Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-06-26
THE LEASE LAW.
VIVA. Mr.. Nimmo, Ex-0hief Of the
Bureau Of Statistics, Says
Of 1t.
It 0bstruots Settlement, Destroys 0Ompe-
tition, Creates Mouopolies, and
Tends to Official Corruption.
Dedicate the Lands to the Rearing Of
Men Rather Than That
Of Cattle.
From be-. Nlmmo,s Report.

"The plan OF leasing the public
lands would afford 10 the owner or
owners Of each herd or TO associations
OF herdsmen, the right to fence extern
sive areas of the public lsnds, and
would thus dcbdr The homestead set.
Her, the settler engaged in the irriga-
ton OF l2nds under the desert act,
and the settler on lands under the
privileges of the timber culture acts,
from allowing his cattle to feed on
contiguous ranges which ara embraced
in the public domain. But this priv
ilege, now enjoyed alike by the settler
and the great heIdsman, by the owner
OF dozen head of cattle and the owner
of thousands, is one of the CHIEF IN
JUDGMENTS Which has ted The settler
to occupy The lands, of which, under
the presumption, homestead, aud other
laws before mentioned, he has been
able to acquire the ownership.
Such portions OF those lands which
the settlers now have under fence are
generally, 1t is believed, rendered sus-
ceptible to tillage only by means OF
irrigation. AS general rule the soil
is cultivated by settlers only to the
extent necessary in order to supply
their own needs and the needs Of
lutlA lhlAilllCb. lhClI OulH
product Is cattle. On account of linn
tied capital bat few are kept. and
those In many cases are required TO he
sheltered and fed during stormy
weather and periods of extreme cold.
Apparently the effect OF allowing the
large herdsmen to secure the absolute
control of range lands through leas.
ing would be TO compel very many
settlers TO abandon their homes and
sell them to the large herdsmcn at
prices iCLtich The latter might be able To
dictdtc, But even If the settler should
wish to remain, as thus environed, he
would, in various ways, bs at the
mercy OF the great herdsmen.
lt appears hardly necessary to go
further into this subject in the pres
ent connection in order to show that
the proposition to lease the public
lands In large bodies would be In the
face OF the line OF policy regarding the
| disposition of the public lands which
has prevailed from the beginning, and
which has t0rOugM boRefcidiiy 10 the
commercial and inCiuStriay Interests of
| the United States Evidently IL will
be much more in harmony with the
sentiments and wishes OF the people
of this country II the national govern
ment shall adhere to its present line OF
policy regarding the disposition of the
public lands and provide additional
safeguards and offer new inducements
to settlers rather than place any post
| Die barrier To The OCCUPANCY Of the
pubic lands by them or TO their enjoy
ment of the privileges which they
have already SECURED under existing
laws. In word, it wild be much
more l)rOmotiUe Of tie pubhc interests
II the lands now held by the govern
ment shall be dedicated 10 the Fedrilg
Of men rather than TO the redrdag Of
| cattle.
" Another highly Objectionable
feature of the proposition to lease the
range lands of the great dry area must
here be mentioned. The effect, at the
present time, OF leasing all the availa.
BILE range cattle lands to persons occu
plying them would be to l)reuom other
ot0nerS ofherds from engaging In the
business. That would, of course, be
10 ShW oW competition In q business
which has already yielded enormous
prohts. 1t Is held by some that in
certain sections the ranges are now
fully stocked; but that Is denied. For
the government to take such action "a
\ 'NNas NNha w hhtth OOlliD0blilOU, anu
therefore, promote q monopoly of the
use Of its O0n free lands, 1uOutd be II,
tie highest degree objectionable. No
class OF men, much less tenants by
sutierance upon the public lands, have
reason to expect such protection OF
their business interests against the
hazards of commercial competition
Besides, 1t Ia evident that cattlemen
would, under the privileges OF leasing,
comoine in great associations, a
measure apparently required by the
exlgencies otthe semi'annual round.
ups aud thus be able the more Ell
lectudly to eliminate competition. IN
other words, enormous nlonoDolie,
Woutd DC created, huuing EAST terrific
rial stray.
But the people of this country are
lntolerans OF monopoly powers gener.
ally. Wherever such powers do exist
apparently of necessity or from tn,
force OF circumstances beyond humar
: control. as, for example, In our eysten
, or railroad transportation, there /,
generally popular demand that the
exercise OF such powers shall be sub
Jscted to a close public scrutiny and
, TO such regulations "a experience ha,
proved to be necessary in order tC
project the public interests. But II
appears to be highly ipexpedlent tc
subject the national government tc
. the duty OF supervising or regulating
. commercial and Industrial affair,
wherever II can be avoided. TIL,
danger also exists that the proposed
) system Of leasing me public ia,id,
4 might become q source of OFFICIAL
, CORRUPTION, In various ways /
would be troublesome, indeed, per
maps even more so than the socalleC
Indian problem
| IN seems, also, 10 90 withoW sdvi,le
> that the public sentiment IN ne LnitcS
: Nafes Is opposed 10 dYoping ,slnat
tHdiised foreigners engaged II, N,
: cattle business 10 OBTAIN RY THI
J LEASING or PUBLIC LANDS a Dlor,
: permanent .foothotd than hcg mar,
already been d6lo 10 secure Ia hi
country under our land iqips nom h,
force"
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