American Forest Congress 339 



I find these words in the report of the Senate Com- 

 mittee on the Public Lands, and the date is February 



19. 1903: 



"It can be plainly seen that all the valuable timber 

 lands of the United States will be owned by speculators 

 within three years if the opportunity to acquire them 

 at $2.50 an acre is continued." 



That was February 19, 1903. 



It is now pretty close to February 19, 1905, and one 

 year from that date the three years will be exhausted, 

 all the timber land will be gone, according to this 

 official statement. 



Has the bill been repealed? No! Has the House 

 of Representatives done anything to stop this shameful 

 waste of the public property under the Timber and 

 Stone Act? No! 



They have done nothing whatever to stop the abuses 

 and frauds constantly being committed under that act. 



Again, the following year the President in his mes- 

 sage to Congress made • substantially the same recom- 

 mendation. They were reiterated by the Secretary 

 of the Interior. The Senate Committee on Public 

 Lands recommended a bill to repeal the Timber and 

 Stone Act and the Senate passed the bill in the last 

 session of Congress. 



It went to the Public Lands Committee of the House 

 of Representatives. 



Mr. T. B. Walker appeared before that committee 

 and waved his magic wand and they gave two votes 

 for the repeal of the bill out of eighteen members of 

 the committee. Two votes! And the bill is lying 

 there in that committee yet. 



In this session of Congress, without waiting for 

 anything, or for anybody to do anything, they passed 

 a resolution in the Public Lands Committee of the 



