Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-12-03

protection OF the game. and the WHO CO
= t,,res generally, on the forest reserves.
The senseless slaughter OF game, Wiz
can by fudicious protection. pc pel1 l.aa
nently preserved on our nationai ress, ~ =
for the people as whole. snou'u no
stoned at once. It is, for instance, sc,
s,s,pa co,int against our national good
| sense to permit the present prac.ice ~
b,tchering off such a stately ana peaut -
fnIscreatiIre as the elk for it's antiers or
tr1sks. .or;-
So far as they are available for asri.
culture. and to whatever extent tnes me-
he reclaimed under the nattonai =,
tion law the remaining pubic Janus
should he held rigidly for the nome
h,,iIder the settler who lives on MIS- laiio'
~ for M one else. In their acttiii USE
The desert-land law, the timber anu s'o III
law and the Communication clause ol .ns
| homestead law have been 50 perVerteu
from the intention with which they "els
! acted as to permit the acaulsltsoi ..
large, areas of the public domain for otheI
! 49, .ct,,a1 settlers and the consequent
prevention of settlement Moreover, .ne
nnnroa ching exhaustion of the PUBIC
Ranges has of late led to much disc"s-
sion as to the best manner OF using tlsse
nnh,ic lands in the West which are SUIT
able chiefly or only for grazing. ine
sound and steady development OIL
West depends upon the building up Oh
ho~,e. therein. Much of our prosperity
"a = nation has been due to the opera
tfon ~ the homestead law. On the otner
hand. we should recognize the tact 'hae
in the grazing region the man VINO COZ
! RESPONDS to the homesteader may ne ui
able to settle permanently II only aiio"eu ,
to use the same amount OF pasture iaiiu
that his brother the homesteader. IS at
Of 70 %
dred and sixty acres of fairly r1ch ana
well-watered soil. or a much s1nalie'
amount of irrigated land. may keep
family in plenty; whereas. no one couiu
get a living from one and sixty acres oi
dry pasture land capable OF supporting
at the outside only one head or cattie 70
every ten acres In the past great tracts
of tho nublic domain have been fenced
in By persons having no title thereto. IN
direct defiance Of the law forbiddinG the
| maintenance or construction or any SUCH
unlawful Enclosure of public land For
! various reasons there has been llttie IN
terterence with such Enclosures IN tne
past, but ample notice mas no" peeh
given the trespassers. and all the re-
sources at the command of the govern
! ment will hereafter be used to put stop
to such treSpasslng.
In view of the capital importance OF
these matters. commend them to the
earnest consideration of the congress. ana
if the congress finds difficulty in dealing
with them from lack of thorough knowl-
| edge of the subject I recommend that
provision be made for commission OF
| experts specially to investigate and re-
port upon the complicated questions in
volved.
ALASKA.
I especially urge upon the congress the
| need of wise legislation for Alaska. 1t
| is not to our credit as a nation that
| Alaska which has been ours for thirty
| five years should still have as poor
| system of laws as is the case NO coun-
! try has a more valuable possession-in
| mineral wealth. in fisheries. furs. forests
| and also in land available for certain
| kinds of farming and stockgrowinE. 1t
| is a territory of great size and varied re-
sources. we'll fitted to support iarge
| permanent population. Alaska needs a
| good land law and such provisions for
| homeSteads and preemptions as will en-
| courage permanent settlement. We shape
! legislation with & view not to the eN-
| plotting 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 most desire to
! see take possession of the country. The
forests of Alaska should be protected
and, as a secondary but still important
matter, the game also. and at the same
| time it is imperative that settlers should
! be allowed to cut timber, under proper
| regulations for their own use. Laws
| should be enacted to protect the Ala skan
! salmon fisheries against the greed which
| would destroy them The cnou1d be
! preserved as permanent industry and
food supply. Their management and con-
| troll should be turned over to the COM
mission Of fish and fisheries. Alaska
! should have delegate in the congress-
| 1t would be we'll If a congressional com
| mittee could visit Alaska and investigate
| its needs on the ground.
DEALINGS WITH INDIANS.
| In dealing with the Indians our aim
| should be their ultima tie absorption into
| the body OF our people. But in many
| cases this absorption must and should be
| very slow. In portions of the Indian Ter
ritory the mixture of blood has gone on at
| the same time with progress in wealth
and education, so that there are plenty
| CT men with varying degrees OF purity OF
| Indian blood who are absolutely inGis-
| tinguishable in point OF social. POLITICAL
| and economic ability from their white as
| sociates. There are other tribes which
| have as yet made no perceptibie advance
| toward such equality. To try to force
| such tribes too fast is to prevent their
| going forward at all. Moreover. the tribes
| live under widely different conditions
| Where a tribe has made considerable adj
vance ard lives on FERTILE farming soil
| it is possible to alot the members land
! in severalty much as is the case with
| white settlers. There are other tribes
| where such 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 per-
nit them to settle in villages rather than
| to force them into isolation
| The large Indian schools situated remote
| from any Indian reservation DO special
and peculiar work of great Importance.
| But. excellent though these are, an i'm
mense amount of additional work must be
| done on the reservations themselves
among the Old and above all among the
| young. Indians.
| The first and most important step to
| ward the absorption of the Indian is to
teach him to earn his living: yet 1t is not
| necessarily to be assumed that in each
community all Indians must become either
| tilers Of the soil or stock raisers. Their
| industries may property be diversified. and
| those wEo show special desire or ada ta-
| b.lity fer industrial or even commercial
pursuits should be encouraged so far as
practicable to follow out each his own
| bent
! Every effort should be made to develor.
| the Indian along the lines Of natural anti