Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1902-12-04
to work with hearty good
will for the welfare Of the islands.
Rural Free Delivery.


clearly the prosperity of our people and
the increasing activity of the business
of the country.
Rural free delivery service is no long
er in the experimental stage; 1t has be-
come a fixed policy. The results fol-
lowing its Introduction have fully justi-
fed the Congress in the larger appro-
priations made for its establishment and
extension. The average yearly increase
In postoffice receipts in the rural dis
trcts of the country Is about 2 per
cent We are now able, by actual re-
suits, to show that where rural free
delivery service has been established
to such an extent as to make COMPARE
sons the yearly increase has been up
ward of 10 per cent.
On November l, 1902, 1850 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
1O,74S additional routes. This shows
conclusively the want which the estab-
lishment of the service has met and the
need of further extending it as rapidly
as possible.
1t is justified both by the financial re-
suits and by the practical benefits to our
rural population.
1t Is to be hoped that the Congress
will make liberal appropriations for the
continuance of the service already es-
tablished and for it's further extension.
Irrigation.
Few subjects of more Importance have
been taken up by the Congress in recent
years than the Inauguration of the sys-
tenn of nationally aided irrigation for
the arid regions of the far West. A
hnfrt ,t,,sv I,,
Now that this policy of national irriga-
tion has been adopted, the need of
thorough and scientific forest protec-
ton will grow more rapidly than ever
throughout the public-land States.
Legislation should be provided for the
protection of the game, and the wild
creatures generally, on the forest re-
serves. The senseless slaughter of game
which can by judicious protection be
permanently preserved on our national
reserves for the people as whole,
should be stopped at once. 1t Is, for in
stance, a serious count against our ma
tional good sense to permit the present
practice of butchering off such a stately
and beautiful creature as the elk for its
antlers or tusks.
So far as they are available for agri-
culture, and to whatever extent they
may be reclaimed under the national rr-
CATION 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 ac-
tual use the desert land law, the tim
Der and stone law. and the communal
tion clause of the homestead law have
been SO perverted from the intention
with which they were enacted as to per-
nit the acquisition of large areas of the
public domain for other than actual
settlers and the consequent prevention
of settlement
Moreover, the approaching exhaustion
or 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 develop
ment of the West depends upon the build
ing up of homes therein
Much OF our prosperity as a nation has
been due to the operation Of the home
stead law On the other hand. we should
recognize the fact that in the grazing
region the man who corresponds to the
hometseader may be unable to settle per-
manently If only allowed to use the same
amount of pasture land that his brother,
the homesteader, is allowed to use OF ar
able land
One hundred and sixty acres of fairly
rich and well-watered soil, or a much
smaller amount of irrigated land, may
keep 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 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 defiance
of the law forbidding the maintenance or
construction of any such unlawful in
closure of public land. For various rea-
sons there has been little interference
with such Enclosures in the past. but am
pie notice has now been given the tres
passers. and all the resources at the COM
mand of the Government will hereafter
be used to put a stop to such trespass-
ing.
The President in his message also men,
lions the building of the Pacific cable
and the conditions imposed upon the cor
poration having the work in hand. He
also calls attention of Congress to the
urgent need of a general staff and the re-
organization of the supply departments
OF the army. The great need for more
men and officers for the navy is also en-
phasized. The creation of new cabinet
official to be called the secretary OF COM
merce is urged.
Legislation for Alaska.
l 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 thirty
five years. should still have as poor a sys-
TEN of laws as is the case. No country
has a more valuable possession-in min
eral wealth. in fisheries. furs. forests.
and also in land available for certain
kinds of farming and stock growing. 1t
is 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 preemp
tions as will encourage permanent set
Element 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 desire TO see take possess
sion of the country
The forests of Alaska should be pro-
tected. and as a secondary but still i'm
portant matter. the game also, and at
the same time il is imperative that the
settlers should be allowed to cut timber
under proper regulations. for their own
use. Laws should be enacted 10 protect
the Alaskan salmon fisheries against the
greed which would destroy them. They
should be preserved as permanent in
dustry and food supply. Their manage
ment and control should be turned over
to the Commission OF Fish and Fisheries
Alaska should have delegate in the
Congress. II would be we'll If a Congress-