The La Jara chronicle. (La Jara, Conejos County, Colo.) 1896-19??, 1904-12-09

| ~ come under our flag. Corporation is
| had with the state experiment stations.
and with many other institutions and in
| dividuals. The world is carefully search
| ed for varieties of grains. fruits,
| grasses. vegetables. trees. and shrubs,
| suitable to various localities in our coun-
| try; and marked benefit to our producers
| has resulted.
Irrigation.
| During the two and "A half years that
| have elapsed since the passage of the
| reclamation act rapid progress has been
| made in the surveys and examinations of
! the opportunities for reclamation in the
| thirteen states and three territories of
| the arid West. Construction has already
| been begun on the largest and most i'm
| portant of the irrign ton works. and plans
| are being completed for works which will
| utilize the funds available. The
reclamation act has been found to be re-
! markably complete and Elective. and so
| broad In Its provisions that n wide range
| of undertakings has been possible under
1t. At the same time. economy is guar
| anteed by the fact that the funds must
ultimately be returned to be used over
| again.
| Forests.
| 1t is the cardinal principle of the for
| cst-reserve policy of this Administration
| that the reserves are for use. What
ever interferes with the use of their re-
sourcs is to be avoided by every possible
| means. But these resources must be used
in such way to make them perma-
| nent.
Although the wisdom of creating for
| est reserves is nearly everywhere heart
lily recognized. yet in a few localities
| there has been misunderstanding ana
| complaint The following statement is
| therefore desirable:
The forest-reserve policy can be sue
| cessful only when it has the full support
| Of the people of the West. 1t can not
! safely. and Should not in any case. be i'm
| posed upon them against their Will. But
neither can We accept the views of those
whose only interest in the forest is tenn
| porary: who are anxious to reap what
| they have not sown and then move away
| leaving desolation behind them.
| The making of forest reserves within
railroad and wagon-road land grant linn
| its will hereafter. as for the past three
| years. be SO managed as to prevent the
| issue, under the act of June 4. 1897, Of
base for exchange lieu selection tusu-
ally called scrip. In all cases where
| forest reserves within areas covered by
| land grants appear to be essential to
the prosperity OF settlers. miners. or 9TH
| ers. the government lands within such
| proposed forest reserves will. in the
recent past, be withdrawn from sale or
entry pending the completion of such
| negotiations with the owners of the land
grants will prevent the creation of So
! called scrip.
Establishment of game reserves
wherein may be preserved specimens
of our wild animals which are now
rapidly tending toward extinction is
urged.
Pensions.
The veterans of the civil war have a
claim upon the nation such as no other
body of our citizens possess. The pen
sion bureau has never in its history been
managed in more satisfactory manner
than is now the case.
Indians.
The progress of the Indians toward civ
ilization. though not rapid. is perhaps all
that could be hoped for in view of the
circumstances. 1t is commonly declared
that the slow advance of the Indians is
,iue to the unsatisfactory character of
the men appointed to take immediate
i charge of them. and to some extent this
is true. While the standard of the en-
ployes in the Indian service shows great
Improvement over that of byGone years.
and while actual corruption or fragrant
dishonesty is now the rare exception, it
is nevertheless the fact that the salaries
paid Indian agents are not large enough
10 attract the best men to that field of
work. To achieve satisfactory results
the official in charge of an Indian tribe
should possess the high qualifications
which are required in the manager of a
large business. but only in exceptional
cases is 1t possible to secure men OF such
| a type for these positions.
Postal Service.
In the Postofilcc Department the serv-
I've has increased in efficiency. and con-
| ditions as to revenue and expenditure
| continue satisfactory. The increase of
revenue during the year was So. .35S. ISL 10.
or 90 per cent, the total receipts amount
| ing to sl43.3S2. .62i.3i. The expenditures
| were sl52. .362, ,116.70, an increase of about
| . per cent over the previous year. beirE
| thus sS979, 1872 SO In excess OF the cur
rent revenue. Included in these eXpcndi-
| lures was total appropriation of sl2.-
| $50. .637.35 for the continuation and extern
| sion of the rural free delivery service.
which was increase of si.9O2. .237 .35
over the amount expended for this pur
pose in the preceding fiscal year Large
as this expenditure has been the benefi-
| cent results attained in extending the
| free distribution of mails to the residents
of rural districts have justified the wis
| dom of the outlay. Statistics brought
down to the LIST of October 1901. show
| that that date there We're 21,13S rural
routes established. serving approximately
| l2,OO0,OO0 of people in rural districts re-
mote from postofiices. and that there
were pending at that time 1853 petitions
for the establishment of new rural routes
| Unques tionably some part of the general
| increase in receipts is due to the in
creased postal facilities which the rural
service has afforded. The revenues have
| also been aided greatly by amendments
| in the classification of mail matter, and
| the curtailment OF abuses OF the second
class mailing privilege. The average in
crease in the volume of mail matter for
| the period beginning with 1902 and end
| ing June. 1905 chat portion for 1905 be-
ing estimated), is iO.i7 per cent, as com
| pared with 25.i6 per cent for the period
| Immediately preceding, and 1892 for the
| four-year period Immediately preceding
| that.
The message here points out the
need for Improvement in our consular
| system, advises the creation of ma
tional art gallery and suggests the
enactment of a national quarantine
law.
| Extravaganza In Printing.
| l call your attention to the great eN-
| travagance in printing and binding gov
crnment publications. and especially to
| the fact that altogether too many of
these publications are printed. There is
Il constant tendency to increase their
number and their volume. 1t is an un-
| derstatcmcut to say that no appreciabe
| harm would be caused by. and substan-
| tial benefit would accrue from. decreas-
ing the amount of printing now done by
| at least one-half.