108 UNITED STATES FOREST POLICY 



tween 1878 and 1891, the appropriation for miscellaneous expenses 

 almost doubled/"^ and it seems that the sum given for timber protec- 

 tion might likewise have increased considerably, without indicating 

 any great change of sentiment. The fact that it quadrupled is doubt- 

 less worthy of note. 



EFFORTS TO SECURE LAND GRANTS FOR FORESTRY SCHOOLS 



Of only limited significance, also, was the interest shown in Con- 

 gress regarding the matter of land grants to aid schools of forestry. 

 In 1880, the Chamber of Commerce of St. Paul, Minnesota, sent 

 out letters to various public men, asking for opinions as to the advisa- 

 bility of granting lands for a school of forestry. Several college presi- 

 dents and other men answered favorably to the inquiry ; in fact, only 

 President Eliot and Professor Sargent of Harvard University 

 opposed the scheme ;^^® and in 1882, Senator McMillan of Minnesota 

 introduced a bill providing aid for a school of forestry, to be estab- 

 lished in St. Paul.^^'' In the following year, Pettigrew, delegate from 

 Dakota, asked for a grant of land for a school of forestry in 

 Dakota;^®" and, throughout the eighties, there was usually at least 

 one bill before Congress seeking a land grant to endow a school of 

 forestry somewhere. No results came of any of these bills and they are 

 probably not significant of any deep interest in forestry, the purpose 

 behind at least most of them being an anxiety on the part of certain 

 politicians to serve their constituents by securing a free grant of 

 land. 



APPROPRIATIONS FOR FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS 



Of a different character was the action in Congress regarding 

 appropriations for forestry investigations. It will be remembered that 



. 157 Statistical Abstract, 1891, 3. 



158 s. Misc. Doc. 91 ; 46 Cong. 2 sess. Professor Sargent gave two reasons why a 

 school of forestry could not succeed: first, there were no teachers in America 

 qualified to teach in such an institution; and second, there being as yet no demand 

 for trained foresters, students would not care to prepare themselves for that work. 

 It was, of course, true that there was as yet no demand for trained foresters and 

 even foresters with European training found it necessary to take up other kinds of 

 work on coming to America. {Proceedings, Am. Forestry Congress, 1883, 24.) 



159 Cong. Rec, May 15, 1882, 3926. 



160 H. R. 7440; 47 Cong. 2 sess. \ 



