The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-11-11
A RESERVATION cake"

One of. the good things accomplished
by our Democratic Delegate, through
Democratic Congress and a Democratic
President, was the passage of the
measure for the opening of the Uintah
and Uncompahgre reservations tic
public settlement. All the shameful at
tempts to belittle the Delegates labors
cannot shut out the fact that this was
one of the several achievements which
adorn his proud record.
But the organ of SANDER which is a
Republican sheet but not a Republican
organ, even though the campaign is
done cannot keep from misrepresenting
this matter because it reflects credit
upon a. Democratic administration. In
column and a half of alleged news
! with sensational headlines on its first
page, it makes a spasmodic effort to
throw reservation dust in the eyes of
its. readers and excite them with the
falsehood that the utah Reservations
Must Not Be Opened"
What is it all about? Some mythical
resident of Utah." unnamed and I'M
known, tells an unauthenticated story
which the Tribune prints. Whether the
author is the perfectly respectable
gentleman or the reliable old lady,
whom the Tribune was accustomed
aforetime to use as pegs on which to
hang its malicious libels and personal
attacks, does not at present appear.
But whether a real or fictitious per-
sonage his, her or its tale is mass
of contradictions just suitable to the
columns of the Tribune.
1t is to the effect that Secretary
Hoke Smith does not approve of the
law for the opening of the reservations,
and therefore its operations are to be
indefinitely postponed That HE
defeats the law and therefore that
all the hopes, expectations and plans of
railroad companies, prospectors. set
tiers and spectators are to be blasted,
through the wonderful power of one
Secretary who is Democrat Dread
full, is it not? But that is all based on
the unsupported story of some anony-
NOUS relater of an alleged converse
ton with the autocratic Secretary.
But on examination it shows marks
of considerable doctoring. The alleged
statements of the person who is said
to have interviewed the Secretary are
very few; the comments interviewer
with them are very many. The pro-
vision Of the law as to the commission
is given thus:
Tt authorized and directed the Presi-
dent to appoint three commissioners to
allot Uncompahgre lands to the In
dians. GAS soon as practicable" after
their appointment the commissioners
were directed to report to the Secre-
tary such lands as were not available
or not needed for allotment purposes.
It is then complained that:
Rut three months have elapsed and
no commissioners have been appointed,
Notwithstanding many of the leading
Democrats of Utah have repeatedly
urged Secretary Smith to carry out the
law. He is reputed to have expressed
himself very freely and fully to resi-
dent Of Utah who called upon him in
person and urged him to make these
appointments.
And it is alleged further that:
Secretary Smith also let it be known
that it was not his intention to ap-
point any resident of Utah as a MEM
Der of the Uncompahgre commission,
for the reason that a Utah mans in
terest would be with the whites and