Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1894-05-11
Cattle Mems Side of the Sheep Question

OaUtle mems Slue OF tne 0neep Qu6SGlOn
With Fall River county. threatened with
an invasion of sheep. and with an associ-
alton in Hot Springs doing all they can to
encourage the invaders, it is time the
cattle men were getting a move on them
selves. So far the Business Mems associ-
alton has heard only the sheep mems side
of this question. 1t would be a good idea
now for a few representative cattlemen to
go before the association and present their
side. The Business Mems association is
undoubtedly organized for the benefit of
Fall River county as well as Hot Springs.
but it is not working for the best interests
of either when it seeks to encourage the
establishment of the range sheep industry
in this county. If the range was open and
unoccupied it would be different. The
sheep men would not be i%njuring anyone.
They would be adding to the wealth of
the county by occupying it. But the case
is different. BY far the larger part of this
county is fairly we'll stocked with cattle.
and much of it is now over stocked, and
the cattle are owned by lei who have en-
dured all kinds of %privations and hardships
to stay here. In spite of successive years
of drought and hail. in spite of Indian
scares. they have managed to stay. and
many of them are just beginning to get
stock enough to see their way out. to see
their independence assured. Now, main
ly through the exertions of an association
of their own fellow citizens. they are
threatened with one of two alternatives;
they must either peacably abandon their
homes and move on. or they must fight for
the range they now occupy. Legally they
have no redress. but there is a moral side
to this question that should appeal strongly
to any fair minded man. Sheep and
cattle cannot thrive side by side. 1t is
just as certain that the sheep will crowd
the cattle out as that the morning sun will
dispel the darkness of the night, and when
the cattle men are driven out. what have
we in the place of them? A man with
twenty five hundred sheep. owning one
quarter section of land. or less, to give him
a watering place. can and will drive out
any ten ranchmen in the county and render
all their improvements and land valueless.
Would that help the country out on this
'burdensome taxation" we hear so much
about? The cattlemen are paying their
share. and more than their share. of the
taxes. as a perusal of the delinquent tax
list will show. and they will do their share
toward paying off the indebtedness of the
county if left alone. The cattle business
is a permanent here. and. if not driven
out by sheep, it can continue indefinitely.
The range sheep industry would not be.
In a few years it would render the range
valueless even for sheep and they would
have to be moved on to despoil some other
country. Would the Business Mems
association like to see the same state of
affairs here that has been in Johnson
county. Wyoming? Sheep men know that
if they succeed in stocking this range there
will inevitably be a conflict. and when it
comes they want the sympathy of Hot
Springs. The cattlemen want it too, and
they think they have the better right to it.
The writer does not think for a moment
that the Business Mems association
would wilfully do anything that would tend
to injure any of the citizens of this county.
On the contrary. he thinks that when they
see this in the right light. they will do just
as much to keep the sheep out. as they are
now doing to bring them in.
ONE OF THE cArrLRMEN.