Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1906-01-19

Secretary OF the Interior.
ton and reconnaissance and surveys,
such as has been the history in the
great irrigation works Of every other
country, there are to-day in course Of
construction, a dozen huge projects,
and last June, just three years after
the law was passed, the first project
was completed,
OF Vast Import to Nation.
Secretary Hitchcock's vigorous work
in saving the public domain for home-}
seekers, and in bringing into prac..cal
operation policy for the absolute
creation out of desert nothing, Of
thousands and eventually millions Of
prosperous American homes is, in
reality the greatest work of the gener-
alton The actual benefit of this great
internal development and improvement
of the nations property far surpasses
the work of any other department Of
the government
(7Ae t0lloping is The last portion offhe report
critic PyesfdenfS Public Lands Commission, fzpo
of whose menibers are employed HHder Secretary
Hiteheoek, and WhoSe Vsesus on Iaad JfaHas accord
with their ehiefSo
Grazing Lands.
The great bulk of the vacant public
| lands throughout the West are unsuitable
| for cultivation under the present known
conditions of agriculture, and SO located
| that they can not be reclaimed by irriga-
| ton. They are, and probably always must
| be, of chief value for grazing. There are.
| it is estimated, more than 300000,000 acres
| of public grazing land, an area approx
maS saas to the exeet IF hs
| can not be set, for with seasonal changes
| large areas of land which afford good
grazing one year are almost desert In an
other. There are also vast tracts OF wood
| ed or timbered land in which grazing hase
much Importance. and until a further
classification of the public lands is made
w the be tota acreag 70 extent e IS 50
vast and the commercial interests in
volved so great as to demand in the high
| est degree the wise and conservative ham
| ding of these vast resources.
| 1t Is matter of the first Importance to
know whether these grazing lands are be-
ing used in the best way possible Tor the
| whether they are being abused under
system which is detrimental to. such de-
velopment and by which the only present
value of the land is being rapidly de-
| At present the vacant public lands are
| theoretically open commons, free to all
proportion have been parceled out by more
or less definite compacts or agreements
among the various interests. These tacit
agreements are continually being violated.
The sheepmen and cattlemen are in fire.
| quent collision because of incursionS upon
each others domain. Land which for
years has been regarded as exS nnn hy
large bands of sheep, forced by drought
to migrate. Violence and homicide. fire.
quently follow, after which new adjust
| ments are made and matters quiet down
| for time. There are localities where
the people are utilizing to their own satis-
| faction the open range, and their demand
is to be let alone, SO that they may parcel
out among themselves the use OF the
| lands; but an agreement made to-day may
be broken tomorrow by changing condi-
| lions of shifting interests.
| The general lack of control in the use OF
| public grazing lands has resulted, natu-
/ rally and inevitably, in overgrazlng and
| the ruin of millions of acres of otherwise
valuable grazing territory. Lands useful
for grazing are losing their only cape atty
for productiveness, as, of course, they
1t is not yet too late to restore the value
of many of the open ranges: Lands ap-|
parently denuded of vegetation have Inn
proved in condition and productiveness
which affords means of preventing over
stocking and of applying intelligent man.
agement to the land. On some largaI
tracts the valuable forage plants haveI
been utterly extirpated, and It is imprac-I
ticable even to reseed them. On otherl
tracts it will be possible by careful mani
agement TOT the remaining uetlve piantSt
to recover their vigor and to distributed
seeds, which will eventually restore muchl
of the former heritage. Prompt and effect-l
i've action must be taken, however. II theI
value of very much of the remaining publ
lie domain is not to be totally lost.
The conclusions as to grazing reached
by your commission were based:
First Upon the results Of long acquain-}
lance with grazing problems In the public-I
land States on the part of each member
| Of your commission.
Second. Upon the results OF careful ext