PUBLIC AND PRIVATE RIGHTS IN

THE PUBLIC DOMAIN

No. 1

HEARINGS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON
PUBLIC LANDS, UNITED STATES SENATE
ON THE BILL S. 4733

PROVIDING FOR THE CLASSIFICATION, CARE, AND DISPOSAL
OF THE PUBLIC LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES,

INTRODUCED BY SENATOR NELSON JANUARY 5, 1910

AND THE FOLLOWING BILLS INTRODUCED

BY SENATOR NELSON JANUARY 18, 1910:

A BILL (S. 5484) TO PROVIDE FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE
PUBLIC LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES;

A BILL (S. 5485) TO AUTHORIZE THE SECRETARY OF THE INTE-
RIOR TO MAKE TEMPORARY WITHDRAWALS OF AREAS OF PUBLIC
LAND PENDING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION TO CONGRESS, OR
FOR EXAMINATION AND CLASSIFICATION;

A BILL (S. 5486) TO PROVIDE FOR THE CONSERVATION, DEVELOP-
MENT, USE, AND CONTROL OF WATER POWER IN THE PUBLIC
DOMAIN;

A BILL (S. 5487) TO PROVIDE FOR THE DISPOSAL OF COAL AND
COAL LANDS;

A BILL (S. 5488) TO AUTHORIZE THE DISPOSAL OF PHOSPHATE,
OIL, ASPHALTUM, OR NATURAL GAS;

A BILL (S. 5489) TO PROVIDE FOR THE SALE OF TIMBER AND
TIMBER LANDS; AND

A BILL (S. 5491) TO AUTHORIZE THE ASSIGNMENT OF HOMESTEAD
ENTRIES WITHIN RECLAMATION PROJECTS, AND FOR OTHER PUR-
POSES.

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

1910

Q 2 G 3 Mr 10

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE RIGHTS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.

COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC LANDS, UNITED STATES SENATE,

Washington, D. C., January 25, 1910.

The committee met at 10.30 a. m.

Present: Messrs. Nelson (chairman), Clark, of Wyoming, Gamble, Smoot, Flint, Heyburn, Dixon, Jones, McCumber, McEnery, Newlands, Davis, and Chamberlain.

STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES RUDOLPH GARFIELD, FORMER SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR OF THE UNITED STATES.

Mr. GARFIELD. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I represent, by the request of President Eliot, the National Conservation Association, which association has been taking up the various questions affecting conservation. One of the purposes of that association is to have its officers examine into the problems of conservation, to present before legislative and executive bodies the results of their investigations, and to make such suggestions as they might deem proper or advisable in connection with general conservation movements.

The purposes of that organization are doubtless known to many of you gentlemen here. It has been the desire of those connected with it to endeavor to present wherever possible the general idea that conservation stands for, it being the belief that it is now one of the great policies of the people of the United States; and while by no means free from controversy, it is accepted now as one of the problems that the people of the country deem of chief importance. It is for that reason that I have come before you this morning to discuss, with your permission, the bills before your committee.

The particular measure that you are now discussing-namely, that of the power of withdrawal-is of fundamental importance in the question of conservation, and I agree with some of the suggestions that have been made this morning that the bills that are allied with the general problem of conservation should be in harmony, that there should be a harmonious development of this legislation if it be carried into effect.

As to the particular question of the withdrawal by the Executive of lands under the land laws of the United States, I am of the opinion. that, as has been expressed by Senator Nelson, ample power now rests with the Executive, and therefore I feel that it is not necessary for the purpose of continuance of the exercise of that power to pass the measure that has been suggested. In support of that general theory I would call attention to the powers that have been exercised and the method of their exercise during the last seventy-five years or more.

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