118 UNITED STATES FOREST POLICY 



instead of the close of the session ; if there had been less of a public 

 demand for revision of the land laws ; if the bill had been a short one, 

 with only a few clauses; if Congress had been a little less familiar 

 with the general provisions of the omnibus bill under discussion and 

 so more careful to scrutinize them, or if members had realized what 

 important results were to follow; if any one of a score of possible 

 contingencies had prevailed, the passage of a general forest reserve 

 measure at this time would probably have been impossible. Congress 

 was not yet fully converted to the principle of forest reservation, as 

 later developments clearly show. 



