The Norfolk weekly news-journal. (Norfolk, Neb.) 1900-19??, 1907-03-22

officials, and the government itself
must now assume responsibility for
that situation.
Western sandhills, arid and nonpro-
ductive, drove would-be settlers, brok-
en- in purse and spirit, back to their
wives relation years ago. The lands
were left unoccupied, desolate, unin-
viting and stretching out over broad
hundreds of miles of waste.
For cattle in mammoth herds those
lands, with here tuft and there a
tuft of grass, were of some use. The
government officials, recognizing the
lack of value in the lands and willing
that the acres should be used in any
possible way, established an unwritten
law allowing cattle to be turned loose
on those prairies. 1t was not a Grim
inal who thus pastured out his herds.
He was benefactor to the western
part of this state because he estab-
lished an industry that could not be
established except where mammoth
tracts of the sandhills could be used,
and he did it under the governments
approval
To establish herds of one blood it
was essential that the breeds be not
mixed. To prevent mixing, the herds
must be kept separate. To keep them
separate, either the too expensive pro-
cess of constant guardianship or fenc-
ing was necessary Fences built up
herds that Nebraska was proud of.
This using of the public domain may
have been against the law The Unit
ed States government did not enforce
that law for years and by non-enforce-
ment taught western Nebraska to do
what it did. 1t may have been illegal,
but the government must take its
share of the blame if it was illegal
And that the spirit of the situation
was right is attested by the recent en-
actment in congress of public land
leasing bill.
Those western cattlemen had no in
tent at stealing public domain. They
were using acres in the only way they
could be used, which otherwise lay
idle.
The government has called these
men thieves. They have been tried in
the courts and prosecuted in the mag
azines and newspapers. They have
been convicted before juries which
had been biased by passionately writ
ten articles against the defendants.
A law that is not enforced is a bad
law at best. For thirty years the Unit
ed States government was aware OF
just what was going on and the gov
eminent taught the west that there
was an unwritten law just as it has
taught the south that there is an un
written law which offsets the four
teeenth amendment to the constitu
ton.
Concerning the case, Mr.. Comstock
who has just been sentenced to a pris
on term, had this to say before sell
tence was pronounced:
1T is possible at this time properly
to explain my position in these mat
tiers, inasmuch as when this case was
tried no defense was presented In
these land transactions we were acting
under and by the advice of our attor
ney, who not only stands high in his
profession, but, possibly by reason OF
his familiarity with the practice and
customs of the land Office, was more
capable to give an opinions on the
United States land laws thai. any man
in the state. His advice was that we
were not only clearly within our legal
right, but also our moral right, as hav.
ing prevailed in the interior depart
ment for the last thirty years at least
This opinion of his was corroborated
by the interior department itself in its
action in the Pearman case. In this
an investigation was made by spe
cial agent of the government in an
affidavit obtained showing the exact
parallel condition to this case, in
which we have been recently tried, and
the interior department acting, as
| uuueISIOOu dJ Ine JlIne, unQeT Cn6 Spe
cial direction of Secretary Hitchcock
Immediately ordered patent issued
for the land. Relying on this opinion
from two different sources, l felt that
| was doing nothing but what was
clearly within my rights, for certainly
the further thought from my mind was
that in any of these transactions ]
was disobeying the laws of my coun.
| try. For we feel that we have a right
to depend upon our legal advisers, as
well as upon the interior department
itself. 1t has been my desire to so live
that when my allotted time should
come people would say that | had al
ways tried to be fair and just and do
what was right. You, the judge of
this court, in carrying out your duty,
cannot inflict punishment that will
cause me to feel more deeply the hui
initiation, and this brought about with
out any intention on my part of dis
obeying any law. | would especially
ask for your leniency because one of
the defendants, Mr.. Jameson, who is