I 



THE UNRESERVED TIMBER LAND 



243 



bill was not of very serious consequence. The two free timber acts, 

 like the Timber and Stone Act, had outlived the forests which it was 

 their function to destroy, and, like the Timber and Stone Act, they 

 are both on the statute books today, reminders of a discreditable 

 chapter in the congressional history of the public lands. 



CONSERVATION ACTIVITY IN CONGRESS: INCREASING 

 APPROPRIATIONS FOR TIMBER PROTECTION 



Congress did not in all ways do as badly as in regard to the 

 Timber and Stone and the free timber acts. During the same time 

 that the provisions of these acts were being extended, some real 

 advances were made in other directions. In the first place, appropria- 

 tions for the prevention of timber depredations and fraudulent entries, 

 although during several years considerably reduced, were ultimately 

 greatly increased, as the following table clearly shows : 



Previous to 1896 or 1897, protection against timber depredations 

 ras always somewhat ineffectual. The committee of the National 



9* Compiled from the Statutes at Large. These figures do not include deficiency 

 appropriations, of which there were several during this time. The decrease of appro- 

 priations in 1893 was due, perhaps partly to Democratic economy, and partly to the 

 crisis of that year, which greatly reduced the demand for land and timber and so 

 permitted a reduction in the fund for protection. The increase in appropriations 

 in later years was certainly due in considerable measure to the influence of 

 Roosevelt, Hitchcock, and Pinchot. 



