THE FOREST RESERVES 141 



in the matter of lieu selections. The opposition did not have strong 

 enough support, even in the Senate, however, to block an appropria- 

 tion bill ; and the conference report was adopted by a vote of 32 to 25 

 in the Senate, and 89 to 6 in the House. With the approval of this 

 act, on June 4, 1897, the forest reserves emerged from a very pre- 

 carious situation.*'^ 



THE ACT OF 1897 



The act of 1897 was thus a compromise. The western men secured, 

 in the first place, the suspension of Cleveland's proclamation. At the 

 end of nine months the proclamations were again to take effect, but 

 this allowed sufficient time for speculators and adventurers to go upon 

 the land and establish claims against the government, and enabled 

 mining companies to cut supplies of timber.*** The clause limiting the 

 purposes for which reserves might be set aside was not a serious 

 restriction, however; the provision authorizing the Secretary of the 

 Interior to give free timber to settlers was one which he might use 

 at his own discretion ; and the clause opening the reserves to mining 

 was not likely to injure the reserves at all, while it was certain to 

 greatly reduce western hostility to the reserves. 



On the whole, the act represents a very important step forward. 

 The permission given the secretary to sell timber growing on the 

 reserves recognized at last, and forty years, too late, the principle 

 which must govern any intelligent system of forest administration- 

 sale of the timber with a reservation of the land. It is true that merely 

 authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to "make provisions for 

 the protection of the reserves" did not afford much protection unless 

 the secretary had funds, and appropriations for protection from 

 timber trespass had even decreased since 1891 '" but under the vig- 

 orous administration of Pinchot these appropriations were destined 

 to increase again.*® Finally, the provision authorizing the President 



« Cong. Rec, May 27, 1897, 1278 et seq., 1284., 1285: S. Doc. 68; 56 Cong. 1 sess. 



*^ Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 80, 268. 



47 In 1891, the amount appropriated had been $100,000 for "timber protection," 

 and $120,000 for "protection from fraudulent entry," making $220,000 in all. In 

 1897, these two items were combined and a total of only $90,000 was appropriated. 

 {Stat. 26, 970; 30, 32.) 



<8 Even had there been no increase in appropriations, the secretary was now in 

 a better position than ever before to fight the worst kind of depredations, for in 



