The L'Anse sentinel., 1905-05-06
THE ADMINISTRATION WINS
Work Of the President In Correcting
Wrongs in the Land Schemes
Of the West.


One OF the sturdiest lights by Presa-
dent Roosevelt's administration has
been that waged against the illegal
seizure and occupation Of lands In the
west. The evil has been going on for
ten years or more. and finally became
90 fragrant that the president and his
able and upright secretary OF the In
terror, Ethan Allen Hitchcock, resort
cd to the most vigorous measures to
suppress 1t. says the Troy Times. One
form OF the wrong was the appropria~
tion to private use Of large acres or
government timber lands. The recent
indictment OF parties inculpated In
these proceedings, which have resulted
in convictions in some cases while 9TH
ers are still pending, has had very
salutary effect, and II Is quite likely
that this particular form of fraud will
be much less common hereafter.
Other fragrant aggressors have been
the cattle men. some OF them organ
lied In big companies, who have bold
ly taken possession of enormous tracts
of land on which they have allowed
their stock to Craze, while in many
cases enormous areas have been fenced
in, thus excluding all others and pre-
venting the occupation by legitimate
settlers of the territory so appropri-
ated. These operations have been car
ried on with d daring that seemed
hardly credible, and the illegal occu-
piers of the land for time defed all
attempts, governmental or private. to
deprive them of the advantages which
they enjoyed without a shadow OF
right to them AS dispatch which
gives an account of recent develop
ments i'm that quarter says:
Vast areas of the government do
main have been for years treated as
the property of the big cattle COM
panies and individual cattle kings.
They have used all sorts of ingenious
devices to stave off the inevitable, but
1t has. come. They have bought pre-
emptions. staked fraudulent home
steads and then raked in their land
and paid soldiers widows to claim al
lotments they never saw. They have
taken up large bodies of land sur
rounding that of the government. and
on the plea of fencing in their own
have included that of the government
In their range. They have persuaded
complaisant land officers to permit
them to take quarter sections mile
long and a quarter OF mile wide, by
this means completely surrounding
government holdings. When one entry
has been contested they have made
others, thus holding on to the land in
definitely. each case the while plodding
wearily through the land office courts.
But the end has come"
But the Roosevelt administration has
been neither Indifferent nor acquies-
cent. On the contrary. It has continued
its efforts to drive out the companies
and individuals in illegal possession
of public lands, and It has finally pre-
vailed. The cattle men have surren-
dered and the fences are to come
down It has been discovered that
the power of the government. honest
ly and fearlessly administered, Is su-
perior to that of wealthy and unscru-
pulous cattle owners and corporations
however great their power may be.
and that the interests Of the whole peo-
pie are above those of any one class
of persons.
BY this victory over the land stealers
the government secures undisputed
control over large areas which can
now be disposed of to honest settlers.
In connection with the work Of irriga-
tion under way, and which will re-
claim millions Of acres at present arid.
and useless. means Of support will be
provided for great numbers of per-
sons and the natural wealth OF the
country will be enormously enhanced.
Thus the courageous fight made by the
Roosevelt administration results In in
calculable benefit to the people.