586 



the laws of the State have been administered by the commissioners 

 appointed for that purpose. As far as the committee is concerned 

 there has been every disposition' to arrive at the exact truth with regard 

 to the matter. There has been no disposition to make any charges 

 against any one or to convict any one either of misfeasance or of mal- 

 feasance. As far as the committee is concerned, we have every reason 

 to feel gratified with the course which the investigation has taken, 

 and I desire here to say on behalf of my associates and myself and 

 of the commissioners that we very fully appreciate the courtsey which 

 has been extended to us during the progress of this inquiry, and the 

 opportunity to present on the part of the commission facts which we 

 have deemed material with regard to this matter. Some of the 

 matters of which I had proposed to speak have been touched upon in 

 the opening by the counsel for the committee. Very much of what I 

 had proposed to say in regard to the organization of the commission, 

 the necessities out of which it arose and other matters relating to that 

 subject have been already touched upon and I shall not undertake to 

 say anything further in regard to that matter.- We have taken 

 the liberty of getting up a brief, as was suggested at the previous 

 meeting, and while I shall not confine myself to' that it will perhaps 

 afford some assistance during the argument. 



■ I shall speak first very briefly then of the work of the commission 

 as to what it has done since 1885, as to whether or not it has accom- 

 plished the object of its existence. The first matter almost which was 

 touched upon in this investigation was the question of the amount of 

 State lands at the time the forest commission took charge of the forest, 

 and the quantity of State lands at the present time, and criticism was 

 sought to be made upon the fact that there had not been that marked 

 increase in the quantity of lands which there had been during former 

 periods of five or six years. The facts when they came to be developed 

 show that there had been an actual increase of 63,000 acres, after allow- 

 ing for all deductions by way of cancellation, and this in the face of 

 the fact that during the last six years it has been practically impos- 

 sible to acquire lands by taxes for several reasons. One of the reasons 

 is, that every year the quantity of timber land throughout the 

 United States is becoming less and less, and the timber land in this 

 country is becoming more and more valuable and less and less likely 

 to revert to the State through sale for taxes. Another is the increase 

 of industries by reason of which it is necessary to use timber, nota- 

 ably the manufacture of pulp, which is a very important industry, and 

 has very much enhanced the value of certain classes of woods 

 thrdughout the Adirondack region. Still another reason is the fact 



