plains where they have seen farmers abandon their 

 farms after years of fruitless labor, and where nothing 

 but a meagre existence is to be obtained from the soil. 

 Many of these counties export nothing, and it will re- 

 quire all of their labor and produce to support the 

 forestry proposition itself, furnishing a market for 

 their^produce and labor for themselves; so that instead 

 of antagonizing the proposition, they will accept it as 

 the logical and proper field of labor. 



"I would start this movement with 

 Taxation a plain, straightforward proposition 



that anything that the citizens them- 

 selves of these counties pay for, they should have; 

 but the proposition that they can levy taxes running 

 from three to twenty per cent, against forest lands, is 

 an entirely wrong "one and one which must be entirely 

 abandoned if forestry is to have any consideration 

 whatever. Under the present tax laws enforced and 

 construed by the local officials, the only proposition a 

 man can consider is to strip the land of its trees as 

 fast as possible. The Turkish government placed a 

 tax upon every tree in Palestine; the result was that 

 the olive and the palm trees were cut down, and the 

 lands seen by Caleb and Joshua as flowing with milk 

 and honey, and known as the Garden of Cleopatra, 

 covered with groves of palm and olive, are almost a 

 barren waste. 



"The question of taxation entirely takes care of it- 

 self in State forestry, but in the question of personal 

 initiative, which is considered of greatest importance by 

 President Roosevelt, the question of taxation becomes 

 paramount. The assessment of these lands should be, 

 in their present condition, on absolutely wild lands. 

 All taxes levied against them, whether special, town- 

 ship, State or county, should be held in a special fund 

 devoted exclusively to the protection and preserva- 

 tion both from destruction and trespass. This could 

 be devoted to payment of forest wardens. These offi- 

 cers should all be hired by the State and not local 

 officers. The farmer's woodlot should be assessed as 

 wild land, for their protection. This should be 

 worked out along the lines that have been found most 

 successful by the General Government and by the 

 several States. 



"The State Tax Commissioner reports the average 

 rate of taxation in the following counties: 



Alcona 4-135 Missaukee 3-363 



Alpena 3-265 Montmorency 3-344 



Arenac. 3-45 Ogemaw 3 .039 



Clare 4-015 Otsego 2.727 



Crawford 2.221 Roscommon 4-589 



Gladwin 3-34 1 Iron 4.029 



losco 3- I 35 Ontonagon 4-324 



Lake 3-241 Kalkaska 2.984 



In some townships, the rate of five and six per cent is 

 not uncommon, and the extraordinary rate of twenty 

 per cent has been assessed and paid. 



"The lumberman has paid and is now paying in taxes 

 ample money to reforest all the lands that he cuts over. 

 The State with its overflowing treasury certainly does 

 not need the tax, but it does need the forests. The 

 townships with the liberal donation of the State 

 special tax, do not need it for school purposes. The 

 same or more money could be spent carrying forward 

 the forestry work, as is now collected in taxes on for- 

 est lands, in the several counties. Education along 

 these lines of taxation' would lead to an acceptance of 

 the proposition of forestry. 



