This permission has in practice been construed by the railroad compa- 

 nies into a license to cut timber wherever^ whenever, and for whatever 

 purpose they saw fit, before and after construction. 



That the timber on the public domain had a special value, and also 

 that it needed, like all movable property, to be looked after and pro- 

 tected, was recognized by the act of March 2, 1831, under which, for the 

 care and custody of the timber on the public domain, a system of 

 agencies under the supervision of the Solicitor of the Treasury was es- 

 tablished. When, in 1854, the management of the timber interest was 

 transferred to the G-eneral Land Office, and the registers and receivers 

 were expected to act as timber agents without additional pay, an ex- 

 ceedingly loose construction as to the right to take timber, and naturally 

 a lax enforcement of any laws, prevailed until 1877. In fact, until 1876 

 the collection of stumpage, when found out, was the only penalty for 

 timber stealing, and a regular revenue, payable quarterly at the discre- 

 tion of the receivers, was attempted to be collected from the saw-mill 

 men without any sanction of law. From the year 1872 until 1877 an- 

 nual ai^propriations were made for this service, amounting in the aggre. 

 gate to $48,000 (145,624.76 expended). 



In 1877 the Commissioner of the Land Office instituted a service of 

 special agents, and in 1878 a special appropriation of $25,000 was made 

 >' to meet the expenses of suppressing depredations upon timber on the 

 public lands.'' The system of special agents was gradually enlarged 

 and the appropriations increased, with the results during the last seven 

 years as exhibited in the table below. 



Depredations on the puhlic timher during seven years. 





Estimated value of tim- 

 ber reported stolen. 



Amounts 

 actually re- 

 covered, 

 partly by 



com- 

 promise. 



Appropria- 

 tions for 



protection 

 service. 



Agents employed. 



Tear. 



Market. 



stumpage. 



Number. 



Months 



em- 

 ployed. 



1881 



$891, 888 

 2, 044, 278 

 8, 144, 658 



7, 289, 834 



2, 862, 530 



9, 339, 679 

 6, 146, 935 



$225, 472 



511, 069 



1, 709, 824 



1,093,178 



489, 255 



1,726,516 

 1, 138, 320 



$41, 680 

 77, 365 

 27, 741 



52, 108 



49, 451 



101,080 

 128, 642 



$40, 000 

 40, 000 

 75, 000 



75, 000 



75, 000 



75, 000 

 75, 000 



17 

 31 



20 



(0 



(?) 



12 



1882 



1883 



1884 



12 



1885 



8 



1886 



l*^ 



1887 



12 







Total 



36, 719, 852 



6, 893, 634 



478, 073 



455, 000 



27 









Actual number of agents employed for shorter periods 



With more and more urgency have tlie Commissioners of the Land 

 Office, the officers to whose care, under the Secretary of State, this x)rop- 



NoTE —During the thirty-three years fiom 1855 to 1888 the sums recovered from trespassers amounted 

 in the aggregate to $491, 1 72. 



