114 UNITED STATES FOREST POLICY 



reserves. This bill passed the House with both these sections intact ; 

 in fact, the forest reserve section received almost no attention in the 

 debates."' 



In 1889, Taylor and Sherman appeared as usual with proposals for 

 reservation, and the next year another western man, Representative 

 Clunie of California, announced his approval of such a policy. Early 

 in the latter year. President Harrison transmitted to Congress a 

 memorial of the American Association for the Advancement of Sci- 

 ence, calling for forest reservations, and in pursuance of the recom- 

 mendations of this Association, Representative Dunnell introduced a 

 bill into the House, but no results were secured. ^^^ 



In the light of later events, the action of Congress in regard to some 

 of these bills seems rather strange. It is true that most of the bills 

 introduced never emerged from the committee, and no general reserva- 

 tion measure ever passed either house, but the Senate twice approved 

 Edmunds' proposal for a reserve at the head of the Missouri, while 

 the House passed one bill providing for reservations in California; 

 and in each case this was done without any particular discussion or 

 opposition. As already stated, the forest reserve provision of Hol- 

 man's general revision bill received almost no attention in the debates. 

 The entire attitude of Congress indicates a failure to foresee the 

 results which were likely to follow from the adoption of a forest 

 reservation policy. 



Whatever may have been the reason for the lack of a more vigorous 

 opposition to these forest reserve proposals, it is fairly certain that 

 no general forest reservation measure, plainly understood to be such, 

 and unconnected with other measures, would ever have had the slight- 

 est chance of passing Congress ; and when such a measure was finally 

 secured, it was not through the initiative of Congress, but rather 

 because Congress had no good opportunity to act on the proposition. 



THE PASSAGE OF THE FOREST RESERVE ACT 



In 1891, the question of a general revision of the land laws, particu- 

 larly the repeal of the Timber Culture, Preemption and Desert Land 



185 H. R. 7901; H. R. 778; 50 Cong. 1 sess. 



186 H. R. 705, H. R. 7026, H. R. 8459, S. 1533; 51 Cong. 1 sess.: Proceedings, 

 Am. Forestry Assoc, 1891-92-93, 39. 



