Page:Pacific Monthly volumes 9 and 10.djvu/124

 for land, but is entitled to no more privileges than an individual.

A circular issued by the General Land Office in 1899 states that **the register and receiver will especially di- rect the examination (at the time final proof is offered) to ascertain whether the entry is made in good faith for the appropriation of the land to the entr\^man's own use, and not for sale or speculation/' Had the provision forbidding the taking 01 public land for private speculation been enforced, there would not have been the demand for timber claims which the Northwest has witnessed duringf the last decade. But that is one of the clever phrases which sounds well to the defenders of the nation's forests, and vet, because of the difficulty of enforcing it, has not prevented the purcnase of the land for the benefit of lumber companies.

It is commonly reported that large tracts of timber have been taken up at the instance of wealthy companies who have employed cruisers to locate people on the land with the understanding that sales were to be made to the company. When the entryman did not have the means, the money required was advanced, with the understanding that the land was to be sold only to the lender. It is natural that this should have been the first step in the development of the timber mduscry. There was no inducement to anyone, except mill men, to take timber claims until the entrance of Eastern companies caused a market. The people of Washington and Oregon should not regret that these companies have secured

A SYLVAN DANCE-HALL — This cedar stump will accommodate two "sets" in an old-fashioned "square" dance.

Copyright, 1901. hy Darius Kinscy. Sedro-li'oottey, Hash.

large holdings in these states, though we may regret the manner in which it has sometimes been accomplished. The development of their properties is bringing untold wealth. As timber has been exhausted in the East, lumbermen have been forced to follow the forests westward. Year by year the demand has grown greater, and valuer have increased. A cartoon in an Eastern paper some time ago represented the 'last tree in Michigan." with num- erous mill men, axes in Jvmd, strug-