The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1905-05-05
rHe AOmlNss!I
Work Of he Yrseoleot
Wrongs In the t1no
Of Tie WOG

On. of IN. sturdisst A6hts - ~
dent Rooseveitis adminieeraeto9
been that waged agnfust ~ ull
seizure and occupation OF 49, 49,
west. The evil has tssa $500 -
ten years or more. and finally become
no fragrant that the president Q nte
able and upright secretary u the 10
terror. Ethan Allen Hitchcock. rssost
cd 10 the most vigoroua meoDures
suppress 1t. says the Troy Times. o.
form Of the wrong was the sppsoDssa-
ton to private use Of large acrss a.
government Timber lands. The feceas
indictment Of parties inculpateo y
these proceedings. which have resulted
in convictions In some cases while o.
crs are still pending. has he'd . w
saiuinry effect. and II Is quite l1kely
that this particular form of fraud vfn
be much icss common hereafter.
Other fragrant aggrcsaors have bees
tho cnttio men. some Of them ORGAN
lied In big companies. who have hold
~ taicn possession Of enormous tracts
Of land on which they have allowed
their stock TO craze. while In many
eases enormous areas have been fenced
In. thus excluding all others and pre-
venting tho occupation by Legitimate
settlers % the territory no appropri'
Eiod These operations have been cor.
rlci on with a daring that seemed
hardly credible. and the illegal occu'
piers OF the land for q time dencd al
attempts. governmental or private. 10
deprive them Of the advantages which
they enjoyed without n shadow OF
right 10 them As a dispatch which
givel an account Of recent develop
men's In that quarter says:
Vast areas of the government DO
main have been for years treated ~
the property Of the big cattle com.
panirs and individual cattle kings.
They have used all sorts of ingenious
devices IA s,ave on the inevitable. but
Il has come. They have bought pre-
cmptlons. stakcd fraudulent home.
stcads and then raked In their land
and paid soldiers widows 10 claim ii.
iotmcnts they never saw. They have
taken up large bodies OF land sur.
rounding that ~ the government. and
on the plea uf fencing In their v
have included that of tho government
IN their range. They have persuaded
complalsant land officers 20 permit
them TO take quarter sections q mile
long and u quarter Of q mile Wide. by
this means completely surroundine
government holdings. when one entry
has beer contested they have made
others. thus holding on 10 tho land In.
definitely. each ease the while ploddine
YEARLY through tho land ONCE courts.
But the cnd has come"
But the Roosevelt administration has
been neither Indifferent nor acquies.
cent On the contrary. II has continued
Us efforts TO drive ou the companies
and individuals In illegal poeasssion
OF public lands, and II has fnnliy pro.
vailed. The cattle men have aarren.
dcrcd aud the fences are In come
down II has been discovered that
the power Of tho government. honest.
ly aud fcarlossly administered. IL su
perlor to that NJ wealthy and unscru.
puluna cattle owners and corporations
however great their power may Ice
and that The interests OF the whole PEG
Die are above those OF any ona class
Of persons.
ny this victory over the land s,c,lcrs
tho government secures undlsputei
,untrol over large areas which can
nov be- disposed OF to honest saltlers.
IN connection with the work OF lrriga.
ton under way, and which Will ~.
claim millions OF ncrca nj present arid.
and useless. means OF support VIII bs