENT TO TIMBER STEALING 



The General Revision Act of 1891 represented a long step forward 

 in the administration of the public lands, but it contained some pro- 

 visions which encouraged fraud. Not only did it extend the scope of 



139 Stat. 25, 854. 



140 Cross Reference, pp. 40-53. 



141 S. Res. 73; Cong. Bee, Apr. 17, 1888, 3032; Apr. 23, 3221: Stat. 25, 622, 626. 



142 S. 2511; 50 Cong. 1 sess.: Cong. Bee, Dec. 31, 1888, 420. 



143 Defebaugh, "History of the Lumber Industry in America," I, 371. 



