President Cleveland, heroically, proclaimed the desired reserves all on one day, Washington’s birthday, 1897, without the usual preliminary ascertainment of local interests, and immediately a storm broke loose in the United States Senate, which threatened the overthrow of the entire, toilsomely achieved reservation policy; and impeachment of the President was strongly argued in a two-day (Sunday) session. Congress, however, came to an end on March 4, before it had taken any action, but, as it had also failed to pass the annual Sundry Civil Appropriation Bill, it was immediately recalled in extra session. Then, again, by a clever trick and in an indirect and surreptitious manner, instead of by open, direct and straightforward consideration and deliberation of a proper policy, most important legislation was secured in the Sundry Civil Appropriation Bill, which provided for the temporary suspension of the reservations lately set aside until they could be more definitely delimited, private claims adjusted, and agricultural lands excluded, by a survey, for which $150,000 was appropriated to the United States Geological Survey. The agricultural lands were then to be returned to the public domain for disposal. At the same time, provisions for the administration of the remaining reservations, much in the sense of the legislation advocated by the Division of Forestry and by the Forestry Association, and especially for the sale of timber, were hung on to this appropriation clause. Under this act the reserves were administered until 1904. If the interior history of this bit of legislation were revealed, it would probably appear that, not conception of the importance of the subject, but the need for the employment of a certain organized survey party in the Geological Survey was at the bottom of it. While this law had set aside one year and a limited sum to accomplish the survey, this could not, of course, be done, and hence appropriations were continued, and the date for the segregation of the lands was deferred _sine die_. For years this forest survey continued, giving rise to magnificent volumes, issued from the Geological Survey, describing the forest reservations--a very useful, educational piece of work, not at all contemplated by the legislation--for which not less than $1.5 million have been expended. By 1905 some 110,000 square miles had been examined when this work was handed over to the Forestry Bureau.