6 MISC. PUBLICATION 218, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
The Inquiry has enlisted the services of a technical staff of foresters 
and economists, with appropriate clerical, stenographic, and statis- 
tical assistants. The record of the technical personnel, with dates of 
appointment and resignation, is as follows: 
Fred Rogers Fairchild (professor of political economy, Yale University), director, 
appointed July 9, 1925. 
Louis 8S. Murphy, senior forest economist, detailed July 9, 1925. 
R. Clifford Hall (valuation engineer, Income Tax Unit, U. S. Treasury Depart- 
ment), principal forester, appointed April 1, 1926. 
Herman H. Chapman (professor of forestry, Yale University), principal forester, 
appointed June 1, 1926. 
Paul A. Herbert (assistant professor of forestry, Michigan State College), senior 
forest economist, appointed June 15, 1926, resigned July 31, 19381. 
Jennie C. Goddard, senior statistical clerk, appointed July 24, 1926, resigned 
November 30, 1927. 
Conrad H. Hammar, assistant economist,appointed March 31, 1927, resigned 
April 30, 1929. 
Daniel Pingree, assistant forest economist, appointed May 20, 1927, resigned 
June 15, 1933. 
Martha 8S. Epps, assistant economist, appointed November 14, 1927, resigned 
August 31, 1930. 
Bushrod W. Allin (assistant professor of agricultural economics, University of 
Wisconsin), taxation economist, appointed September 25, 1928, resigned 
October 15, 1930. 
Otto Neiuwejaar (assistant professor of forestry, University of Riga, Latvia), 
forest economist, temporary appointment, effective December 10, 1928, ter- 
minated October 31, 1930. 
Robert M. Haig (professor of business administration, Columbia University), 
principal taxation economist, temporary appointment, effective November 1, 
1929, terminated December 31, 1930. 
Paul W. Wager (associate professor of rural social economics, University of North 
Carolina), taxation economist, appointed January 8, 1930. 
Roy B. Thomson, assistant forest economist, detailed March 1, 1930. 
Wade E. DeVries (Michigan State Department of Conservation), taxation 
economist, appointed July 10, 1930. 
Besse B. Day, associate statistician, appointed July 15, 1930. 
Wilfrid E. Hiley (lecturer in forest economics, Oxford University), principal 
forest economist, temporary appointment, effective July 25, 1930, terminated 
April 4, 19381. 
INITIAL ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING THE NATURE OF THE 
FOREST-TAX PROBLEM 
The discussion of the forest-tax problem contained in this report 
is predicated upon certain basic conditions, which should be briefly 
stated at this point. 
PRIVATE OWNERSHIP OF FORESTS AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST 
It is recognized that the greater part of the forests and forest lands 
in the United States is now in private ownership and that, in spite 
of continued public purchase, this situation may be expected to 
continue for a long time, perhaps indefinitely. 
In countries where forestry has been practiced for centuries, the 
private forest area continues to be a substantial part of the entire 
forest area. In France, for example, there are 16 million acres of 
private forests out of a total of 25 million; in Germany 15 million out 
of 31 million acres; and in Sweden 43 million out of 57 million acres 
(244, 268, 276, 277).1 In the United States, 396 million of the 495 
+ Italic numbers in parentheses refer to Literature Cited, p. 641. 
