16 FORESTRY IN MASSACHUSETTS 



ment will never be less than they are to-day. We complain 

 more and more of the burden of taxes, and yet we demand 

 that the government do more and more for us. We demand 

 insurance commissioners to prevent the robbery of the public 

 by unsound companies ; we demand railroad commissions to 

 keep the transportation companies from making an illegiti- 

 mate use of their power ; we demand schools and colleges 

 and libraries, to prepare the coming generations- for the 

 duties of citizenship. We demand more of government than 

 our fathers did, because the conditions of society are differ- 

 ent from what they were in our fathers' day, and consequently 

 government costs more now than it did then. 



A number of ways have been suggested for keeping down 

 the tax rate in the future. Among them has been suggested 

 the purchase of cheap woodlands and waste lands, and the 

 production of timber on them. This has been suggested as 

 a form of business in which the State, a city or a town can 

 engage for the purpose of raising revenue, without objec- 

 tionable competition with the business of the tax payer. It 

 is asserted by the advocates of this policy that there would 

 be absolutely no objection from any quarter on the ground 

 of competition. 



There is food for serious thought in the suggestion. For- 

 eign States and communities have tried this policy with 

 success ; and, although our conditions are not in some re- 

 spects as favorable as theirs, still, they are such as to insure 

 a profit on the investment. 



The Gypsy and Brown-tail Moths 



The presence of the gypsy and brown-tail moths in our 

 woodlands in large and increasing numbers constitutes a 

 serious forest problem. They are working out farther and 

 farther from the residential sections, and this means that 

 they are becoming more and more of a menace to our forest 

 interests. The General Court of 1905 passed a bill which 

 provides for systematic work against these moths. Those 

 who are interested in the welfare of our forests should co- 

 operate with the Superintendent in his efforts to suppress 

 the moths. 



