162 UNITED STATES FOREST POLICY 



vided that any person who should "willfully or maliciously" set a 

 fire, or "carelessly or negligently" leave a fire unattended near any 

 timber, should be punished by a fine of not more than $5000 or by 

 imprisonment for not more than two years. ^^ This law left upon the 

 government the burden of proving willfulness, malice, carelessness, or 

 negligence in order to secure a conviction under the law — an impossi- 

 ble task in almost all cases. ^^ In 1900, this difficulty was partially 

 removed by striking out the words "carelessly or negligently,"*^ but 

 the law, even as thus amended, was not a very efficient instrument for 

 the punishment of trespassers, for it still required the government to 

 prove that any fire set was set "willfully or maliciously." The law was 

 also still defective, perhaps, in not containing a moiety provision in 

 behalf of informers.*^ Considerable progress seems to have been made, 

 however, in reducing the number of forest fires, especially in reducing 

 the number of camp fires left burning; and in 1909, the law was 

 further modified.** 



AUTHORITY TO ARREST TRESPASSERS WITHOUT PROCESS 



Enforcement of the forest fire law, and of all laws for the protec- 

 tion of the forest reserves, was facilitated by an act passed in 1905, 

 giving officers of the United States the authority to arrest, without 

 process, any person found violating a law or regulation governing 

 the forest reserves or national parks.*® Many of the reserves were 

 very large, and even if rangers happened to apprehend persons in the 

 act of violating a law or regulation, they must often go a distance of 

 twenty miles or more to get the judicial process necessary to make an 

 arrest. Thus the government officers were often practically helpless, 

 for the Attorney-General held that the right to make arrests without 

 warrant, in such cases, was at least questionable.** In 1899, the Land 

 Office recommended legislation to meet this condition,*^ and in 1900, 



60 Stat. 29, 594. 



61 H. Report 482; 56 Cong. 1 sess. 

 ^^Stat. 31, 169. 



^^ Reports, Land Office; 1900, 114; 1901, 153. 



64 In 1901, forest rangers discovered 1335 such fires; in 1902, 1083, and in 1903, 

 only 597. {Report, Sec. of Int., 1903, 328: Stat. 35, 1088.) 



65 Stat. 33, 700. 



66 S. Report 2624 ; 57 Cong. 2 sess. 



67 Report, Land Office, 1899, 128. 



