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Show SPECIAL COURT FOR PUBLIC LANDS "System of Forest Reserves So Vicious That Distinction Distinc-tion Will Be Welcome' Says Heyburn. WASHINGTON, Feb. 5. Continuing his speech in the Senate in criticism criti-cism of the administration of the public pub-lic land laws, Senator Heyburn said there was no necessity for and no likelihood like-lihood that Congress would loan the forestry for-estry bureau. $5,000,000, as asked by the Fresldent. He said the last report of the bur- , esu showed $273,000 to the credit of this bureau, "and yet the proposition is to pawn the forests of the Government Govern-ment to the Government for $5,000,000. These gentlemen seem to treat these forests as their own private enterprise. enter-prise. ' ' Mr. Hevburn said the Government had gone into his home county in Idaho and taken 80 per cent of the Cbunty aa a forest reserve. The county had previously pre-viously made public improvements, but these had all been lost to the county and acquired by the Government. Senator Depew asked if the Senator's Sena-tor's contention would destroy the whole system of forest reserves. "The system of forest reserves as now operated." responded Mr. Heyburn "is so vicious that anything that would destroy it would be welcome." Mr. Depew asked if it was not true that combinations of Eastern capital had cnn into the West and grabbed up large timber holdings. "The largest land grabber is one of the vice presidents of the National For-'est For-'est Reserve association of the United States." answered Mr. Hevburn. "He owns more land, the title to which was illegally obtained, than anv other man or all other men in the United States, and he is one of the vice presidents of the Forestry association, the president of which is our worthy. Secretary of Agriculture. Ag-riculture. "I read in the paper yesterdav that this vice president of the Forestry association asso-ciation is going to buiid. in the neighboring neigh-boring county to that in which I live, the largest mill in the world for the purpose of working up these vast areas of timber that have been "-rongf'.illy obtained in the State of Idaho." "Were not these lands acquirer! by the vice-president spoken of before the reserves were created!" asked Mr. Smoot. "No; a number of them were acquired ac-quired while we sat here in the vain supposition that ne were heading off these land grabbers, while in another branch of the Government contracts were being rushed through with all speed that the ink might be drv on tnem before we passed the act which shut out the exchange of lands." answered an-swered Mr. Heyburn. Of the greatest points for criticism, said Mr. Hevburn. was that two acres of grazing land to nni of timber had been withdrawn as forest reserves. The remedv. he said, was to take the administration of the public land laws from th Interior department and put it in the hands of a special land court, provision for which he had made in a special bill now pending. |