Timbering

A detailed Summary of Timbering

How does the role of politics and legislation that affect the timber industry today compare to that of a hundred years ago? In the early years of West Virginia's statehood there was a government that tried to build it's own identity. Starting out as an underdeveloped state that was rich in natural resources, there was an urgency to erect industry within West Virginia. Upon examination of West Virginia today, one can see the same desire to maintain and increase industry in the state. It is my belief that today, as well as a hundred years ago, the government views industry as it's top priority versus state residents and the safety of the environment. I will now attempt to compare and contrast the role politics and legislation has played in the growth and development of the timber industry in the state of West Virginia for the last 100 years.

In the early years of West Virginia statehood a definite emphasis was put on industrial growth. Before this industrial growth there was a revolution that took place. As a result of the Constitution of 1863, the law became more industry oriented and moved away from being a protector of philosophy and culture. Following the Constitution of 1872, there was a facilitation to allow the "t

According to Ronald Lewis it is the belief of James Willard Hurst, a prominent legal scholar and I concur, that the government sided with business and exploited the people. There is enough evidence of court decisions and legislation that favors industry and business over the common man, to validate Hurst's belief.

The coal industry, which is much bigger than timbering in West Virginia today, has much stricter regulations.

The timber industry flourished through an "indirect stimulus" of breaks given and provided to the railroads.

Ronald Lewis, author of Transforming the Appalachian Countryside, writes that:

Legislators gave entrepreneurs many rights to assist with industrial growth, such as building dams across streams or changing the path of a stream, so long as it did not interfere with steamboats and other lumber companies. If a log washed up on someone's personal property and they disturbed it within the first ten days, they were punishable by law (Lewis p.108).

So, how does the role of politics and legislation compare in regards to the timber industry today to that of 100 years ago? I believe that the state government is still mainly focused on the growth of industry in West Virginia just as we were in the beginning of our statehood.

One of the main goals in the early years of statehood in West Virginia was to establish a strong, striving capitalistic economy. However, their ideas on how to achieve this varied throughout the state. Should the state remain an agricultural society, or move to an industrial society? This struggle continued, and this is when the role government played in the economy was determined (Lewis p. 106).

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Approximate Word count = 1271
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics