Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1902-12-04

insure its continuance Is to provide for
thoroughly efficient navy. The refusal
ITO maintain such a navy would invite
trouble, and II trouble came would insure
disaster. Fatuous self-complacency or
vanity. or short-sightedness in refusing
to prepare for danger, Is both foolish and
wicked In such nation as ours; and
past experience has shown that such
faulty In refusing to recognize .or pre-
pare for any crisis In advance Is usually
succeeded BY mad panic Of hysterical
fear once the crisis has actually arrived.
Rural Free Delivery.
The striking increase In the revenues
Of the post office department shows clear
ly the prosperity OF our people and the
increasing activity Of the business Of the
country
The receipts Of the post Office DEPART
ns5i ~ f1 o,,r thu nSc year ending June 80
Of sl0HS,S53T over the preceding year,
the largest increase known in the history
Of the postal service. The magnitude OF
this increase will best appear from the
.act that the entire postal receipts for
the year 1850 amounted to but $S,51S,OS7.
Rural free delivery service Is no longer
In the experimental stage; 1t has become
a fixed policy The results following its
Introduction have fully justified the con-
gress In the large appropriations made
for Its establishment and extension. The
average yearly increase In post office re-
ceipts In the rural districts of the coun-
try Is about two per cent. We are now
able. by actual results, to show that
where rural free delivery service has
been established to such an extent as to
enable us to make comparisons the yearly
| Increase has been upward of ten per
cent.
On November !, 1902, 11,65O rural free
delivery routes had been established and
were in operation, covering about one
third of the territory of the United States
available for rural free delivery service.
| There are now awaiting the action Of the
department petitions and applications for
the establishment of 1918 additional
routes. This shows conclusively the want
which the establishment Of the service
has met and the need Of further EXTEND
irg It as rapidly as possible 1t is justi-
fed both by the financial results and by
the practical benefits to our rural pop
ulatlon; 1t brings the men who live on
the soil into close relations with the ac-
tive business world II keeps the farmer
in daily touch with the markets. It Is
potential educational force; 1t enhances
The value, Of farm property, makes. farm
will do much to check the undesirable
current from country to city.
1t Is to be hoped that the congress will
| make liberal appropriations for the con-
tinuance OF the service already estab.
lished and for Its further extension
Progress Of Irrigation.
Few subjects of more Importance have
been taken up by the congress In recent
years than the Inauguration OF the sys-
TEN Of nationally aided irrigation for the
arid regions Of the far west. A good be-
ginning therein has been made. Now
that this policy Of national irrigation has
and scientific forest protection will grow
more rapidly than ever throughout the
public-land states.
So far as they are available for agri-
culture, and to whatever extent they
may be reclaimed under the national ir-
rigation law, the remaining public lands
should be held rigidly for the home
builder, the settler who lives on his land,
and for no one else. In their actual use
law, and the Communication clause Of the
homestead law have been so perverted
| from the Intention with which they were
| enacted as to permit the acquisition Of
large areas Of the public domain for 9TH
err than actual settlers and the conse.
quent prevention Of settlement. More
over, the approaching exhaustion Of the
public ranges has of late led to. much
| discussion as to the best manner Of using
these public lands in the west which are
| suitable chiefly or only for grazing The
sound and steady development Of the
west depends upon the building IN ~
homes therein. Much OF our prosperity
as a nation has been due to the opera
ton of the homestead law. On the other
hand, we should recognize the fact that
IN the grazing region the man who cor
responds to the homesteader may e nm
| able to settle permanently II only allowed
to use the same amount of pasture land
| that his brother the homesteader Is al.
lowed to use of arab. land One hun
dred and sixty acres Of fairly rich and
well watered soil, or a much smaller
amount of irrigated land, may keep a
family In plenty, whereas no one could
| get living from 1850 acres of dry pasture
land capable of supporting at the out
side only one head Of cattle to every ten
acres. In the past great tracts Of the
public domain have been fenced In by
persons having no title thereto, In direct
tenahce or construction OF any such un.
lawful Enclosure Of public land. For va
| rlous reasons there has been little inter-
ference with such Enclosures In the past,
| but ample notice has now been given
the trespassers, and all the resources at
the command of the government will
hereafter be used to put stop to such
trespasslng.
Alaska Legislation Asked For.
especially urge upon the congress the
need Of wise legislation for Alaska. 1t
| Is not to our credit as nation that
Alaska, which has been ours for So years,
should still have as poor system of
laws as Is the case. No country has
rrnltt rxtx.A
wealth, In fisheries, furs, forests, and
also In land available for certain kinds
Of farming and stock growing. 1t is a
territory of great size and varied re-
sources, well fitted to support large
permanent population. Alaska needs a
good land. law and such provisions for
homesteads and preemptions as will en-
courage permanent settlement. We
should shape legislation with view not
to the exploiting and abandoning. Of the
territory, but to the building up Of homes
therein. The land laws should be liberal
In type, so as to hold out inducements
to the actual settler whom we most de-
sire to see take possession Of the coun-
try. The forests Of Alaska should be
protected, and, as a secondary but still
important matter, the game also, and at
the same time 1t is imperative that the
settlers should be allowed to cut tim
bc, uHucL plopcI IS5 uldtiuHo, lOT lnelT
own use. Laws should be enacted to
protect the Alaskan salmon fisheries
against the greed which would destroy
them. They should be preserved as a
permanent industry and food supply.
Their management and control should be
turned over to the commission of fish
and fisheries Alaska should have dele
gate In the congress 1t would be well
II congressional committee could visit
Alaska and investigate Its needs on the
ground
The Indians.
In dealing with the Indians our aim
should be their ultimate absorption into
the body of our people. But In many
cases this absorption must and should
be very slow. In portions of the Indian
territory the mixture Of blood has gone
on at the same time with progress in
wealth and education. so that there are
plenty Of men with varying degrees of
purity Of Indian blood who are abso-
lutely indstinguishable In point of social
political and economical ability from