Ann Arbor. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES UNITED STATES, Congress. 115 HEARINGS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE ON BILLS HAVING FOR THEIR OBJECT TION OF WATERSHEDS AND ALSO OTHER PAPERS BEARING ON THE SAME SUBJECTS SIXTIETH CONGRESS WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1909 91-57-38 ACQUISITION OF FOREST AND OTHER LANDS FOR THE PROTECTION OF WATERSHEDS, ETC. COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, The committee met at 10.30 o'clock a. m., Hon. Charles F. Scott (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. Gentlemen of the committee, I wish to say that Jabout two weeks before the session of Congress opened I was requested to grant a hearing to some gentlemen who wished to appear here in the interest of the White Mountain and Appalachian forest project. It was too late, then, to communicate with members of the committee individually and hear from them, and I therefore took the liberty of calling this meeting, taking their assent for granted, and I am glad to note the presence of a very large portion of the committee. I understand that at a meeting held last evening of those who are interested in this matter it was decided to ask Governor Guild, of Massachusetts, to conduct the hearing. Before introducing him, however, I wish to make a few statements touching the attitude of the committee toward this measure, which may, perhaps, have something of suggestion in them to those who are to speak. In the first place, I wish to say that the committee is fairly well educated on the general proposition. It has been discussed before us at considerable length and by very able gentlemen. In the second place the opinion of the Judiciary Committee of the House seems to leave this committee with no alternative but to exclude from consideration any question of the purchase of forest lands for the mere purpose of preserving the forests. Under that opinion we can only consider the propriety of such purchase in the event that a direct and substantial connection can be shown between the preservation of the forests and the continued maintenance of the navigability of navigable streams. Therefore, what I think the committee desires particularly to have this morning is facts bearing directly on this latter proposition. We want to know, if any of the gentlemen who are to appear before us are prepared to state it, just how much difference in the stream flow of some individual navigable river can be directly attributed to the deforestation of the watershed contributing to that stream. I think we would like to know if there is any data showing the record of streams for as long a period as possible, covering a period when the forests were in existence and since they have been removed. I think we would like to know whether 3 the erosion, of which complaint is made as resulting in silting up the streams, is due to the removal of forests from the upper slopes or from the lower slopes of the mountains; whether it is due to the operations of farming or to the operations of lumbering. And I think also we would like to have some information, if it is possible, as to the probable price at which land can be bought in the sections under consideration, and about the number of acres that would probably be required. In making these suggestions you will understand, of course, Governor Guild, that I am not seeking to dictate what the gentlemen who are to appear before us shall say. I am merely trying to indicate points that must be given very careful consideration by the committee before it acts upon this matter. And with these introductory remarks I take pleasure in presenting to this committee Governor Guild, the distinguished executive of Massachusetts, by whose presence here this morning I am sure we all feel honored. STATEMENT OF CURTIS GUILD, JR., GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS. Governor GUILD. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I am sure that the petitioners in behalf of this measure for the preservation of the Appalachian forests will take due consideration of the kindly suggestions made by the chairman of this committee, and will, to the best of their ability, address themselves to them. Í note the remarks of the chairman, that the committee has already given a number of hearings in regard to this matter and has posted itself carefully and quite thoroughly, and therefore I shall ask, to use the legal parlance, if I may put in evidence at this hearing, without reading, the previous proceedings before this committee with the testimony which you already have? The CHAIRMAN. Certainly, that will be entirely satisfactory. Governor GUILD. That is understood. I would also like to put in evidence the report of the Secretary of Agriculture on the Southern Appalachian and White Mountain watersheds, which does give the commercial importance, area, condition, feasibility of purchase for national forests, and the probable cost, to which you referred. Furthermore, the report of the Conservation Commission, now in session, which is giving particular attention to the very practical points that the honorable chairman has suggested, in regard to the areas and to the specific effect of the destruction of the forests. Finally, I take it that you do not, of course, desire, as I understand, to exclude any evidence which any person now present may feel desirous of offering as to any deleterious effect that may come to the people of the United States from the destruction of our forests. For if we have to consider, sir, the constitutionality of this measure on the ground as to whether the waters of the river are thereby rendered unnavigable or remain navigable, another clause of the Constitution, of course, provides that Congress is to legislate for the general welfare of the people, and certainly nothing is more for the general welfare of the people than the preservation of a good water supply and a watershed for rivers that furnish water for the use of the people, whether they are navigable or not. This movement, sir, I need scarcely say, is not of a sectional or local character. The President of the United States, in his address yesterday, declared that the one specific thing that must be done, and done now, for the conservation of our national resources, was the passage of this act for the preservation of the Appalachian forests. He even publicly advocated, if necessary, the issue of bonds by the United States for that purpose, and in that declaration he was seconded by the gentleman who, if not the President-elect, is at least the President elected, Hon. William H. Taft. I suppose it may not be out of place for me to call the attention of the committee, and not in any spirit of controversy and not in any sectional spirit, to another fact. The city of Boston, the capital of the Commonwealth which I have the honor to represent, is the second port of import in the United States, furnishing, with the exception of New York, the largest revenue from customs to the United States Government. New England, Massachusetts, is delighted to have the National Government take up national development. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, though we have not one square yard of arid soil which needs irrigation in our Commonwealth and have made no petition to the National Government for irrigation, yet sent its delegates to the National Irrigation Congress in New Mexico, to show that the New England States and the Atlantic seaboard are quite as much interested in providing water for the arid lands in the West as we are in providing water for the mills and streams in the East. We do not border on the Mississippi Valley or on the Ohio River, but we are heartily in accord with the movement for deeper waterways for the Central West, and our delegates have taken their part in the deliberations for that great purpose. We shall hope to show you here to-day that the interest which is taken in this movement and the support for it do not come alone from the sections which are to be benefited. The support for it comes from all over the United States, from the West as well as from the East, from the South as well as from the North, and I take particular pleasure ir calling the attention of this committee to the fact that I believe that this is the first occasion where the governor of South Carolina and the governor of Massachusetts have appeared hand in hand together before the National Congress to ask for something for the common welfare of the United States. [Applause.] The effect of the shortage of water supply caused by the cutting of the trees at the head waters of the streams we shall try to show you has been wide-reaching. The diminution of water power increases the cost of production to our manufacturers, it increases the prices of our products, not only of cotton cloths, but particularly of paper, of which New England, as you know, is the center. It has added to the cost of the production of garden truck and the products of the farm. Finally, I shall endeavor to show you that lack of attention to these forests and the consequent low water in the streams has materially contributed to the spread of disease. The water sinking in the streams causes a deposit of sewage along the banks, and from that springs the dread plagues of typhoid fever and diphtheria, and certainly it is for the general welfare to prevent the death of citizens of the United States by pestilence in time of peace, as well as preserving the equipment of soldiers in time of war. Something has been said in regard to the extent to which the various Commonwealths might be expected to cooperate with the |