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Senate Bill 5228: Senator Simmon's speech

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  • financial interest behind this bill; that there was possibly some job in it; that somebody wanted to unload upon the Government certain worthless lands. Mr. President, there is no foundation for this suggestion. First, because- there are no large holdings, either private or corporate, within the limits prescribed by the bill. My understanding is that the largest single holding of lands within this area is about 5,000 acres, and as far as I know or as I have ever heard there is nobody urging this legislation who has any financial interest in it. But, Mr. President, as I said in the outset, the bill very wisely, I think, places the purchase of these lands in the hands of the Secretary of Agriculture and I see no reason why anyone should apprehend that the slightest imposition would be practiced upon the Government when the Secretary of Agriculture, for whom we all have the highest regard, stands between the Government and such a job as that. There is absolutely no foundation, I think, in fact, for the suggestion. Neither, Mr. President, is there any foundation for the suggestion that this is a local measure—that is, local in the sense that it is intended to benefit especially only three or four or five States. The measure is essentially national in its features. The agitation in favor of this legislation came originally not from the section of country where the park is to be located, but it was a sort of spontaneous movement that seemed suddenly to spring up in all parts of the country. The first definite and organized movement in favor of it, it is true, was the action of the association known as the National Southern Appalachian Park Association, organized in the city of Asheville, but Asheville, although it is a small place, is one of the most cosmopolitan towns in America, and the membership of this association is not confined to residents of that locality, but it comprises prominent men from every part of the Union. This was the first association that brought this matter to the attention of Congress, and it did it in a memorial of singular force and clearness, setting forth the national features of the bill. Upon this initiative a similar organization in Boston followed, known, I think, as the Appalachian Mountain Club of Boston, organized away back yonder in 1878, containing about 1,200 members, most of them living in New England, but it has members, I understand, residing in other parts of the country. This organization followed that of North Carolina in a memorial to Congress, and after that there were more than a dozen, I think, of the leading scientific and trade associations of the country which likewise memorialized Congress in favor of this measure. Among these are: The American Association for the Advancement of Science, the largest and most representative body of scientists on the continent, which met in New York in June, 1900; the American Forestry Association, with a large membership, including the forestry experts from all parts of the country, which met here in Washington December 13, 1900; the National Board of Trade, which met in this city in January, 1901, and various other trade and scientific organizations in different parts of the country. Mr. President, there is one resolution about this matter recently passed by an association of great importance which I wish^ to specifically call to the attention of the Senate. It is a resolution 5333
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