ns. The system seems fair, and open to all, until the
conditions are known.

But among the large lumber companies there has never been any real
competition for the possession of any certain tract of timber that was
listed for sale by request. When one company has decided on asking for
the allotment of any certain tract of timber, other companies operating
within that forest seldom make bids on that tract. Any small company
that is doing business in opposition to the trust companies, and may
desire to bid on an advertised tract, even tho its bid may be greater
than the bid of the trust company, will find its offer thrown out as
being "not according to the Government specifications," or the company
is "not financially responsible," or some other suave explanation for
refusing to award the tract to the competing company. On the other hand,
when a small company requests that some certain tract shall be listed
for sale, it very frequently happens that one of the large companies
that is commonly understood to be affiliated with the lumber trust will
have a bid in for that tract that is slightly above that of the
non-trust company, and the timber is solemnly awarded to "the highest
bidder."

When a company is awarded a tract of timber, the payment that is
required is ten per cent of the purchase price at the time of making the
award, and the balance is to be paid when the logs are on the landing,
or practically when they can be turned into ready cash, thus requiring
but a comparatively small outlay of money to obtain the timber. When the
award is made, it is the policy of the Forestry Service to be on
friendly terms with the customers, and the men who scale the logs and
supervise the cutting are the ones who come into direct contact with the
companies, and it is inevitable that to be on good terms with the
foreman the supervision and scaling must be "satisfactory." Forestry
Service men who have not been congenial with the foremen of the logging
companies have been transferred to other places, and it is almost
axiomatic that three transfers is the same as a discharge. The little
work that is required of the companies in preventing fires is much more
than offset by the fact that no homesteaders have small holdings within
the area of their operations, either to interfere with logging or to
compete with their small mills for the control of the lumber market.

That the forest lands of the nation were being denuded, and that this