Rocky Ford enterprise., 1904-05-13
BROOKS RECORD
WHAT THE COLORADO CON-
GRgssMAN-AT.tARoE HAS
ACCOMPLISHED.
Many Valuable Measures Due TO His
Able and Energetic A.

/ tlOn oil congress ID all over. tuo iucui-
bers have nearly all gone home. and
/ how there will be much weighing In
the balances OF different members by
their constituents. So far as results
are concerned. the Colorado represent
htives have nothing To fear from any
examination OF their record. Mr.. Hoss
has already received his reward In
the shape OF denomination. MessFs-
Brooks and Bonyngs await later &c
tion. Since the Congressman'at'iarse
represents the whole state. a short re-
view OF the work done especially BY
Mr. Brooks may be Of interest
Mention has already been made OF
the appropriation for feeding and
breeding cattle at the experiment sta
ton at Fort Collins Mention has not
heretofore been made. however. OF tho
fact that even after the eonferees OF
Senate and House had agreed TO the
item. some OF the big stock growers OF
/ tho East made q final effort to beat
the appropriation. on the ground that
such an experiment by the government
would interfere with their business by
coming into competition with them In
tho establishment OF standard breeds
OF course the answer to that was easy.
and Mr.. Brooks lost no time In making
it-towit: that he was not looking
after tho interests OF the biz stock
growers of the East. who seem per
feet,y well able TO take care OF them
selves. but after the interests Of his
constituents. especially tho small
breeders.
That tho Lcndviiio public building
/ Is to be erected In tho near future In
also duo TO tho Congressman at'larSc.
Il became evident that no approprtA.
tion for public buildings would bs
made as this session. The appropria.
tlon already made for that building
had proved too small. mono OF tho bids
coming within tho limit set. Tho Su'
pcrvisins Architect was appealed to.
and finally. after much persuasion.
consented to rcadvcrtise. Before re-
advertising. however. he went over tho
specifications with Mr.. Brooks. and by
cutting out some which were cxpcn-
siyc but not essential. he succeeded.
/ on the next attempt. In sccurin. four
bids which are within the limit. and no
the building will go up,
When tho Sundry Civil appropria-
/ tion bill was reported to the House. No
provision was made for the Denver
! Mint. An item OF $4,000 for this pur-
pose wns inserted. on motion OF Mr.
Brooks. without this action. work
would have stopped on this building
] July u. NbW u Csiu Eb
All tho Colorado men stood shoulder
/ to shoulder In fightin. the repeal OF
the desert land act and tho stone and
timber land laws. Mr.. Hogs and Mr..
Brooks both appeared before the com.
mittcc In opposition: and finally. 80
strong was the showing made by tho
representatives from the Rocky Noun.
tain region. that the bins woro killed
In tho committee.
An enterprise In which Colorado as
state II Interested only less than
Texas Is the improvements Mt Calves.
ton harbor. which Is cur nearest sea.
port. For this tho Colorado men
worked hard. Mr.. Brooks appearing be-
fore the two subcommittee OF tho
committee on appropriations. and an
appropriation for the purpose was
finally secured.
Probably the most important act Tor
the interests of Colorado which was
passed during tho session was that
which provides that the monuments
on the ground. rather than tho de-
scription In the Land Ofiicc. shall pre-
vail in determining the title to mining
claims. This is the rational and COM
nonsense view. OF course: but some
years ago n ruling of the department
made the opposite view prevail. No
was, and whether he had got what he
had paid for. and almost endless liti.
cation was the result. Early in the
session Mr.. Brooks Introduced bill
to remedy this. Mr.. Teller introduced
one in the Senate to the same effect;
but finally. the bill of Mr.. Brooks.
being more specific. was substituted
for the other in the Senate, and passed
both houses.
The importance of this act to Colo
RADIO can scarcely he overestimated. In
his speech upon the passage OF the bill.
Mr.. Brooks said:
In the last few years 1t has been
the practice of the Interior Department
to regard the Official data collected
from various sources and then tran
scribed upon plats. showing the posi-
tions of the boundaries Of the public
SURVEYS according to the office memo
rarda with regard to and comprised
IN what are called extended sheets"
as the final authority for the location
of a mining claim. When an applica-
tion is made for patent on supposedly
vacant ground and the preliminary
surveys are made, the question as to
whether or not the ground is open to
appropriation and patent is determined
by what is shown upon the plats, re-
Eardless of what may be the fact on
the ground. In this way 1t is claimed
that in actual cases mining locations
which are many feet. sometimes appre-
ciable fractions of mile, apart are
made to show paper conflict; and
on the other hand, ground which Is To-
Gated, appropriated and patented, and
in actual physical operation. shows as
. unappropriated ground, subject to To-
cation and patent.
"The statement of these conditions
is enough to show how great Is
the hazard and what disastrous ef-
feet this ruling has had and is bound
to have upon the mining INDUSTRY OF
the country.