THE UNRESERVED TIMBER LAND 235 



involved, but wandered off into a criticism of the "vicious system of 

 forest reserves,"** and fell into some rather obvious inconsistencies in 

 that discussion. He made much fun of the National Forestry Asso- 

 ciation, asserting that a vice-president of that organization (Fred- 

 erick Weyerhaeuser) owned more land that had been obtained by 

 fraud than any other man in the United States.*^ At this point, Smoot 

 of Utah suggested that such holdings as Weyerhaeuser's were impos- 

 sible where forest reserves had been established, and Newlands pre- 

 dicted that if the timber lands in forest reserves were ever thrown open 

 to entry under the Timber and Stone Act, they would very soon be 

 taken up by wealthy timbermen. Unquestionably the result which 

 Newlands foresaw would have followed the opening up of the forest 

 reserves, but Heyburn denied it. He said that if the Timber and Stone 

 Act were enforced, as it "easily could be," fraud and concentration of 

 ownership would not follow. 



At almost every point, Heyburn, like Fulton, Carter, Mondell, 

 Teller, and some other western anti-conservationists on similar occa- 

 sions, took about the most illogical attitude possible.^" He affected a 

 great antipathy for the great lumber monopolies, and yet, on almost 

 every question, he played into their hands. Had his views always pre- 

 vailed, there is no doubt that practicall}"^ all of the timber lands of 

 the West would now be in the hands of large timber companies. The 

 preservation of a portion of the public timber lands from the grasp of 

 speculators and timber companies has been due to two things : the 

 creation of the forest reserves, and the enforcement of the public land 

 laws. To both of these, Heyburn was unalterably opposed. He never 

 missed an opportunity to attack the forest reserves, and when Roose- 

 velt and Hitchcock began a vigorous enforcement of the land laws, 

 Heyburn immediately flew to arms. On the other hand, one of the best 

 tools in the hands of the timber companies was the Timber and Stone 

 Act. Heyburn approved of that act. It is true that he opposed the 

 Forest Lieu Act, a really injurious statute, but instead of directing 



48 Cong. Rec, Jan. 30, 1907, 2021. 



49 Ibid., 2200. 



50 For an exposition of Heyburn's methods in debate, see Forestry and Irriga- 

 tion, Aug., 1908, 445-447. It has been asserted that he did not have the support even 

 of the press in his own section of the country, but it is doubtful if this is true. 

 {Forestry and Irrigation, Sept., 1906, 394.) 



