I long endeavoured to bring about the establishment of a fixed relationship between the amount annually collected on forest products and the amount allotted for the work of the Bureau of Forestry. Obviously the working force of the bureau must be increased as the lumber industry develops, or adequate supervision cannot be exercised. Increasing the working force of the bureau makes possible investigations which stimulate the development of the lumber industry, and lead to a largely increased output. The collection of revenue on forest products from government lands is made by the Bureau of Internal Revenue under the general supervision of the secretary of finance and justice. I have recently learned, to my amazement, that every large sawmill owner in the islands is allowed to make the statement of the output of his mill upon which collections are based; a procedure very like allowing importers to assess their own customs dues. The inevitable result is that the government is robbed right and left. Finding that an attempt was made to justify this procedure on the ground that it was impracticable to have lumber measured at the mills, as the Bureau of Internal Revenue has not sufficient employees for this purpose, I endeavoured to remedy this extraordinary situation. Under existing law, timber may be measured in the round, in the square, or after it has been manufactured into lumber. Measurement in the round is quick and simple, and it has the further advantage that loss due to wasteful sawing falls on the lumberman, while if the sawed lumber only is measured such loss falls on the government. I therefore drafted and submitted to the commission a law providing that all timber should be measured in the round, with proper allowance for defects. Had the law passed, I could have had employees of the Bureau of Forestry measure the logs brought into each of the several mills which collectively turn out ninety per cent of the sawn lumber of the islands, and so could have effectively prevented frauds upon the government. A system which practically allows the individuals interested to fix the amounts which they shall pay the government for its timber naturally meets with the unqualified approval of the lumbermen. I therefore expected that they would strenuously object to the proposed change in law. To my surprise there was no complaint while it was pending before the commission, which passed it.