Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1902-12-06

iarged. We should facilitate the retire
whose usefulness Is impaired. Promotion
must be fostered II the service Is to be
kept efficient.
OFFICERS, NEEDED.
The scarcity of officers, and the large
number OF recruits necessarily put aboard
new vessels has thrown upon officers,
especially Of the junior grades, unusual
fatigue and has str aimed their endurance.
This must continue until more officers
are graduated and recruits are trained.
There seems no chance of trouble with
a foreign power We nope tnis y s.a - 4, may ~
provide a thoroughly efficient navy. the
refusal to maintain such a navy would IN
vite trouble, and II trouble came would
insure disaster.
nues shows prosperity and increasing
activity. The receipts for the year end
ing June 80 were 1921 ,848, 047 20, an in
crease OF $10,216,853.s7, the largest in
crease in the history of the service. The
entire postal receipts for 1860 amounted
to but $3,518,067.
Rural free delivery is no longer ex-
perimental; 1t is a fixed policy. The re-
suits have justified the large a%ppropria-
lions for its establishment. The average
yearly increase in postoftice receipts In
the rural districts Is about 2 per cent.
Where rural free delivery has been estab-
lished the yearly increase has been up
ward OF 10 per cent.
operation, covering one-third the territory
available for rural service. There are now
awaiting action applications for 10, 74S ad-
ditional. 1t Is hoped congress Will appro-
pirate for continuance OF the service and
its extension.
IRRIGATION.
Few subjects are of more Importance
than irrigation. A good beginning has
been made. The need of thorough forest
protection Will grow rapidly throughout
the public land states.
Legislation should provide protection
of game. and wild creatures generally on
the forest reserves; the senseless slaugh-
ter of game should stop.
So far as they are available for agri-
culture, and may be reclaimed under the
irrigation law, the remaining public lands
should be held for the home. builder. The
desert-land law, the timber and stone law,
and the Communication clause Of the home
stead law have been perverted to permit
acquisition Of large areas for other than
settlers, and consequent prevention of set
Element. Moreover, the approaching ex-
haustion of the public ranges has led to
discussion of the best manner OF using
public lands suitable chiefly for grazing.
Development of the west depends on
building homes there. Much of our pros
perity has been due to the operation or
we should recognize that in the grazing
region the man who corresponds to the
homesteader may be unable to settle per-
manently IL only allowed the same amount
of pasture that the homesteader Is al
lowed of arabic land. One hundred and
sixty acres Of fairly rich and well-watered
soil, or a much smaller amount or irri-
gated land, may keep a family In plenty,
whereas no one could get a living from 100
acres of pasture capable OF supporting
only one head Of cattle TO ten acres. Great
tracts have been fenced in defiance OF
law. There has been little interference
with such Enclosures, but ample notice
has now been given and all resources or
the government will be used to stop tres
passing.
II necessary, l recommend that a COM
mission of xperts investigate and report
upon the questions involved.
ALASKA REFORMS.
/ urge the need of legislation for Alaska.
Alaska, which has been ours thirty-hye
years, has a poor system or laws. No
! country has a more valuable possession
in minerals, fisheries, furs, forests and
land available for certain kinds OF farming
and stockgrowing. 1t Is fitted 10 support
a large permanent population. Alaska
needs a good and law and provisions for
homesteads and prescriptions that Will en-
courage settlement. The forests should
be protected, and the game also; settlers
should be allowed to cut timber, under
proper regulations, for their own use.
Laws should protect the salmon fisheries
as a permanent industry and food supply
They should be turned over to the com
mission of fish and fisheries. Alaska
should nave a delegate in congress.
In dealing with the Indians our aim
should be their ultimate absorption into
the body of our people. But in many
cases this must and should be slow. In
portions Of Indian Territory there are
plenty Of men with Indian blood, abso-
lutely indistinguishable from their white
associates. There are other tribes which
have made no advance toward such equal
ity. To force such tribes too fast Is to
prevent their going forward at all. More
over, tribes live under different conditions.
Where a tribe has made considerable ad-
vance and lives on farming soil 1t Is pos
sible to allot lands in severalty. With
other tribes such a course is not desirable.
On the arid prairies effort should be to
induce the Indians to lead pastoral lives,
and to settle In villages.
TEACHING INDIANS.
The first step toward absorption of the
Indian Is to teach him to earn his living
Industries may be diversified, and those
who show special adaptability should be
encouraged.
Every effort should be made to develop
existing native industries, such as basket
weaving, canoe building, smith work and
blanket work. Indian boys and girls
} should be given confident command Of
English, and prepared for struggle with
the conditions under which their people
live.
In no department has there been greater
success than In scientific aid to the farm
ing population. The welfare OF the farmer
Is fundamentally necessary to the well
fare Of the republic. In addition to quar-
antine against plaques much help has
been rendered by introduction Of new
plants, fitted for cultivation In different
portions of the country. For instance, the
practicability Of macaroni wheat In re-
gions of an annual rainfall OF only ten
Inches has been demonstrated. Through
Introduction of new rices In Louisiana anu
Texas the production in this country Is
about equal to the home demand. In the
southwest the possibility of regrassing
over-stocked range lands has been dem
onstrated; in the north many new forage
crops have been introduced, while in the
east 1t has been shown that some of our
choicest fruits can be so stored and
shipped as to find a profitable market
abroad. >
/ again commend the plans Of the
Smithsonian institution for making the
serving records of vanishing races Of men
and of animals which, like the buffalo,
Will soon become extinct unless main
tanned in safety.
a MODEL CITY.
The District of Columbia is the only
territory in which the national govern
ment exercises municipal functions. The
government should see hat hygienic and
sanitary legislation affecting Washington
Is of high character. The evils OF slum
dwelling shoul never be permitted In
Washington. The city should be a model
The charitable systems should embody the
most advanced thought. Moreover, while
Washington is not a great industrial city