Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 5.djvu/55

Rh Such agents should also be authorized and instructed, under the direction of the Department of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture, to sell for the United States, in order to satisfy the current local demand, timber from the public lands under proper regulations, and in doing so especially to see to it that no large areas be entirely stripped of their timber, so as not to prevent the natural renewal of the forest. This would enable the people of the mining States and of the territories to obtain the timber they need in a legal way, at the same time avoiding the dangerous consequences above pointed out.

The extensive as well as wanton destruction of the timber upon the public lands by the wilful or negligent and careless setting of fires calls for earnest attention. While in several, if not all of the States, such acts are made highly penal offenses by statute, no law of the United States provides specifically for their punishment when committed upon the public lands, nor for a recovery of damages thereby sustained. I would therefore recommend the passage of a law prescribing a severe penalty for the wilful, negligent or careless setting of fires on the public lands of the United States, principally valuable for the timber thereon, and also for the recovery of all damages thereby sustained.

While such measures might be provided for by law without unnecessary delay, I would also suggest that the President be authorized to appoint a commission, composed of qualified persons, to study the laws and practices adopted in other countries for the preservation and cultivation of forests, and to report to Congress a plan for the same object applicable to our circumstances.

The provisions your project of a forestry bill has added to this plan are certainly appropriate, especially the proposed Forestry Commission to superintend the execution of this policy.

It has been objected that the introduction of such a system would involve an addition to the number of public officers, and cost money. Certainly it would, as the Army