The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-12-03

| velopment OF our war fleet the conduct OF
! all our Officers has been creditable TO the
service, and the Lieutenants and junior
| grades III particular have displayed an
| ability and steadfast checrfulness which
ertitle them to the ungrudglng thanks oi
| all who realize the di-heartcning trials aud
fatigues 10 which they are Of necessity sub
| jected.
There is not a cloud on the horizon at
present There seems not the slightest
| chance OF trouble with foreign Power
| We most earnestly hope that this state OF
| things may continue; and the way To insure
| It's continuance IL to provide for thor
oughly efficient navy. The refusal TO main
| tain such a navy would invite trouble,
and IL trouble came would insure disaster.
| Fatuous self-complacency or vanity, or
| short sghtedness in refusing TO prepare
| for danger, il both foolish and wicked in
such a nation a. ours: and past experience
| has shown that such ia."ity III refusing 70
| recognize or prepare for any crlsis W.,
| advance Is usually succeeded by mao
| panic Of hysterical fear once the crisis mas
| actually arrived
| POSTAL AFFAIRS.
| The striking increase ia the revenues OF
| the Post Office Department shows clearly
| the prosperity Of our people ana the m
| crea,ing activity Of the business OF the
country
The receipts of the Post Office Depart
| mcnt for the fiscal year ending June 80 last
amounted To 1921 81 ,Oi7 20. an incT. ase oil
slo,?l8,s53S1 over the preceding year, the
largest IL 'ea-e knuNn IN IN" history OF
the postal service. ile maguit ude OF inns
increase will best appear from the fac, that
| the entire postal receipts for the year ioeo
amounted to but s. 81 tSi
Rural trer-drliverv service L. no longer
IN the experimental stage; II has become
hx"d policy. The results following It's
Introduction have fully Justified the Con-
| krtt~S the ARG, anurDlrlutlDIIS made fOr
| It's establishment and extension. The aN-
"raEc yearly increase in post ONCE receipts
/ the rural d.st riots Of the cpuntryls about
per cent We are now able, by actual
suits, To show that where rural free-de-
livery service has been established To such
an extent a. to enable us to max" COMPARE
sons the yearly Increase has been upward
Of II per cent.
On. Nov. /, 1902. II $50 rural free-delir-
cry routes had been established and we're
III oprrat ioil. covering about one-thlrd
Of the territory Of the United States
available for rural free-deivery service
There are now awaiting the action OF the
department petitions and app!icatlohs Ior
he establishment OF 10 is additional routes.
This shows conclu~iVev the want which
hn establishment of the service has met
nd the need Of fur her extending il as rap
IDLY as possible. II il justified both 10y
he financial results and 10y the practical
benefits to our rural population; II brings
the men who live on the soil into close re-
lations with the active business world. II
keeps the farmer in daily touch with the
markets; il Is potential educa' lonal iorc,
It enhances the value of farm property,
makes farm life far plca-anter and less
Isolated. and will do much To check the
undesirable current from country to city.
II il TO be hoped that the Congress Will
make liberal appropriations for the con-
'lruance Of the service already established
and for IT, fur her extension
NATIONALLY AIDED IRRIGATION.
Few subjects of more impuua.c" have
been taken up by the Congress III recent
wears than the Inauguration Of the system
# nationally aided irrigal ion for the arid
regions Of the FAR West A good hepirning
therein has been made Vow that thi.
policy II ational irrigation has been
adopted. the need of thorough and sci
entihc forest protection viii grow more
rapidly than ever throughout the public
land States
Legislation should be provided for the
protection of the game, ani the Wild Great
ures generally. on the forest Reserves
The serlsele-s slaughter of game. which
can by iudiciouS protection be per!na-
nentlv preserved on our national reserves
for the people as whole, should he stopped
at once. II Is, for ii,stauce, serious count
against our national good serse to permit
the present practice of butChering of
such a stately and beautiful creature a. the
elk for It's an'larS or tuskS
LANDS FOR HOME BUILDERS
so far as they are available for agricuit-
urc, and 70 whatever extent they may be
reclaimed under the a'onal irrigation law,
IN" remaining public lands should be held
ripidlv for the home builder, the settler
who lives on his land, and for no one else.
n their actual Use the d"-ert-land law,
the timber and stone law, and the commuta-
ton clause Of tho homestead law have Ioen
80 perverted from the lite; tior with which
they were eracted a. To- permit the acquisi-
tion Of large areas Of the public domain for
other than actual settlers and the curse-
quent prevention Of se,tlrm"nt
Moreover, the approaching exhaustion of
tho public ranges has &C late led 10 much
discussion as 10 the best manner # lising
these public lands in the West which are
suitable chiefly or only for grazing The
sound ~ d steady devclCrmcrt oi tn" West
ererds upon the building up of homes
therein.
Much of our prosperity as ration
has been due 10 the operation of the
homestead law On the other hand. We
should recogr i7e the fact that in the graz
ing region the man WHO COrrcspor d. 10
the honcs'oader nav ! q unable to settle
permanently if only allowed 10 use the same
amount Of pasture lar q that hlr brother,
the humesteader il allowed 20 use 81 ara
bile land ore hundred ard sixty acres 81
fairly rich ard well-watcrcd soil. or a much
smaller amount Of irrigated land, may
keep family IN plenty, whereas no ore
could get living from one hm dr"d and
sixty acres of dry pasture lard capable
Of supporting AZ the outside only one head
of ca'tl" 10 every ten acres
Intho past great tracts of IA" public domain
have teeN fenced in 10y persons having no
title thereto. IN direct defiance OF the law
forbid ling the maintenance or construction
OF any such unlawful mClosurc of public
lard. For various reasons lore has been
little Interference with such Enclosures
in the pat. hut ample MOTTO" has row been
given the tres PAS crs. AZ i all the resources
at the command of the Govern mert will
hereafter be used tu pat stop to such
I reSpassing
In view of the capital importance Of these
matters, ! commend thorn to the earnest
orsidcra'ior ~ the Congress, and II the
Congress trd~ difficulty in dealing with them
from Lao X If thorough knowledge Of he sub
iect, | recornlor q that provision I've made
for a commission Of experts specially to
in vestiGato ard report upon the compli-
Gated or"S'iors involved
ASKS BETTER LAWS PoR ALASKA
] especially urge upon. the Con greSs the
nee, of wise ierslalon for Alaska Il
is not To our credit a. a nation that Alaska
which has been ours for thirty-fve wears.
should still have n poor system of laws
A. il the case NJ country has a moro val
liable possession in mineral wealth, in
fisheries, fur-. forests, and also in land
available for certain ki' Is 81 farming ard
~to, growing. II is a Territory of great
size ana varied resources, well fitted to sup.
port large permanent population. Alaska
eeds q good la'd law ard such pro-