, 1906-10-22

of land could be reclaimed. This land
under water is fertile and valuable;
without it, there is no prospect OF set
tlement.
Mead Approves Plan.
Elwood Mead, who is considered the
best posted man in the country on mat
tiers of irrigation, who has gone step
by step to his present position in the
reclamation service, examined the
plans OF the engineer and the governor,
and, in the language of Governor
Brooks himself, pronounced them
good" Judge Lacey and Judge Gibson
Clark of Cheyenne, w Of the best
lawyers in the state, one of them the
leading member of his profession in
the democratic party, declared the
plans to be not only practicable, but
quite advantageous, both to the state
and to the proposed settler. The con-
tract can be changed in whatever par
ticular is deemed best for the parties
concerned. The governor and engineer
reaped not a cents benefit from the
plan, their services belonging to the
state and being given to the state.
And now Stone.
Stone As a Milestone.
He is parading up and down the
state, presumably in the pay Of the
democratic committee of the state, and
certainly endorsed in his fight by the
Cheyenne Leader and Laramie Boone
rang, the one represented by l. S. Bart
lett and the other by N. e. Corthell.
Other democratic papers are taking
up the matter, showing conclusively
that the democratic party is backing
Stone.
stones interests are purely selfish.
He will be shown to have not one par
ticle of interest in the reclamation of
the coded portion of the reservation
that is not personal. He is not work
ing for the Common good of the state
except as that good affects himself
and those interested with him. AS Mr..
Mondell said in his address, Stone is
seeking a water right that will not
only take the cream of the land to be
reclaimed, but will block for a long
time, n perhaps for all time, the rec
lamation of the larger area of that ced-
ed susceptible to reclamation. Stone
does not want that portion of the res
ervation watered. That is the one
thing he and Kelster and Bartlett and
Corthell are seeking to prevent. And
here is the meat of hat assertion.
Fighting Rival Town.
The tract the commission of four
teen years ago sought to have set aside
for settlement is near Lander. 1t is
tributary to that town, and, had it been
opened to settlement, would have prov
ed of inestimable value to Lander. The
tract finally included in the treaty of
cession lies in another portion of the
reservation and makes possible the es-
adjustment of a rival town to Ian
der. That rival town has already been
started, and this week, plans will be
put in operation to have it incorporat-
ed. 1t will be a rival of Lander in the
business of that section, and this the
selfish politicians of Lander know.
They have fought Riyerton from the
first mention of the possibility of a
town there. The plans have been de-
rided, and even the Riverton News,
the pioneer newspaper of the new
town, has So far been prevented from
getting into the ~postoffice as second
class matter. Its editor is compelled
TO attach a ope-cent stamp to each
copy of his paper that goes through the
mails.
Against Pull-Down Policy.
This paper has nothing to do with
the rivalry between Lander and Riv-
erton. The Republican would be glad
to see both places become large and
tlourishing cities. 1t would be glad
to see that quarter million acres of
rich, fertile soil brought under the
highest state of cultivation. The rec
lamation of the land would mean as
much for the state at large as it could
mean to either or both places, but in
all fairness to the people of Riverton-
in all fairness to the present and pros
pectiye settlers on that vast tract, the
Stone : Keister : Bartlett Corthell fight
should stop. Mr.. Stone has a selfish
motive, has a personal interest in the
matter. Back of this is the opposition
to the reclamation of the bench lands
back from the river, which would
mean another center of trade and all
other point of distribution. He is not
fair to the people of the state; he is
unjust to the people of Lander. 1t
should not be said that they are sell
fish enough to wish to retard the
growth of the coded portion of the
reservation because they cannot ION
troll the distribution of the products.
One ann wonder that they have an
interest in the matter, but no one be-
lieves that the people of Lander gen
orally are endorsing the Stone cam
paign. Stone is working for himself
and selfish interests. He should he
working for the interests of the whole
state or he should keep still.
COURT HOUSE QUESTION
SUBMITTED TO VOTERS.
The county commissioners of Natro-
ma county have decided to submit to