Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1901-07-24

] ~ NANNAAs lfAA w 'AllN " AhINNR - 81 ANtAAlA
even To- the power Of the general gov
crnmcu, In rgclaiming certain Of the
lands in this state. owing 10 natural oh.
/ >tructions and lack of available waterin
large bodies. II there are certain areas
that cannot be reclaimed 10y the larger
System. why prevent individual effort
on q smaller scale by the repeal of the
desert land act. and then wait a quar-
ter Of a century If not longer. to see
what steps the government will take
in the matter ~ reclamation?
uur particular objection is 10 the con.
tcntion Of senator Gibson that the re-
peal of the desert land act would aid in
bringing about national irrigation. or
that the act ha, been Il source of evil
and that much agricultural Sand Is he
ing taken mp under il and 10y capital
lists.
We believe the situation Is much the
same in one county n in another. In
Fergus county the rauohman Of modcr-
ate means who ills the ~oil ha, taken
advantage Of the desert land act when
lac possibly could. After exercising his
homestead r,ght i'm settling upon lGI
u,res he quickly found that he could
not live or prosper on that much land
e., A.,,.,,, H., f.,,l aha. la. ,,,,.,
have his little bunch of stock for self
preservation and to do this he must
have more land for pasturagc, II is
safe Ia say the desert land act has proven
a greater boon 10 men of this class in
Fergus county than 10 the capitalists.
investigation has demonstrated that
two of the largest outfits in Fergus
land under the homestead act as they
have under the desert land act. Yet.
according to Mr.. Gibson, the latter is
the more mischievous.
our agricultural ranchmen know that
] NNfi llN Alf TNAAlNlllNllA " Ail' NblllllN
they have adbut n limited market, and
hardly any cash market forthe products
of the soil. Hence live stock was their
only salvation. Possibly they have not
made every effort to supply the local
demand. but this has been the situation
generally and is likely to he 50 for many
years 10 come. Surely more farmers rs
competitors will not help them unless
avenues To larger markets are opened
up, and until they are they want the
/ privilege OF existing.
senator Gibson, In an article in las,
sunday, Great Falls Tribune. say,
among other impractirablc things: III
we, who live in the arid or >emi-arid
west. are sincere in our desire to see the
farm lands of this country reclaimed
and settled as thickly rs are the land,
Of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
we must certainly desire to preserve
sucl, a. are now left for the benefit oi
settlers.
Of course no one will live Ia see that
day, and few expect To, because il i,
simply impossible. Those states moi
only have great martS of trade within
their W boundaries. but all around
them, tceming with millions Of con.
sumers engaged in all the varied indus
tries. Montana farmers are a Thousand
miles from such markets and cannot
hope 10 compete with the Mississippi.
valley farmers in the products of tn,
soil. even II they had the land Will
which 10 do il.
We want all of the blessings the ma
tional government viii hc>tnw upon Us
aud we want unfailing water more fot
the land that has been settled upoI
than Zoe that that eau be reclaimed
though the latter. We are willing to al
mit. would not Dee incunsidcrahlc
Along creeks and river, the reservoir
or storage system would reclaim muci
land adjacent, while artc>ian well
would prove a great aid in the Juditl
basin. A. the surrounding mountains
causes the water to sock - comnon cen
trr.
Bot until the government takes som,
decided action onj achieve, practica
r1su't. iet " Ice satisfied with the law
we have and which hnrc done - mucI
; 10 make Montana what she i today
II they are faulty amend them 50 rs {,
prevent fraud and don't iajure the stat,
by chasing rainbows.