, 1892-03-22
whsrs "rhs Daily Lsadsr" Nay be Foui
TIME TO CALL A HALT.

TIME TO CALL A HALT.
The policy of the state live stock com
mission has now been tested Tor the past
year. No one has ever seriously claimed
that the commission possessed any war
rant of law for arbitrarily siezinR aud
holding the proceeds OF cattle sales from
the people who claimed them. 1t has
never been claimed by even the warmest
upholder OF the commission that the act
creating the live stock board contained q
single line comforting upon it judicial
powers. The law did not set up that
body as a censor of morals, as a board to
pass, practically without recourse, upon
the question of contested and ~uncoDtcsted
ownership and to summary draw the
line, upon .erpdrfe evidence alone, be-
tween the honest ranchman on the one
side and the rustler or the other. The
commission has assumed these powers
and they have been UPHELD in this course
By many well meaning people who did not
thoroughly understand the questions at
issue or we're willing that the commission
should proceed upon the theory that the
ends justified the means. The only
shadow of justification the commission
has had was in the theory that through
this arbitrary and ever revolutionary
method alone could the open ranyes of
the state be ridden of the thieves which
intest them and the property Of tho small
aud large ranchmen thus receive protcc-
ton whioh under the law il was impossible
for them to secure.
Proceeding upon this theory the stock
commission forwarded at the beginning of
the shipping season to the stock inspect
ors at such terminal points as Omaha and
Chicago a list of brands which in their
judgment belong to cattle thieves or
''rustlers" as they are technically known.
We have no means of knowing the partic-
ulsr standards which the commission set
up or through what methods OF inquiry.
evidence or information they arrive at the
conclusion that this man ls a thief and
that lan an honest man, though we are
willing to accord them credit for honesty
OF purpose and sincerity of motive. When
any stock bearing these 6lacklisted brands
arrived at their market destination the
proceeds of the sales were withheld by the
inspector and by them forwarded directly
to the secretary OF the stock commission
in Cheyenne. 1t is here held by him
until proof of ownership is established,
and this it is usually, if fot always. I'M
possible to do to the satisfaction of the
board in the cases OF brands which are
alleged to belong to r~ustlers. There is.
therefore, no recourse open to the ma
whose money IS thus held, whether he be
honest or dishonest, except through liti-
cation in the courts. a heavy contract tor
any ordinary poor ranchman to undertake.
Now we have no doubt hat some and
perhaps much of the money held by the
commission belongs to cattle thieves but
we have just as little doubt Of the legal
authority of the live stock commission to
arbitrarily decide such legal questions
when the people of the state pay &c. 500
a year to the supreme and district courts
to perform without reservation all such
Be this as it may. however, after
a fair and free trial, can it be said the live
stock commission has accomplished what
il set out to do2 Has it, even by assun-
arbitrary and extra judicial powers,
In the remotest degree improved the range
interests? Are property rights on the
any better protected than they
were a year ago; has public feeling re-
sumed its normal state IN tho interested
sections, or has one large herd OF cattle
been kept from leaving the state through
assumption of authority by the COM
mission2 No one can be blinded to the
fact hat the contrary is true-more bit
terly true than ever before. 1t has simply
to infiame public sentiment, TO in
volve through the very force of ciroum-
stances with the alleged rustlera scores and
scores of reputable small ranchmen who
cannot be brought 10 believe that two
wrongs ever make a right.
Under all of the surrounding circum-
stances, therefore, in the face of the worse
than failure of the commission to accom-
plish the object which it had in view. a
continuance of the present policy
is not merely undesirable but a dangerous
and un~warrantable assumption of extra
ordinary judicial powers to which there
can no longer be even a pretense of iusti-
fcation. The only course open 10 the
board is to recede from its present atti-
tude as gracefully as it can and turn over
to the claimants the money which belongs
to them.
How Man and Mature Uses Carbon.