Salt Lake Tribune | 1909-08-08 | Page 5 | Secretary Wilson Will Take up the Question of Forest Reserves

I SECRETARY WILSON WiLL TAKE UP THE QUESTION OF FOREST RESERVES WASHINGTON, Aug. 7. Direction of tho affairs of the administration was tonight left in tho bauds of two cabinet cab-inet ofiiecrs Secretary of the Treasur-MacVeagh Treasur-MacVeagh and Postmaster General Hitchcock and 1)3 Monday night, I he distinction will be probably alone enjoyed en-joyed by Mr. Hitchcock. President Taffc is keeping in close touch with Washington over the government govern-ment wire from Beverly, Mass. While no definite tinio has been fixed for a conference respecting President Tnft's plans to orqanizo the interstate commerce commission, it is expected that ho and some members of his cab-iuet, cab-iuet, including Altornej' General Wick-ersham Wick-ersham and Secrotary of Commerce and Labor Nagel, will have such a conference confer-ence early in Sep! ember. The whole matter is yet in a tentative tenta-tive state. The president's idea is to arrange for a division of the work now done by the interstate commerce commission. His plan provides that investigations into violations of the interstate com- incroo act from which prosecutions may result shall be conduoted either directly by the department of .-justice or tho bureau of corporations instead of by tho interstate commerce commission. Socrotar- of Agriculture Wilson will leave tomorrow for tho West, lie will spend a week at his homo in Trner, Iowa, after concluding some departmental depart-mental work in Wyoming and Utah. JIo will confer at Rawlins, Wvo., with the sheep-raisers of that country. He is anxious io ascertain whether there are lands included iu tho forest reserves re-serves which are valuable for agricultural agricul-tural purposes. Jf thoro aro sttciriands in the reserves, he will recommend to tho-scerctao' of tho interior that they be listed for settlement and entry. Later, Secretary Wilson will go to Ogden, Og-den, Utah, where, he will take up the samo question. Since June. 90(5, there have boen 250,000 acres of farm lands in the forest reserves turned over to homesteaders. Postmaster General Hitchcock later may make a visit to Secrotary of tho Interior B.'illinger at Seattle.