New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-07-28

into foreign hands When he took office silver
was worth 81 10 an ounce When he left office it
was worth but % cents A silver dollar had
been deprecated even further. If he had acted
under contract with the British Cabinet he could
not have served it better England fixed the price
OF the Montana product and sold II TO her Indian
Government, making n profit on both transactions
She bought dollars worth of silver for less than
dollar and sold il to India for more than n dol
: lar She made millions out of Mr.. Ceveland's
silver policy, AT the same time deprccating the Use
/ oil silver as money end dcmoralizng its value even
IN our own b-mctallic system. There was nothing
particularly clever about this Englands part
she simply took advantage Of the opportunities
VII. Cleveland presented to her. His silver
position, ms | said before, was enough To defeat
him' but what would haze been efficient was made
uoubly sufficient by Sparks and his Land Office.
II Sparks and Jonah had got into the whales belly
together no further demonstration against Nineveh
would have been necessary The whales convulsion
would have done the business
| sparks began his crusade by announcing through
AL The Democratic and Mugwimp newspapers that
the Republicans had been vilanously extrava-
CANT, and had been en- Bloying at least twice as
many clerks in the Land Office as were needed.
without waiting till he had become acquainted
sweeping discharges. He turned out half of the
rorce IN the mineral department. and at once there
was trouble Sales oil land and mining claims were
All the while increasing in volume, but the force
was not able TO keep up with the work. Parties
VINO made proof in full com APPLIANCE with the law
uree years ago are only now beginning to get their
patents These delays caused an amount of annoy
ahce ana financial loss difficult for Eastern people
TO appreciate. But it was in his timber rulings
'hat sparks created the greatest havoc The law
Vi congress provides that timber may be cut and
USED from the mineral lands of the public domain
ior mining and other necessary purposes. The
minerals are, OF course, IN the mountains. The
| mountains ore covered with trees. To render
the mines safe for mon to work in they must
be carefully protected by substantial roofs and
walls OF wood, and an enormous amount of timber
Is required for that purpose. The timber on
the mountains, of course, is the timber everybody
uses, and that is the only use to which such
/ timber could possibly he put 1t had been held
| by the Arthur Administration that all mountain
lands in Montana were mineral lands, and that
left the miners and settlers free TO take the
wood wherever they found it, 1t gave them
plentiful supply, and still left the mountains
black with pine trees Sparks, however, reversed
all this lie took view of the law first
i
llayess Secretary of the Interior, view that
led TO a quarrel with Mr. Blaine, to Schurzs
defeat by Mr. Blaine to the undying love Of all
MOntanans for Mr. Blaine and Schurzs hatred
OF Mr.. Blaine. Schurz. in the spirit of prince
ling dealing with his peasants, made the Govern
mcnt hucksterer OF wood. He held that mineral
lands were only those particular spots in which
minerals had actually been found, and that
any who took timber from other places with
out paying the Government for ii should be prose
cuted as a thief Mr.. Blaine subjected this ruling
10 mcrited ridicue and contempt. The miners
and settlers, he held, who were ont here at the
peril Of their lives reducing the wilderness and
adding wealth TO the Nation, ought TO be helped
in every possible way and not harmssed by such
silly annoyances lie showed that tho
United States surveys and maps pre-
pared by skilled surveyors and engineers
who had studied the country classified all noun
famous regions in the far West as mineral land.
Mineral land, said Mr.. Blaine, is all land that is
more valuable for mining than for agricultural
purposes. This is without question the true
view to take The mountains are rocky and
rugged and Of no value whatever save for the
minerals they contain and the timber upon them.
The best use to which the timber can be put Is
in getting the minerals ont. Law and reason both
support and Justify the demand Of the miners and
settlers that they be permitted to take the timber
as they need it, and Mr.. Blaine secured the pass
age of an amendment TO the Interior Departments
Appropriation bill providing that none of the
money granted should be used to prosecute actions
based on the cutting OF timber by actual set
tiers.
This action threw Mr. Schurz upon the side
track as il were. and furnished him convinc-
ing proof of Mr. Blaine's desperate w1ckedness.
But when Sparks started again upon the same
pettv policy, Mr.. Blaine was in private life and
he had free rein Spies were sent out to prowl
around the mountains for evidence against all
PERSONS who had cut stick Of wood except upon
their own claims, and hundreds OF suits were
brought against poor fellows whom
LAWYERS fee would have beggared. single one
Of these cases will illustrate them all A man
named Clegg who had been o farm laborer IN
Illinois, having saved about $50, came out into
this country with his wife and children ana
started little farm under the shadow OF the Big
Horn Mountains. The country around him was
an utter wilderness, the abOmnation OF desolatlOn
spol,en of by the Prophet. His nearest neighbor
was twenty-five miles away. The nearest lawyer
was ninety miles away, but Indians and mountain
lions wolves and bears he had ever with him. 30
far as his untutored mind knew, he was dong a
audable act He thought he was carrying the
banner Of his country into the for
hidden wilderness and making the wild
places tame, saying with Iennyson,
More life and fuller that want lie saw for
0. 900 feet above him and for 300 miles around
him nothing hut pine trees and stones. lie took
few Of the rocks and few of the trees from the
mountain slopes and built him cabin ana a
stable. a place to hold his grain and his roots
Well, one fine morning spruce young fellow,wth
long cigar, came by on horseback and stopped,
rs he said for rest. Mr.. Clegg and Mrs. Clegg and
all the little Cleggs overioyed at the sight OF
white face, babe him come in. cooked him Dun
ner. spread for him their whitest sheets and gave
him welcome lie asked many questions ana