Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1906-11-16
LEWISTOWN, MONT, Nov. 16, 1906
WITHDRAWAL OF THE LANDS.

ment in ordering the withdrawal or
something like 100000 acres Of land
in this county from entry under any
OF the land laws, pending an eXaml-
nation of the lands by the geological
survey is not peculiar to this section.
The same order has been made in all
of the land districts of Montana and
it applies to nearly all, if not all OF the
western states. It's PRONUNCIATION was
due TO the recent developments show
ing that the railroads and large cor
porations have been securing control
of immense tracts of coal lands IN
several states, and it was feared that
practically all the lands of this char
acter would pass into the hands OF
these concerns. 1t was in order to as
certain just what sections might be
thus gobbled up for coal that the or
der was made, and it appears to be a
case of the innocent suffering along
with the guilty. The acts complained
of have not occurred in this county,
If they have in the state, and it is
certain that here at least, the enforce
ment of the order, and the withdraw
al of practically all of the agricultural
lands from entry will operate against
the best interests Of the county. Such
an order was looked upon as an abso-
lutte necessity in some sections and
fho wisdom IF tho in n
plying it there is not questioned by
anyone. The sole object back of the
move is to save these valuable coal
lands for the people to as great an
extent as possible, and to prevent
them from passing into the hands of
few. 1t has been suggested that if
Senator Carter would present the
matter to the president in it's true
light, the order would be withdrawn
from those sections where the nedd
for it does not exist, and that would
include Fergus county.
It is believed that upon a proper
showing, at least two thirds of the
land in this district now withdrawn
could be safely restored, and that
this can be demonstrated by facts. We
observe the other sections of the
state are taking this view with ref.
erence to their own localities, and
probably concerted action is all that
Is needed to secure the desired re.
lief.
AS to the intimation of the Demo
Graf that this order is made in the
interests of the stockgrowers, that
statement is absurd On the face OF
1t. 1t is only intended to keep the or.
der in effect long enough to permit eX-
animation of the lands to be made,
and while that will take some time
it will still be so short that the stock
growers would not profit from it to
any appreciate degree.
AMEND THE REGISTRATION LAW.
Unquestionably thousands of legal
voters throughout the state were barr
ed from exercising the franchise at the
recent election owing to the time and
expense involved in getting their
names on the registry list
In this county, as we'll as in otheI
stock and agricultural counties, bott
parties lost votes through the clums,
operation of the law, the Republican,
in far greater degree than their OF
moments.
In many instances the voters ar
miles away from the registration Off
Ger during the whole period of his sit
ting and to register means a loss il
time and money during busy seasol
that would prove a strong tax on thei
pocketbooks as we'll as their patriot
ism.
Just how to remedy or amend tn
law to make it subserve the end TO
which it was designed and yet NEE
the convenience OF the voters is
problem that must be worked out il
the legislature. II, after certain
period, the registry agent could see
the voters the difficulty could be sol,
ed. But the objection to this plan i
that no registry agent could be re
lied upon to act in non-partisan CT
pacity. 1t is possible, however, t
increase the number of registry az
ents and the number of stations a
which they could be found during tn
closing days Of registration.
A writer in the Helena Record, al
ter pointing out the defects in tn
law and stating that from ten t,
twenty-five per cent of the legal vol
ers in the rural districts were unree
istered. simply because of the tim.
and expense incurred. offered the fol
lowing suggestion to remove the OBJ
jecuonable features Of the presen
law:
"Your correspondent believes tina
this evil can be remedied in wa,
that will absolutely safeguard the sui
ffage and at the same time insure
the registration Of every taxpayin,
voter in these sparsely settled com
munities. This can BE- accomplished