er. 
333 
It was otherwise with the first generation born here. In their 
eyes the forest was simply illimitable ; and without it the soil was 
of greater value than with it. Two centuries have matured the 
tree-destroying tendency into an instinct; and in regard to the 
proper use and conservation of our forest resources, we, asa people, 
are in the position of France, for example, four centuries ago. To 
put the proposition in another form, we furnish an illustration of a 
nation lapsing into the extravagance of barbarism because of the 
abundance of our supplies, so far at least as our use of the trees is 
concerned. 
April 3, 1872, marked an era in our national forestry legislation, 
for on that date, Hon. Richard Haldeman, of Pennsylvania, intro- 
duced into Congress, by unanimous consent, a bill (21,971) to en- 
courage the planting of trees, and for the preservation of woods on 
the public domain. Mr. Haldeman, explaining his measure, on 
April 11, speaks of it as a ‘‘ subject hitherto unattempted in legis- 
lation,’’ by which, of course, he meant in this country. On the 
17th, he further explained that his bill was only to meet a pressing 
need, without discouraging the rapid settlement of the great West. 
It is fair to say that, considered as a whole, Mr. Haldeman’s address 
on the subject has not been improved upon, to this day. April 30, 
the measure was further discussed, and was defeated by a small 
majority. The agitation, however, was not without result; for in 
1873, the American Association for the Advancement of Science 
urged an examination into the subject. The President made the 
recommendation the basis of a special message, out of which grew 
‘a bill for the appointment of a commission for inquiry into the 
destruction of forests and into the measures necessary for the pre- 
servation of timber.’ March 17, Mr. Dunnell, from the Committee 
on Public Lands, submitted a report upon the cultivation of timber 
and the preservation of forests. It is a matter of some pride that a 
Pennsylvanian, a member of this Society, was Chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Public Lands, which reported favorably upon the request 
for a commission of inquiry ; and he was largely instrumental in 
aiding the passage of the bill, authorizing it, through the lower 
House. I refer to the Honorable Washington Townsend, of West 
Chester. The years 1877, 1878, 1879 and 1882, witnessed the 
publication by the late F. B. Hough of his reports upon forestry, 
through the Department of Agriculture in Washington. With all 
their defects they are to this day landmarks in our forest literature. 
