Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-12-04

On November 1. 1902 1850 rural free
delivery routes had been established an,
were in operation. covering about one-thir,
of the territory of the United States avail
able for rural free-delivery service. Their
are now awaiting the action of the depart
ment petitions and applications for tn
establishment of 1O.l4S additional routes
This shows concluSiyely the want whicl
the establishment of the service has me
and the need of further extending it a
rapidly possible. 1t is justified both b!
the financial results and by the practical
benefits to our rural population: it bring
the men who live on the soil into close re
laticns with the active business world; i
! keeps the farmer in daily touch with tn,
markets; it is potential educationa
! force; it enhances the value of farm prop
erty. makes farm life far pleasanter anS
| the undesirable current from country t.
city.
BOOM FOR IRRIGATION
! Few subjects of more Importance have
been taken up by the congress in recent
! years than the Inauguration of the system
J of nationally-aided irrigation for the ariC
regions of the far west. good beginning
! therein has been made. Now that this pol
| icy of national irrigation has been adopted
/ the need of thorough and scientific forest
protection 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 reserves
! The senseless slaughter of game, which
preserved on our national reserves for the
! people as a whole, should be stopped at
| once. 1t is, for instance, a serious count
| against our national 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 agricul-
| ture, and to whatever extent they may be
reclaimed under the national irrigation
law, the remaining public lands should be
held rigidly for the home builder, the set
or. TXThn h is nd md no
else. in their actual use the deSerC-land
law, the timber and stone law, and the
communication 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 set
| Element Moreover, the approaching eX-
haustion of the public ranges has of late
led to much discussion as to the best man
ner of using these public lands in the west
which are suitable chiefly or only for graz
ing The sound and steady development 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 h0mesteader may be unable to settle
permanently if only allowed to use the
same amount of pasture land that his
of arabic land. One hundred and sixty
acres of fairly rich and well-watered soil,
or a much smaller amount of irrigated
land, may keep a family In plenty, where
as no one could get a 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 do
main have been fenced in by persons hav-
ing no title thereto, in direct defiance of
the law fOrbidGing the maintenance or con-
StructiOn of any such unlawful Enclosure
of public land. For various reasons there
has been little interference with such in
closures in the past, but ample notice has
now been given the trespasserS, and all
the resources at the command of the gov
eminent will hereafter be used to put a
stop to such trespassing.
In view of the capital Importance of
these matters, l commend them to the
earnest consideration of the congress, and
if the congress finds difficulty in dealing
with them from lack of thorough knOwl-
edge of the subject. l recommend that pro-
vision be made for commission of experts
specially to investigate and report upon
the complicated questions involved.
ALASKA.
l 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-tive years,
should still have as poor system OF laws
as is the case. No country has Il more
valuable pOsSession-in mineral wealth, in
fisheries, furs, forests, and also in land
available for certain kinds of farming and
stockgrowing. 1t is a territory of great
size and varied resources, well fitted to
support a large permanent population.
Alaska needs good land law and such
provisions for hOmeSteadS and preemptiOnS
! as viii encourage permanent settlement.
| We should shape legislation with 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 induce
ments to the actual settler whom we most
! try. The forests of Alaska should be pro-
tected, and. as secondary but still i'm
pOrtant matter, the game also, and at the
same time it is imperative that the settlers
should be allowed to cut timber, 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 as permanent industry and
food supply. Their management and con-
troll should be turned over to the commits
sion of fish and fisheries. Alaska should
have delegate in the congress. 1t would
he we'll if Il congressional committee could
! visit Alaska and investigate its needs on
! the ground.
OUR RED WARDS.
! In dealing with the Indians our aim
should be their ultimate absorption lnUo
! the Douy Oh our people. But III many cases
/ this absorption must and snOuIu very
! slow. IN portions OF The Inulan Territory
! the mixture OF blood gone The
! SAME -lme with progress III WeaItD ana
! education, 50 that there are plenty of men
/ With varying ItSittS Of puIALy u InuIan
blood VINO are absolutely nulSUing L. Sna Ole
! i'll point of social, political, ana economic
! AFFINITY from their white associates. There
| are other tribes which nave lis yet made
| no perCeptIDIe advance toward such equal
| ity. To Try to force such Tribes TOO fast
! Is to prevent their going forward at all
! Moreover, the tribes live under widely ulf
ferent conditions. Where Il tribe has made
! considerable advance and lives on fertile
! farming soil it is possible to allOt the mem
! berS LANDS III SeVeralty much as is the caSe
| with white settlers. There are other tribes
where such u 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 i'll villages rather tnaI
| to force them into isolation.
! The large Indian schools situated remote
| from any Indian reservation 90 Il Specia
and peculiar work of great Importance
! But excellent though these are, an immense
! amount OF additional work must be done
| on the reservations themselves among tn,
DID, and above all among the young, In
dams. The first and most important steI
i toward the absorption of the indian is tt
teach him to earn his living; yet it is no
! necessarily to be assumed that in eacl
community all Indians must become eithe
! tillerS of the soil or stock raiSerS. Thei
| industries may properly be diversified, anC
those who show special desire or adapta
bility for industrial or even commercial
pursuits should be encouraged so far a.
i practicable to follow out each his owl
bent.
Every effort should be made to develoI
the Indian along the lines of natural apti
tude, and to encourage the existing natIy
industries peculiar to certain tribes sucl
as the various kinds of basket weaving
canoe building, smith work, and blanke
work. Above all, the Indian boys and girl
. should be given confident command of col
lOquial English, and should ordinarily b
: prepared for vigorous struggle with tn
conditions under which their people live
rather than for immediate absorption int
: some more highly developed community
AGRICULTURAL AIDS.
In no department of governmental wor
in recent years has there been greater sue
. ! cess than in that of giving scientific al