The Holly chieftain., 1902-12-05
z Asl4zk - IllEaRs

Thsy uarrsd undsr fsarfpf disye~lties
ef etimate md s9eesus1ines; aH1 sss6sr
tns strain Of the Terrible prevceaAisas
which tissy esntiMusliy ,rsesissA fran
thsir fops, occasional instances ~ oelsl
rstaiiatien sseurrsd. Every effort has
bsen inside -,to prevent such cr1sovkiss,
and finally thess Efforts have bsen ,eAm-
p!stsly sueesssful. Every essor< kas
aieo bssN snads 10 dstsst asa puuisss
the Wrc0Ndoero.'
After making all allowance Tor these
mtsdeeds. It remains true thnt feW IN
deed have been the Instances in which
war has been waged by a civilized
power against semi-civiIixed or bar
barous forces where there has been so
little wrongdoing by the vict0rs as In
the Philippine islands. On the Other
had. the amount of difficult, important,
and beneflcient work which has been
done Is weil-nigh incalculable,.
RURAL ROUTE APPROPRIATIONS.
The striking increase In the revenues
Of the postofAcs department shows
clearly the prosperity oe our peopae
and the increasing actf<ity Or the busi-
The receipts Of the postoface depart
ment for the 'nscaf year endfht, June 30
last amounted to $12L848.O47.26, an ,in-
crease of $10.216.S53.S7 over the pre-
ceding year. the largest increase known
II The the aenaae elstSsS q & &
-
best appear from thu fact that ths. en-
tire postal receipts for the year 1860
amounted to but Ss,siao87. s
Rural free-delivery service Is no
longer in the experimental stage; 1t
foioss sss Safsmf iss sss ase Tas seiSis Ss
justified the .Eohgress In the large Ab-
preparations made for its estabitsh-
ment and extension. The AVERAGE
yearly increase In postoffce receipts IN
the rural districts Of. the country:,is
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
.,e yearly: psr Inc, tnSrease has been npHa rd It
On November 1, 1902. 1850 rural
| free delivery routes had been estak-
lished and were In operation, cover
| Ing about one-thfrd OF the territnfy
of the United States available for rural
free delivery service. There are now
petitions and applications for. the es-
tablishment OF 1918 additional routes.
This shows eonclusively the want
which the establishment Of the service
has met and the need of further ex-
tending It as rapidly as possible 1t Is
justified both by the financial results
and by the practical benefits to our
rural population; brings the men
who live on the stfl intos close rela-
| tions with the active business wdkld;
1t keeps the farmer in dailystouch With
the markets; It ts a potential educa-
tional force; it enhances the value of
farm property, makes farm life far
| pleasanter and less isolated, and will
do much to check the undesirable cur.
rent from country to city, ss
| Il ID to be hoped that the ConGfSss
will make liberal appropriations for the
continuance Of the service, already es-
tablished and for its further extension.
FOR IRRIGATION lM..THE WEST.
Few subjects Of more Importance
have been taken up by the Congress
in recent years than the Inauguration
of the system Of nationally-aide irri-
CATION for the arid regions of the far.
west. A good beginning therein has
been made. Now that this policy Of
national irrigation has been adopted,
the need OF thorough and scientific for
est protection will grow more rapidly
| than ever throughout the public land
states. :.
So far AZ they are available for ag-
ricalture. and to whatever extent they
| may be reclaimed under the national
irrigattan law. the remaintng- public
lands should be held rigidly for the
home builder. .the settlsrA who lives
on his land, apd for no one else. In
the timber and stone law. and the
computation clause of Ithe shonlpstead
| law have been so perverted from the
intention with which they were eilAAal9d
as to permit the acquisition OF large
areas of the public domain for other
than actual settlers and the consequent
| prevention OF settlement. Moreover,
the approaching exhaustion OF. the. pub
lie ranges has OF late led to muck tdIk-
cussion az to the best manner of using
these public lands IN the west witch
are suitable chiefly. or. only for seAk-
Ing. The sound and steady dey2le@-
ment OF the west depends upotae.tAe
building up of homes therein. Much OF
our prosperity ns a. nation has been
due to the operation OF the horde
stead law. On the other hand, We.
should recognize the fact that In the
grazing region tile: man who cofre&-
ponds to the homesteader may be ,un-
able to settle permanently II only al
lowed to use the same amount Of pas
| ture land that his brother. the home
steader, is allowed to use Of arabic
| land. One hundred and sixty acres OF
fairly rich and well-watered soil orr
| much smaller amount Of irrigated
fand. may keep a family in plenty.
whereas no one could get living from
one hundred and sixty acres of dry
pasture land capable of supporting at
the outside only, one head, OF, eatle to
every ten acres. In the pASt great
tracts Of the public domain have been
fenced in by persons having no title
thereto. III direct defiance 0f the law
rorbidJing the maintenance or COM
struction Of any such unlawful inclos-
IRE OF public land. For VARIOUS rea-
~srp ttlfrq has been little lHttNihce