The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1902-12-05

acres. In the past great tracts OF the
| public domain have been fenced in BY
| persons having no title thereto, in direct
defiance Of the law forbidding the main
| tenance or construction of any such un~
rious reasons there has been little inter-
| ference with such Enclosures in the pastt
| but ample notice has now been given
| the trespassers, and all the resources at
I the command of the government viii
hereafter be used to put stop to such
| trespas5ing.
Alaska Legislation Asked For.
I especially urge upon the congress the
need of wise legislation for Alaska. It
is not to Our credit as a nation that
Alaska, which has been ours for IS years,
should still have as poor system OF
laws as is the case. No country has a
| more valuable pOssession-in mineral
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, we'll fitted to support a 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 a 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 secondary but still
! the same time it is imperative that the
settlers should be allowed to cut tim
BE- under proper regulations. for their
own use. Laws should be enacted to
protect the Alaskan salmon fisheries
| against the greed which would dsStrOy
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
! if a congressional committee could visit
Alaska and investigate it's 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 indians
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 iudistinguishable in point of social.
political and economical ability from
| their white associates. There are other
tribes which have as yet made no per-
ceptible advance toward such equality.
To try to force such tribes too fast is to
prevent their going forward at all. More
over, the tribes live under widely differ
ent conditions. Where tribe has made
considerable advance and lives on fertile
| farming soil it is possible to allot the
members lands in severalty much as is
the case with the white settlers. There
| are Otner tribes Wnere Sucn course is not
desirable. On the arid prairie lands the
effort should be to induce the Indians to
lead pastoral rather than agricultural
| lives, and to permit them to settle I'm
| villages rather than to force them into
! isolation.
The large InGian schools situated remote
! from any Indian reservation do a special
! and peculiar work of great Importance,
| But, excellent though these are, an i'm
| mense amount of additional work must be
| done or the reservations themselves among
| the old and above all among the Young.
Fhe first and most important step toward
| the absorption of the Indian is to teach
| him to earn his living; yet it is not neces-
! Sariiy to be assumed that in each commuD~
| ity all Indians must become either tillerS
| of the soil or stock raisers. Their Industries
may properly be diversified, and those who,
! show special desire or adaptability for in
| dustrial or even commercial pursuits
| should be encouraged so far as practicable
to follow out each his own bent.
Scientific Aid to Farmers.
In no department of governmental work
in recent years has there been greater sue
the farming population, thereby showing
| them how most efficiently TO help them
selves. There is no need of insisting upon.
! its Importance, for the welfare of the
| farmer is fundamentally necessary to the.
welfare of the republic as whole. In adj
dition to such work as quarantine against
/ ring against them when here introduced,
| much efficient help has been rendered to the
farmer. by the introduction of new plants
| specially fitted for cultivation under the
! peculiar conditions existing in different
! portions of the country. New cereals have
/ been established in the semi-arid west.
, For instance the practicability of produc-
| ing the best types of macaroni wheats in
| regions of an annual rainfall of only ten
| inches or Whereabouts has been. conclusive
! ly demonstrated. Through the introduce
! ton of new rices in Louisiana and Texas
| the production of rice in this country has
! been made to about equal the home DE-
I man0. In the southwest the possibility OF
regrassing overstocked range lands has
! been demOnstrated 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 stored ana
shipped in such a way as to find profitable
The district of Columbia is the only part
| of our territory in which the national gov
eminent exercises. local or municipal func-
tons. anG where in consequence the gov
| errment has free hand in reference to-
| certain types of social and economic legis-
| muir icipal in their character. The govern
| ment should see to it, for instance, that the
! hygienic and sanitary legislation affecting
Washington Is of high character. The
| evils Of slum dwellings, whether in the
] shape of crowded and congested tenement+
house districts or of the back-alley type
| should never be permitted to grow up IN
! Washington The city should be model
/ in every respect for all the cities of the
country The charitable and correctional
! systems of the district should receive con-
| Sideration at the hands of the congress to
] the end that they may embody the results
| of the most advanced thought in these
| fields. Moreover, while Washington is NOT
a great Industrial city. there is some indus
| trialism here, and our labor legislation
! while it wOJlo not be important in itself.
| might be made a model for the rest of the
nation. We should pass, for instance a
| wise employer STABILITY act for the Dis
| trict of Columbia, and we need such an act
| In our naVy-yar0S Railroad companies In
| the district ought to be required by law "a
| block their frogs.
Protection for Railway Employees.
The safety-appliance law, for the better
| protection of the lives and limbs of rail-
| way employees, which was passed in 1899
went into full effect on August l. 1901. IT
! has resulted in averting thousands OF
| casualties. Experience shows, however, the
| necessity of additional legislation to per-
! feet this law. A bill to provide for this
| passed the senate at the last session. It Ia
| TO be hoped that some such measure may
| now be enacted into law.
Gratifying progress has been made dur
| ing the year in the extension OF the
merit system of making appointments
| in the government service. 1t should be
| extended by law to the District OF CO.
| lumbia. 1t is much to be desired that
| our consular system be established by
| law on basis providing for appointment
and promotion only in consequence of
proved fitness.
The New White House.
Through a wise provision of the con-
| 2reSS at its last session fha white hO,,co