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once the large body of land necessary for a park would result in 

 arraying against the measure such powerful interests and would 

 render necessary such a large expenditure of money as to inevitably 

 defeat it. 



Q. What reason was given for that with regard to the extent of the 

 industries which would be affected by it ? 



A. I have suppose that the amount of capital invested in and about 

 and on the borders of the Adirondack region in lumbering mills, 

 was at least, I should think, twenty to twenty-five millions of dollars 

 and the number of people depending upon that industry must be 

 50,000 1 should think; the cost, as I have said, it seemed to put the 

 thing out of the question entirely; of course, that involved the right 

 of eminent domain, or condemnation proceedings, if we were to take 

 everything absolutely at once, and it seemed to us a very expensive 

 proceeding, necessarily very protracted, and not only the interest of 

 the lumbering people but also of the clubs private ownership there, 

 so great as to hazard the entire enterprise. 



Q. With regard to the effect of taking out the soft woods and the 

 proportion ? 



A. If you wish to know some of the people I consulted personally 

 about it, I will give you the names of a few of them. 



Q. Gives the names of some of them ? 



A. I had conversation with Edward M. Shepard, who was on the 

 Poucher or Sargent commission in 1884 with Colonel Cannon, 

 Warner Miller, I think with Mr. Morris K. Jessup; if not with him, 

 certainly with a gentleman associated with him in Adirondack mat- 

 ters and Judge Higley. 



Q. How was that practicable ? 



A The clause as we adopted it would permit the purchase of lands 

 • otherwise desirable for park purposes even though unincumbered 

 with rights of cutting timber; the other act which has been presented 

 to the Senate I believe puts it in a different way. 



Q. And still permitting the soft woods to be cut out ? 



A. Yes; the same thing. 



Q. Is that the general sentiment as you have found it with refer- 

 ence to creating a park ? 



A I can say unhesitatingly it is; I have always supposed the two 

 points on which the latter matter turned was this matter of acquiring 

 lands subject to rights of removal of matured timber and the railroad 

 question; these are both very important provisions for the act; I 

 quoted several times from this report of Sargent, and if the committee 

 will permit me I will make one further quotation; on the 11th page 



