Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1902-12-04


well watered soil, or a much smaller
amount of irrigated land, may keep a
family in plenty, whereas no. one could
get a living from 100 acres Of dry pasture
land capable of supporting at the out
side 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 MAIN
tenance or construction of any such UNI
rious reasons there has been little inter
ference with such Enclosures in the past,
but ample notice has now been given
the command of the government will
hereafter be used to put stop to such
trespassing.
Alaska Legislation Asked For.
I especially urge upon the congress the
need of wise legislation for Alaska. 1t
is not to Our credit a nation that
Alaska, which has been ours for IS years,
should still have as poor system of
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
territory of great size and varied re-
sources, well fitted to support a large
permanent population Alaska needs
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 a secondary but still
important matter, the game also, and at
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 destroy
them They should be preserved eSS as
Their management and control should be
turned over to the commission of fish
and fisheries. Alaska should have dele
gate in the congress. It would be well
if congressional committee could visit
Alaska and investigate its needs on the
ground
The Indians.
should be their ultimate absorption into
the body of our people But in many
cases this absorption must and should
territory the mixture of blood has gone
on at the same time with progress in
wealth and education, SO that there are
purity of Indian blood who are abso-
lutely MISUNDERSTANDING 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
over the tribes live under widely differ
ent conditions. Where a tribe has made
farming soil it is possible to allot the
members lands in severalty much as is
the case with the 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 permit 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 inn
mense amount of additional work must be
done on the reservations themselves anong
the DID, and above all among the young
Indians.
The first and most important step toward
him to earn his living; yet it Is not neces-
sarily to be assumed that in each commun-
ity all Indians must become ne either tillers
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
cess than in that of giving scientific aid to
the farming population, thereby showing
them how most efficiently to help them
selves There is no need of insisting upon
farmer is fundamentally necessary to the
welfare of the republic as a whole In ad-
dition to such work as quarantine against
animal and vegetable plaques, and war
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 direrent
portions of the country. New cereals have
been established in the semt-artd west.
For instance. the practicablity of produc-
ing the best types of macaroni wheets IN
regions of an annual rainfall of only ten
inches or therea bouts has been conclusive
ly demonstrated. Through the introduce
ton of new rices in Louisiana and Texas
the production of rice in this country has
mand. In the southwest the possibility or
regrassing overstocked range lanes has
been demonstrated; in the north many new
forage crops have been introduced, while
in the east it has been shown that some OF
our choicest fruits can be stored and
shipped in such 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, and where in consequence the gov
eminent has a free hand in reference to
certain types of social and economic lie gis-
lation which must be essentially local or
municipal in their character. The govern
ment should see to it, for instance, that the
hygienic and sanitary legislation affectrng
evils Of slum dwellings, whether in the
shape of crowded and congestec tenement
house districts or or the DacK-aIley typei
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
triaism here, and our labor legislation,
while it WOULD not be important in itself,
might be made model for the rest OF the
nation. We should pass for ms lance, a
wise employer STABILITY act for the Dis
trict of Columbia, and we need such an act
in our navy yards. Railroad companies in
The district ought TO be required by law to
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 1893
went into full effect on. August /, 1901. IL
has resulted In averting thousands OF
casualties Experience shows however, the
necessity of additional legislation to per-
feet this law. A bill to provide Tor TINS
passed the senate at the last session. tits
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 or the
merit system of making appointments