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the JEFFERSC)M ' N
A Weekly Paper Edited by THOS. E. WATSON and J. D. WATSON JX
Vol. 111. No. 10.
TffE FORESTRY BILL HAS A CHANCE
Washington, D. C., March I.—(Special.)
The friends of the Appalachian Forest Re
serve bill made a most favorable showing in
the presentation of the legal side of the case
before the judiciary committee of the house.
While it is impossible to state what the
position of .the committee will be, several of
the members favorable to the prospect ex
press a firm belief that the committee will
take the position that the government has
the power to acquire land in the Southern Ap
palachian Mountains and the White Moun
tain range for use as national forest reserves.
The hearing was upon the resolution of '
Representative Bartlett, of Georgia, inquiring
into the constitutionality of the project. Mr.
Bartlett spoke against the forest reserve
plan.
One of those who spoke in favor of the
measure was Gifford Pinchot, national for
ester. He treated the members to a bit of
elemental physics, to show the necessity of
preserving the forests on the watersheds of
the mountains, in order to preserve an equa
ble stream flow and to prevent disastrous and
destructive floods. Using a bit of card board
to represent the side of a hill, he poured a
cup full of water on the board. It ran off
like a mill race. Next he covered the impro
vised hill side with a piece jfef blotting paper
and again poured a cup (tfOwater upon the
make-believe hill. The r ting paper ab
sorbed the water. He erf ? the members’ at
tention to the fact th/,'Jl-ides covered with
verdure absorb rainfßfy like the piece of
blotting paper.
Bartlett Speo&s Against Bill.
Judge Bartlett made a lengthy speech
against the project and quoted numerous de
cisions of the supreme court which'he claimed
bore upon the question. He laid particular
stress upon the language of the court in the
Kansas vs. Colorado case, which follows: 11 The
United States government can claim no pow
ers which were not granted to it by the con
stitution and the powers actually granted
must be such as are expressly given or given
by necessary implication.” He acid that the
government had no authority under the con
stitution to acquire land for forest i eserves
since “each state has full jurisdiction over
the lands within its borders, including the
beds of streams and other rivers.” Judge
Bartlett said:
“It would be strange, in the absence of a
definite grant of power, if the national govern
ment should enter the territory of the states
along the Atlantic and legislate in respect to
improving by irrigation or otherwise the lands
within their borders.”
He said that if the government had the
right to acquire land in Georgia for forest
reserves to prevent silt from washing into
Atlanta, Ga., Thursday, March 5, 1908.
the rivers, it had the right to say to a far
mer in Georgia how he should terrace his
land to prevent mud from washing into the
creek.
Navigation Threatened.
“As congress has power under the con
stitution to dredge navigable rivers, it would
seem to follow necessarily that it has power
to take such measures: as will prevent the
necessity of dredging. It is evident that the
wasteful cutting of mountain slopes allows the
soil to wash into the rivers; that navigation,
is threatened b ythe filling up of the channels;
that this can be prevented to a large extent
by the reforesting of the mountain slopes. If
so, then the means to be taken for this pur
pose—for example, the purchase of lands on
the water-shed of these rivers—will be wholly
within the discretion of congress and not open
to legal objection. A light-house is not an ac
tive part of the government, but only an in
strument which it uses under the power given
it by the commerce clause of the constitu
tion. The holding of forest lands for the pro
tection of the water supply us navigable rivers
is an instrument also under this same clause
of the constitution.”
Express Hope for the Bill.
A poll of the house judiciary committee
has been taken by one of the members to as
certain how the committee stands upon the
subject of the constitutionality of the Appala
chian forest reserve bill. He declares that his
inquiries have led him to believe the com
mittee report will be favorable to the project.
The opposite position was taken by Judge
Bartlett, of Georgia, the author of the resolu
tion of inquiry.
Should the committee express confidence in
the legality of the proposed measure it -will
again be placed before the committee on agri
culture. Here Representative Lever, of South
Carolina, who is the author of one
of the forest reserve bills, is urging upon
his fellow members of the committee the ur
gent necessity of the proposed reserves. He
is hopeful, but not confident.
Brantley Questions Bartlett.
In response to this suggestion, Mr. Brantley,
a member of the committee, made the point
that many of the powers given to congress
were capable of being abused, but that the
supreme court had held in innumerable de
cisions that because a power was subject to
abuse was no reason why it should not be
exercised. He thought it would require a
great stretch of the imagination for congress
to pass such a drastic law affecting farmers
throughout the country.
The gentlemen who argued in behalf of the
constitutionality of the proposed legislation,
showed that it was carrying out the power
given congress to regulate interstate commerce.
The United States congress has control of all
navigable streams within its borders and it
was shown that the sources of innumerable
navigable streams were in the Appalachian
and White Mountains.
To Maintain Cotton Experts Abroad.
The senate replaced in the legislative ap
propriation bill the item of $40,000 for main
taining experts abroad to work for the fur
ther extension of our foreign cotton trade.
This appropriation is usually killed in the
house, but kept in by the insistence of the
senate.
Little Hope for Rivers and Harbors Bill.
Representative Joseph E. Ransdell, of Lou
isiana, chairman of the inland waterways com
mission, reluctantly admitted today that he en
tertained little hope for the passage of a na
tional rivers and harbors bill at this session
of congress. The commission has worked vig
orously and actively for the success of the
bill, but their interviews with thepporersw r ers that
be in congress have had a depressing influence
upon their spirits.—Atlanta Constitution.
AGAINST EARLY PRIMARIES.
Extract from Gov. Smith’s Mcßae Speech,
(Nov. 17, 1907).
“The main question involved in our plat
form upon which we may well desire imme
diate action has reference to our primaries,
as I have before presented it.
“There are men running now for the legis
lature when the first session of the legislature
under existing laws at which they expeeit to
serve will not meet until the summer of 1909,
year after next. I am opposed to electing leg
islators for the session of 1909 until the ses
sion of 1908 is over.
“I advocaite legislation to fix the time of
our state primaries, giving the same cer
tainty which attaches to the regular elections,
and making it impossible for state or county
executive committees to bring them on early
or late just to please men seeking the of
fices. The people are entitled to know long
in advance when the election will take place,
and a statute of the state should make the
day absolutely certain.
“The Democratic state committee will natu
rally meet at an early day. I trusit county
committees will postpone action until the time
is fixed by the state committee for action
throughout the state. The legislature might be
called together in January to fix the time and
machinery for primaries, but if the subject
can be handled through the state and county
committees this would seem to be the better
plan. Os course, I recognize the fact that the
county committees would not be controlled by
(Continued on Page Four.)
Price live Cents.