208 UNITED STATES FOREST POLICY 



southern Appalachian forests.^ Senator Pritchard of North Carolina 

 took up the cause in Congress, and secured an appropriation of $5000 

 to be used to investigate forest conditions in the Appalachian Moun- 

 tains.^ The investigation was completed in about a year, and Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture James Wilson made a report recommending the 

 establishment of Appalachian reserves, a recommendation in which 

 President McKinley concurred.* 



About a week after Secretary Wilson made his report, Senator 

 Pritchard introduced a bill appropriating $5,000,000 for the pur- 

 chase of not less than 2,000,000 acres in the southern Appalachians.^ 

 This bill was favorably reported by Senator Beveridge of Indiana,* 

 but made no further progress, and in December, Pritchard introduced 

 another bill of similar provisions, which was likewise favorably re- 

 ported, and even debated somewhat, but never came to a vote.^ A bill 

 introduced by Senator Burton of Kansas in the same session, however, 

 was not only favorably reported, but after considerable debate, passed 

 the Senate with very little opposition.^ Senator Depew of New York 

 was the most conspicuous friend of this bill, while Nelson of Minne- 

 sota, Bailey of Texas, and Spooner of Wisconsin — the last named an 

 old friend of conservation — furnished what little opposition there 

 was. In the House, the bill was favorably reported but was not dis- 

 cussed.* 



Thus as early as 1902, a decade after the passage of the Forest 

 Reserve Act, a bill passed the Senate with very little opposition, 

 authorizing the purchase of national forests in the southern Appa- 

 lachian Mountains at a cost of $10,000,000. Such action in the Senate 

 seems rather strange when viewed in connection with the general atti- 

 tude of that body toward forest conservation. The vote of the south- 

 ern senators is easy enough to explain. Some of them were sincerely 



2 S. Doc. 84; 57 Cong. 1 sess., 158-165. 



3 Cong. Bee, Jan. 15, 1900, 801; Apr. 21, 1900, 4508: Stat. 31, 197. 



4 S. Doc. 84; 57 Cong. 1 sess., 166-168. 



5 S. 5518; 56 Cong. 2 sess. 



6 S. Report 2221. 



7 S. 492; 57 Cong. 1 sess.: Cong. Rec, Apr. 26, 1902, 4710-4714. 



8 S. 5228; 57 Cong. 1 sess.: Cong. Rec, June 7, 1902, 6429-6432; June 24, 1902, 

 7281-7287. 



9 H. Report 2913. 



