The Savannah morning news., 1902-12-03

ms land, and for no one else. In their
t ~ 11is use the desert.lands law, the,
LUMBER ana stonelaw and the conlmuta-
tlon clause of the homestead law have
oeen so perverted from the intention
with which they We're enacted as to
permit the acquisition of large areas
OF the public domain for other than.
actuaI settlers and the Consequent pre-
vention of settlement. Moreover, the
approaching exhaustion~of thespublic
ranges has of late led to much discus
sion as to the best manner of using
these public lands in the West which
are suitable chiefly or only for graz
ing. The sound and steady develop
ment of the West depends upon the
building up of homes. therein. Much of
our prosperity as a nation has been due
to the operation of the homestead law
On the other hand, we should recognize
the fact that in the grazing region the
man who corresponds to the home
steader may by 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 arabic land. One hundred and
sixty acres of fairly rich and we'll
watered soil, or much smaller
amount of irrigated land, may keep a
family in plenty, whereas no one could
get living from 100 acres of dry pas
ture land capable of supporting at the
outside only one head of cattle to ev-
cry 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 con-
struction of any such unlawful inclos-
ure of public land. For various reasons
there has been little interference with
such Enclosures in the past, but ample
notice has now been given the tres
passers, and all the resources at the
command of the government will here
after be used to put a stop to .such
treSpassing
In view of the capital Importance of
these matters, | commend them to the
earnest consideration of the Congress.
and If the Congress finds difficulty in
dealing with them from lack of thor
ough knowledge of the subject, 1 rec
ommend that provision be made for a
commission of experts specially 10 IN
vestigate and report upon the compli-
Gated questions involved.
Alaskan Legislation.
i especially urge upon the Congress
the need of wise legislation for Alas
ka- 1t is not to our, credit as a. ma
ton that Alaska, which has been ours
for thirty-five years, should still have
as poor a system of laws as Is the case
No country has a more valuable pos
session in mineral wealth, in fisheries,
furs, forests, and also in land availa-
Bile for certain kinds of farming. and
stockgrowing. 1t is a territory of
great size and veried re-
sources, we'll fitted to support
large permanent population. Alaska
needs a good land law and such pro-
visions for homsteads and prescriptions
as will encourage permanent settle+
ment. We should shape legislation with
view not to the exploiting and aban-
doning 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 gact
tual settler whom we 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 1t is imperative that the settlers
should be allowed to cut timber UNI
der proper regulations, for their own
use. Laws should be enacted to pro-
tect the Alaskan salmon fisheries
against the greed which would destroy
them. They should be preserved as a
permanent industry and food supply,
Their management and control should
be turned over to the Commission of
Fish and Fisheries. Alaska should
have, a delegate in. the Congress- II
would be well if a congressional COM
n1ittee could visit. Alaska and investi-
gate its needs on the ground.
Treatment of the Indians.
In. dealing with the Indians our aim
should be their ultimate ABSORPTION
into the body of our people. But in
mo LIT, =
should be very slow. In portions of
the Indian Territory the mixture of
blood has gone on at the same time
with progress in wealth and education,
SO that there are plenty of men with
varying degrees of purity of Indian
blood who are absolutely indistinguish-
able in point Of social, political and eco
nomic ability from their white asso-
ciates. There are other tribes which
have as yet made no perceptible adj
vance 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 tribe has made
considerable advance and lives on fer
tile farming soil it is possible to allot
the members lands in severalty much
as is the case with white settlers.
There are other tribes where such a
course Is not desirable On the arid
prairie lands the effort should be to in
duce the Indians to lead pastoral rath-
er than agricultural lives, and to per-
NIT them to settle in villages rather
than to force them into isolation.
The large Indian schools situated re-
mote from any Indian reservation do
a special and peculiar work of great
importance. But. excellent though
these are, an immense amount of adj
ditional work must be done on the res
ervations themselves among the DID,
and above all among the young. In
dams.
The first. and most important step
toward 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 tillers of
the soil or, stock -raisers. Their in
dustries may properly be diversified,
and those who show special desire or
adaptability for industrial or even
commercial pursuits should be encour-
~ n ,a