Director and instructors in the College of Forestry and for working capital for improving, maintaining, and administering the College forest. With a view to making the forest self-sustaining, the University on May 5, 1900, made a fifteenyear contract with the Brooklyn Cooperage Company by which it agreed to deliver to the company annually one-fifteenth of the wood and timber standing in the College forest. The details of this contract and the litigation which ensued are not essential to the present statement, but the results of the experiment were highly important; instead of yielding the State a revenue, all of the moneys appropriated were used up except about $9,000 of working capital, while about 3,100 acres of forest land were denuded and only about 440 acres replanted. The results were so obviously disappointing that in 1903 Governor Odell vetoed the appropriation of $10,000 for that year, and since then no appropriation for the College of Forestry has been made except one of $5,000 in 1903, exclusively for the purpose of removing the underbrush and for replanting trees. Soon thereafter (June, 1903) Cornell University discontinued the College of Forestry. In his message to the Legislature in 1904, Governor Odell, speaking of the School of Forestry, said: "Its operations had for their object the substitution of valuable growths for socalled worthless timber, but this has resulted in the practical destruction of all trees upon the lands where the experiment was in progress. No compensating benefits seem possible to the present generation. The preservation of the forests is primarily for the protection of the water supply, and this is not possible through the denudation of the lands. Therefore this school failed of its object, as understood by its founders-a failure which was not due, however, to the work of the University, which followed out the letter and the spirit of the law." Mr Justice Chester, of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, in his opinion rendered in June, 1910, in the case of the People of the State of New York against the Brooklyn Cooperage Company and Cornell University.* said that there could be no net revenues from the College Forest, as the expenses exceeded the income. He also pointed out how, under the operation of the contract, practically the entire College Forest would be denuded for the benefit of a private industry and not for the promotion of education in forestry. "There is proof in the case," he said, "that 500 acres were sufficient for conducting experiments on the 'clear cutting' system of forestry as distinguished from the 'selection' system." Notwithstanding the failure of the forest experiment, Governor Odell in 1904 hoped that the Forest School would be continued: "Because," he said in his message, "with the lapse of years, a proper understanding of scientific forestry will become more and more a necessity." What Governor Odell said remains true. But what is needed is not only scientific knowledge but also knowledge of local conditions. A high order of theoretical knowledge was brought to the management of the Cornell tract, but the experiment failed for lack of knowledge of local conditions and business prudence. 2-Lack of Confidence that Benefits will Accrue. The second obstacle to the introduction of scientific forestry upon State lands is the lack of confidence that if the forest products were utilized any benefit would accrue to the people generally. The feeling may be understood in the light of the history of the Forest Preserve. In its beginnings, this was not a deliberately planned institution, but grew up in haphazard fashion, without forethought or system. Once the State owned nearly all the land within the Adirondack wilderness, but prior to 1883 there were no laws which prevented the State from parting with its lands, and large areas were sold to private parties for almost a song-lands which the State has gradually been buying back ever since at constantly increasing prices. In a message to the Legislature in 1882, Governor Cornell called attention to the shortsightedness of this policy, in these words: By far the greater quantity of land within the Adirondack wilderness proper belongs to the State. Individual ownership is now confined to a few hundred thousand acres. Heretofore it has been the practice of the State, with questionable policy, to sell its wild lands at nominal prices to private parties, who have gone on, in most cases, and cut off the marketable timber where accessible, and then abandoned to the State the clearings, worthless generally for agricultural purposes, thereby escaping the payment of taxes. Forest fires have followed and raged with destructive fury, denuding the In the opinion he held that the plaintift was entitled to judgment, declaring the Brooklyn Cooperage Company and Cornell University contract void, and directed the University to convey to the State of New York the 30.000 acres constituting the College Forest. †The relative prices of forest lands sixty years ago and now may be judged from the fact that in 1850 a Law (Chapter 250) was passed providing that the State should not sell public land on Raquette river for less than 15 cents an acre. The State is now paying over $7.00 an acre for the same kind of land. mountains and checking the flow of springs and streams that supply_the navigable waters to the north and the Hudson river to the southward. Furthermore, many of the lakes, the natural reservoirs of the mountain courses, have been damaged by dams and overflow, so that the shores of those lying within the working timber limits present the effects of irreparable injury. In 1883 a law was enacted which prohibited the sale of any State lands in the counties of Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Saratoga, Saint Lawrence, and Warren, and by subsequent acts the counties of Oneida, Washington, Delaware, Greene, Sullivan, and Ulster were added to the list. Prior to that year the State had recovered about 800,000 acres of land which the owners had permitted to be sold for taxes-patches of land scattered here and there without any system or studied continuity. After the passage of the laws forbidding the sale of State lands the value of the lands began rapidly to appreciate, and private parties, desiring to acquire it endeavored to circumvent the law prohibiting the sale by attacking the State's tax titles. With the aid of pliant State officials, these efforts in many cases were successful, the State either parting entirely with its title or, retaining the title to the soil, parting with the title to the timber. In this manner the State lost about 100,000 acres of land. A report made to the Comptroller in 1895 showed that these cancellations were made with disregard of the law and the rights of the State. As the result of all the tax-sale transactions of the State, it has acquired about one-half of its present forest-preserve holdings in the Adirondacks. The other half was acquired by purchase. The first actual appropriation of money for the purchase of land for forest purposes was $10,000 appropriated in 1883 during Grover Cleveland's administration. In 1885 the Forest Preserve was established by law, and since then the building up of the Forest Preserve has proceeded with more intelligence and upon a more definite policy. Up to the present time, the State has spent about $3,800,000 on the purchase of lands for the Adirondack and Catskill forests. While the Forest Preserve was thus being evolved, other evils than the illegal cancellation of State titles developed. While the statutes-subject to change at any time at the wish of the Legislature-forbade the sale of State lands, there was nothing to prevent the sale of the timber on the land. In 1893 Governor Flower, whose friendship for the forests was unquestionable, recommended to the Legislature that "the State could acquire considerable revenue by granting permission to fell trees above a certain diameter on State land." But the policy thus proposed with the best of intentions was a disastrous one, for the reason that with the reckless lumbering methods employed the lumbermen would destroy fifty trees while taking out one.* By 1894, with the juggling in titles to State lands, the destruction of trees in lumbering operations, the killing of trees by flooding, the creation of unsanitary conditions by dams, and the general misuse and mismanagement of the State forests, conditions became intolerable, and the Constitutional Convention of that year adopted the stringent section before quoted (page 399). Every word was carefully weighed, and designed to meet some phase of the situation. The necessity was so obvious that it was adopted without a dissenting vote by the Convention, and subsequently was overwhelmingly ratified by the people. Since then, persistent efforts have been made by the lumber and water-power interests to impair this safeguard, but without success. We do not believe that the time has yet come to relax this section of the Constitution with respect to timber cutting; for while it is true that during the past few years conditions in the management of the Adirondack Forest Preserve have greatly improved and the public confidence in the possibility of the proper utilization of our forests had begun to take root, it is an unfortunate fact that that confidence has received a severe set-back by the course of legislation in 1910 with reference to the use of Adirondack waters. When the controlling powers in the Legislature are hostile to the idea that the State shall derive a revenue from its waters, it cannot be said that the auspices are propitious for the State's deriving any revenue from its timber. We do not believe that the people of the State are prepared to part with their forests upon the terms upon which they are asked to build storage reservoirs and furnish water-power to private interests, that is to say, for the bare original cost of the timber. It therefore appears to be the part of wisdom for the people to defer scientific forestry on State lands while the present attitude of the legislative mind continues, and to preserve their forests intact until the prospect of deriving a revenue from them is better. *Declaration of Colonel David McClure in the Constitutional Convention of 1894. REPORT OF THE CARRIAGE BUILDERS' NATIONAL ASSOCIATION Soon after the Conference of Governors called by President Roosevelt in the White House, May 3-15, 1908, the Carriage Builders' National Association appointed a Committee on National Conservation, which has submitted two reports. adopted by the Association. The last report, recently adopted, covers the items in which the carriage trade is most vitally interested. In addition to data taken from the Report of the National Conservation Commission, it summarizes the work and opinion of our Association on the important subject of Conservation. A late census report showed in its lumber cut a total of 203,211,000 board feet of hickory as compared with 9,255,000,000 feet for all hardwoods. This would indicate that the hardwood forest at present contains a little over 2 percent of hickory; probably as much as 4 percent for the entire hardwood area. The forest of the eastern half of Kentucky has been estimated recently to contain about 5 percent of hickory. The lumber cut does not show the large quantity of hickory which is cut and shipped in the form of round billets, rived or split spoke stock, etc. This form of material is frequently culled from the forest ahead of the lumberman, and tends to cause the low percentage of hickory in the lumber cut before noted. Including this with the 203,000,000 feet of hickory lumber would raise the total cut to at least 350,000,000 feet per year. Add to this hickory cut for fuel in localities with no transportation facilities, and the heart, pecky, and other portions wasted, and the total soon amounts to 400,000,000 feet. If hickory forms 3 percent of this forest (much of which is culled already for hickory-the lumber cut alone showing a little over 2 percent) there would be a total stand of 12,000,000,000 feet of hickory. Much of this is mature timber, with an annual growth of less than 12 percent. Hence there may be figured a growth of less than 180,000,000 feet against a consumption of about 400,000,000 feet. Though this is to some extent speculation, when supported by increasing difficulty in getting hickory timber and with rising prices, it is nevertheless sufficient to indicate that a thorough study of the growth of hickory is one of the important steps in attempting to plan relief measures. The report made to President Roosevelt was enthusiastically received, and an organization was formed to bring about a campaign of education among the people of the United States on National Conservation of our resources. In turning over the office of President to William H. Taft, Theodore Roosevelt recommended to him strongly the work of National Conservation, and reports through the press have shown that he is very enthusiastic and is taking a live interest, notwithstanding some of the newspaper reports regarding the controversy between some of the members connected with the Association, which, in our judgment, has been a splendid advertisement for the cause. We are also pleased to report that the National Hickory Association of the United States (whose membership is composed largely of the members of our Association) have taken a great interest in this work of Conservation, and have taken an active interest with the National Conservation Commission appointed by President Roosevelt in making up their report. They also held an enthusiastic meeting in Cincinnati last April, passing resolutions to work toward the end of having a permanent National Conservation Committee appointed by the Government, and also in the various States. Your committee recommended that all our members take an active interest and cooperate with the members of the National Hickory Association and the National Conservation Association, and offered the following resolutions which were adopted: "Resolved, That we heartily endorse the work of the National Hickory Association and assure them of our hearty cooperation. "Resolved, That we favor the maintenance of Conservation Commissions inevery State, to the end that each commonwealth may be aided and guided in making the best use of those abundant resources with which it has been blessed. "Resolved, That we also especially urge on the Congress of the United States the high desirability of maintaining a National Commission on the Conservation of the Resources of the Country, empowered to cooperate with State commissions, to the end that every sovereign commonwealth and every section of the country may attain the high degree of prosperity and the sureness of perpetuity naturally arising in the abundant resources and the vigor and intelligence and patriotism of our people. "Resolved, That a joint committee be appointed by our chairman, to consist of six members of our Association, whose duty it shall be to work in harmony with the State and National Commissions and the National Hickory Association." Respectfully submitted, [Signed] H. RATTERMANN, Cincinnati, Ohio, Chairman DANIEL T. WILSON, New York City Committee REPORT OF THE DELAWARE STATE FEDERATION OF WOMEN'S CLUBS As the one Delegate from the State of Delaware, I feel that I must speak a word for her. Delaware has an enviable list of great names, from Cæsar Rodney, whose memorable ride turned the scale in the vote for liberty, with Thomas F. Bayard and John Clayton, down to the present time, when we have a man like Judge George Gray to be proud of. The Delaware State Federation of Women's Clubs, which I represent, goes hand in hand with the women of sister States in this great movement. Our Legislature has appointed a State Forester-and the Granges and our Agricultural College at Newark are working to improve our soil and crops, while our women are supplementing their efforts wherever they can. We are cooperating with the Red Cross in the fight against the White Plague, and have succeeded in having a child labor law enacted, and are now working for a juvenile court. We have offered prizes to the public school children for the best essay on waterways; and we are beautifying our waterfronts and securing pure water. We have no great forests, but we raise the best peaches in the world and are rapidly coming to the front in apple culture, and we are going to keep up a ceaseless educational campaign, so that our people will realize the importance of conserving our natural resources. I consider it a great honor and privilege to represent the women of Delaware at this great Congress, and thank you for your attention. [Signed] CORNELIA R. HOLLIDAY REPORT OF THE FARMERS' UNION OF AMERICA It is a matter of great regret to me that the National Convention of the Farmers' Union occurs almost simultaneously with the gathering of the Second National Conservation Congress. I regard the question of Conservation as one of the very greatest now before this country. I regard Gifford Pinchot as the father of the Conservation idea in America. I believe that future generations will credit his activity in awakening the American conscience to almost criminal extravagance in exploiting our resources as one of the most practical displays of patriotism in National history. I trust that the deliberations at Saint Paul will be attended by much progress and profit. Let me beg also that while you concentrate on resources, you do not overlook the conserving of that greatest of our resources-the American Farmer. I regard his uplift of first importance to the present welfare and destiny of America. I shall hope that such steps as you take during the current session will be of far-reaching influence in directing the vital thought of an aroused people. C. S. BARRETT [Signed] President REPORT OF THE GENERAL FEDERATION OF WOMEN'S CLUBS It gives me great pleasure to report to this Congress the work undertaken and accomplished by the Waterway Committee of the General Federation of Women's Clubs during the sixteen months of its existence. Every State federation in the Union was asked to assist in this movement by adding to their standing committees one called Waterways; and ready responses came from many States. The work as outlined for each State falls under three departments, Civic, Educational, and Publicity. In this way the work can be systematized and developed along the lines to meet the needs of each locality. We have been told that our country stands foremost in waterway richness; with its many splendid rivers and great lakes, as it is well nigh girdled by oceans. Plans are rapidly maturing for the celebration of the short route to the East through Panama in 1915. From the dawn of history to the present time, civilization has followed the water routes; all the great cities are on, or in close proximity to, waterways. The date of the rapid reaching of railroads in every direction throughout our land was the signal for the neglect and non-use of water highways, until in the majority of cases the river fronts have been absorbed for railroad ways. There are now scarcely any good terminal facilities to be found for water transportation. To meet the problems confronting us in regard to our waterways, women resolved that there must be instituted a campaign for education, such an education that the awakening resulting therefrom shall become a force of tremendous energy. Man must know that in giving development to a stream it must be improved from its source to its mouth, and for its every use. Storage dams should be built at every available point. The fish raised in the reservoirs thereby created will soon pay for the outlay in construction. It is estimated that by fully conserving the waters and utilizing the water-power developed in connection with storage and other works, three times as much land can be reclaimed in the western half of the United States. Such dams will decrease largely the annual damage from flood waters, with which we are so familiar, as well as regulate a more even stream-flow. A larger and purer water supply will be assured; water for irrigation in the more accessible regions will be afforded. An improved stream provides cheaper power for manufacturing purposes, stimulates various industries, and thereby furnishes larger fields of employment. If the limitation of streams as self-clarifiers were better understood there would be such protection given to them and their water-sheds that there would be no more refuse, laden with typhoid. cholera and inflammatory intestinal germs given to them, especially if the great distances these germs travel and their tenacity of life were better known. The developed stream affords water for transportation when the stream is navigable. which affects both the producer and consumer from the remotest section to the heart of the Nation. It costs no more to develop the average stream than to build a railroad of the same mileage, but the improved stream carries 125 times as much freight per year as can be carried by rails, and at one-sixth the cost. Some 75 percent of the total freight commodities originating on the traffic lines in the United States consist of heavy raw materials, the staple productions of the farms, the forests, the mines, and the live stock ranges of the interior. These are commodities where economy of transportation is a prime essential to production. The even streamflow which comes from improvement gives moisture to the agricultural lands along the banks; the trees at the head waters and outlining its meanderings testify to the interdependence of forests and streams. An improved river system as outlined in these suggestions also necessitates drainage of all lowlands, save those suffering from the encroachments of the sea. At a glance we readily see that the development of waterways affects the Nation at large and man individually in a more vital way than any other of the natural resources. The idea is generally prevalent that the development of our Nation's waterways is pre-eminently man's work, and that there is nothing for the women to do. Yet there is not one phase of waterway development that does not directly or indirectly touch every home of this Nation. Who is there, then, to say that it is not the duty of every woman as mother and citizen to inform herself thoroughly on so vital a subject that she may be among the most active educators in this great campaign? In almost every great sociological and reform movement, women have been the originators; and today they are the dynamic forces |