The Tupelo journal., 1902-12-05

family in plenty, whereas no one could
get a living from 160 acres of dry pasture
Tide only one head 81 cattle to every ten
public domain have been fenced in By
defiance Of the law f~orbidding the main
tenance or construction of any such un-
lawful Enclosure of public land. For va
rious reasons there has been little inter-
ference with such Enclosures in the past,
but ample notice has now been given
the trespassers, and all the resources at
the command of the government will
hereafter be used to put a stop to such
trespassing.
Alaska Liquidation Asked For.
I especially urge upon the the
need Of wise legislation for Alaska. 1t
is not to our credit as a nation that
Alaska, which has been ours for IS years,
should still have as poor a system of
laws as is the case. No country has a
more valuable possession-in mineral
s Mso't IN l an fs ayailable fq fcs c %f9fas1s' k, aaa
of farming and stock growing. 1t is q
territory Of great size and varied re-
sources. well fitted to support a large
good land law and such provisions for
homesteads and preemptions as will en-
courage permanent settlement. We
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
the same time it is imperative that the
settlers shout be allowed to cut tim
De, under proper regulations. for their
protect the Alaskan salmon I'M A 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 dele
gate In the congress. 1t would be well
Alaska and investigate it's needs on the
ground.
The Indians.
In dealing with the Indians our aim
should be their ultimate absorption into
the body of our people. But in many
cases this absorption must and 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 hat there are
plenty of men with varying degrees of
purity of Indian blood who are abso-
lutely indistinguishable in point of social,
political and economical ability from
their white associates. There are other
tribes which have as yet made no per-
To try to force such tribes too fast is to
prevent their going forward at all. More
over, the tribes live under widely differ
ent conditions, Where a tribe has made
considerable advance and lives on fertile
farming soil it is possible to allot the
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 han to force them into
isolation.
The large In6ian schools situated remote
from any, Indian reservation do a special
and peculiar work of great Importance.
But, excellent though these are, an i'm
mense amount of additional work must be
on the reservations themselves among
the old, and above all among the young
Indians.
The first and most important step toward
the absorption of the Indian is to teach
sarily to be assumed that in each commune
ity all Indians must become either tillers
of the soil or stock ~raisers. Their industries
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.
Every effort should be made to develop
the Indian along the lines of natural apti-
and to encourage the existing native
industries iSa peGuii air to certain &c a. tribes s s 3
canoe building, smith work, and blanket
work. Above all, the Indian boys and girls
should be given confident command of col
loquial English, and should ordinarily be
prepared for a vigorous struggle with the
conditions under which their people live.
rather than for immediate absorption into
some more highly developed community.
The officials who represent the govern
ment in dealing. with the Indians work un-
der hard conditions, and also under condi-
very difficult to detect wrong. Consequent
ly they should be amply paid on the one
hand, and on the other hand a particularly
bt~L NO ID - -. -L@-1I H.
manded from them, and where misconduct
can be proved the punishment should be
exemplary.
Scientific Aid to Farmers.
In no department of governmental work
In recent years has there been greater sue
cess than On 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
its Importance, for the welfare of the
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
by the INTRODUCTION of new plants
specially fitted for cultivation under the
peculiar conditions existing in different
of the country. New cereals have
been established in the semi-arid west.
For instance, the practicability of produc-
the best types of macaroni wheats in
regions of an annual rainfall of only ten
llCllcS IL lAOl SdUOulS mas
ly demonstrated. Through the introduce
ton of new rices in Louisiana and Texas
the production of rice in this country has
been made to about equal the home de-
mand. In the southwest the possibility Of
overstocked range lands 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 a way as to find a profitable
market abroad.
Tho DiStrict of CnI,,n,hia ie +ba o,Ir- rorA
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 legis-
lation which must be essentially local or
municipal in their character. The govern
hygienic and sanitary legislation affecting
Washington is of a high character. The
evils of slum dwellings, whether in the
shape Of crowded ane eongested tenement
The city should be a model
in every respect for all the cities of the
of the district should receive con-
sideration at the hands of the congress to
the end that they may embody the results
fields. Moreover, while Washington is not
a great Industrial city, there is some indus
trialism here. and our labor legislation,
while it would not be Important in itself.
might be made a model for the rest of the
nation. We should pass, for instance, a
wise employer STABILITY act for the Dis
trict of Columbia, and we need such an act
in our n~avy-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
of the lives and limbs of rail-
way employees, which was passed in 1893,
went into full effect on. August 1, 1901. 1t
has resulted in averting thousands Of
casualties. Experience shows, however, the
of additional legislation to per-
feet this law. A bill to provide for this
the senate at the last session. 1t is
to be hoped that some such measure may