TAX LANDS AND FORESTRY. 91 



more careful management of forest lands would result. Greater in- 

 terest in forestry would be developed. (1) When private owners know 

 definitely what to expect in the way of taxes and (2) when they under- 

 stand that these taxes will be the same, whether the land is well cared 

 for or not, a tendency toward the use of better methods will gain ground. 

 Indeed, if conservative management for private forests is to be gen- 

 erally adopted, it must have as a basis ai, system of just and uniform 

 taxation. 



EXTRACTS FROM THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE APPOINTED BY A RESOLVE 



OF THE GENERAL COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS, APRIL 28, 1905, TO CONSIDER 



THE LAWS OF THAT AND OTHER STATES AND COUNTRIES RELATIVE 



TO THE TAXATION OF FOREST LANDS. 



As instructed in the resolve, we have carefully examined the laws of 

 other states. We find that Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, 

 Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, 

 Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wyoming have made special 

 laws in regard to the taxation of forest lands, and, with the exception 

 of Indiana, these laws are nominally in force. They have not, however, 

 been productive of the best results — not because the problem involved 

 is not capable of solution, but because the laws have, in most cases, 

 been framed without suflScient investigation. They fall naturally into 

 four groups: First, bounties; second, rebates; third, exemption for a 

 period of years; and, fourth, exemption of a certain proportion of the 

 area held by an owner. Some states have both bounties and exemption 

 for a term of years. 



I (1) Bounties. 



Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts and Wyoming offer bounties to for- 

 est planters. A bounty in money is offered in order to encourage pri- 

 vate owners to plant their non-agricultural lands to forest trees. In 

 some cases the bounty takes the form of a competitive prize for the best 

 plantation in certain districts; in other cases the bounty is paid for 

 each acre of satisfactory plantation. 



We made inquiries to ascertain the extent to which this method has 

 proved of value in forest production. Except in the case of Minnesota, 

 so far as the reports are obtainable, they indicate very small results. 



In Minnesota |440,000 have been spent in bounties, the amount ap- 

 propriated being $20,000 a year. The law has been in operation since 

 1877. The bounty is at the rate of |2.50 an acre. It is claimed by those 

 who are in a position to know that some 50,000 acres of standing 'tim- 

 ber can be traced directly to the operation of this law. It will be seen 

 at a glace that, although the law has accomplished results, it has done 

 so at an enormuos cost. 



(2) Eebates. 



Pennsylvania is the only state which has tried the method of assess- 

 ing woodlands at their sale value, but offering, under certain restric- 

 tions, rebate upon the taxes paid. Laws of this kind have been in force 

 since 1887, but owing to defects in their phraseology they have not 



