Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1907-12-07

/ cOHlTOl tOuIu secure the great DeneDl OF
legitima'" fencing. while at the same
time securing and promoting the settle
ment OF the country.
In some places IL may be that the tracts
OF range adjacent to the homesteads Of
| actual settlers should be allotted to them
saverally or in common for the summer
grazing of their stock. Elsewhere IL may
| be that lease system would serve the
purpose; the leases to be temporary and
| subject TO the rights of settlement, and
the amount charged being large enough
merely to permit of the efficient and
beneficial control of the range by the
government, and of the payment to the
| county of the equivalent of what II would
| otherwise receive in taxes. The destruc-
| ton of the public range will continue un-
| III some such laws as these are enacted
| Fully to prevent the fraud in the public
| lands which. through the joint action OF
| the interior department and the depart
| ment OF justice, we have been endeayor-
/ ing TO prevent, there must be further
| legislation, and especially sufficient ap-
| preparation to permit the department OF
| the interior TO examine certain classes OF
| entries on the ground before they pass
| into private ownership. The government
| should part with its title only to the
| actual homemaker, not to the proht-
| maker who does not care to make
| home. Our prime object is to secure the
rights and guard the interests OF the
| small ranchman, the man who plows and
| pitches hay for himself. II is tins small
| ranchman, this actual settler and home
maker, who in the long run is most hurt
by permitting thefts OF the public land in
Optimism Is a good characteristic, but
| II carried to an excess It becomes fool
| ishness. We are prone to speak of the
| resources of this
| Forests country as mex
| haustible this is not
| So The mineral wealth OF the country
the coal iron oil gas and the like, does
| not reproduce itself and therefore is
| certain to be exhausted ultimately and
] wastefulness In dealing with Il to-day
| means that our descendants will feel the
exhaustion a generation or two before
| they otherwise would But there are GER
| tain other forms of waste which could
| be entirely stopped-the waste of soil by
| washing for instance. which is among
| the most dangerous of all wastes now in
progress in the United States, is easily
preventabe, so that this present
| enormous loss of fertility is entirely un-
necessary. The preservation or replace
ment of the forests is one of the most
important means of preventing this loss.
| We have made beginning in forest
preservation, but il is only a beginning.
AT present numbering is the fourth great
est industry In the United states. and
| yet rapid has been the rate Of ex-
haustion of timber in the United States
In the past and SO rapidly is the re-
mainder being exhausted that the conn
| try Is unquestiouably on the verge of
timber famine which Will be felt in every
household In the land There has al
ready been rise in the price of lumber.
but there is certain TO be more rapid
and heavier rise in the future. The pres
ent annual consumption Of lumber is GER
| tainly three times as great as the annual
growth and II the consumption and
growth continue unchanged practically
all our lumber will be exhausted I'm an
other generation, while long before the
limit TO complete exhaustion is reached
the growing scarcity will make itself felt
In many blighting ways upon our ma
tional welfare. About 20 per cent OF our
forest territory Is now reserved in ma
tfonal forests, but these do not include
t,a al,,al h TfVfntNn laF FaHG al IN
any event the proportion is too small 10
expect that the reserves can accomplish
more than n mitigation OF the trouble
which is ahead for the nation. Far Hore
drastic action is needed. Forests can be
numbered so as to give TO the public the
full use OF their mercantile timber with
out the slightest detriment to the forest.
any more than il is detriment 70
farm to furnish u harvest, so that there
is no parallel between forests and mines.
which can only be completely used oy
exhaustion. But forests. If used as all
our forests have been in the past and AS
most OF them still used, Will be
either totally destroyed or so damaged
that many decades have to pass before
effective use can be made Of them AGAIN
All these facts are so obvious that Is Is
extraordinary that IL should be necessary
TO repeat them. Every business man IN
the land every writer I'm the newspapers,
every man or woman of an ordinary
school education ought to be able TO Sc"
that immense quantities of timber are
used in the country. that the forests
which supply this timber are rapidly be-
ing exhausted and that. If no change
takes place exhaustion will come COM
paratiVely soon. and that the enects OF
it will be felt severely in the every,day
life of our people. Surely when these
facts are so obvious there should be no
delay in taking preventive measures.
commend TO the favorable considera-
ton of the congress postal savings
bank system. as recommended by the
postmaster general.
Postal Affairs. The primary object
is 10 encourage
by the use OF postal savings banks 10
give them an opportunity TO huspanu
their resources, particularly those VINO
have not the facilities at hand Tor de-
posting their money in savings banks.
Viewed howeV or, from the experience or
the past few weeks. II is evident that the
advantages OF such an Institution are still
more far-reaching Timd depositors have
withdrawn their savings Tor the time De
ing from national banks trust com
panies, and savings banks. individuals
have boarded their cash and the work
lngmen their earnings; all OF whlch
money has been withheld and kept III
hiding or in the safe deposit box to tho
detriment of prosperity. Through the
agency of tho postal savings banks such
money would be restored 10 the channels
of trade, to the mutual beneht OF capilh
and labor
further commend to the congress the
consideration of the postmaster generals
Recommendation for an extension OF the
parcel post especially on the rural
routes There are now 3S,2l5 rural routes,
serving nearly 15OOoO0D people who do
not have the advantages of the In
habitants of cities in obtaining their sup
plies These recommendation have been
drawn up to benefit the farmer and the
country storekeeper; otherwise. ! should
not favor them, for | believe that 1t Is
good policy for our government to do
everything possible to aid the small town
and the country district. II Is desirable
that the country merchant should not be
crushed out.
Under our form oe government voting
is not merely right but duty, and.
moreover. a fundamental and necessary
duty II man Is to
Presidential Cam he a good citizen. 1t
is well to provide
paign Expenses. that corporations
shall not contribute
and Furthermore to provide for the pub
lication of both contributions and ex-
penditures. There is, however, always
danger in laws OF this kind. which from
their very nature are difficult of enforce
ment; the danger being lest they be
obeyed only by the honest. and disobeyed
by the unscrupulous. so as to act only as
a penalty upon honest men. Moreover.
no such law would hamper an unscrup-
ulous man of unlimited means from buy
ing his own way into Office. There Is q
very radical measure which would, | be-
ieve. work substantial Improvement in
our system of conducting a campaign, al
though I am well aware that IL will take
some time for people SO TO familiarizo
themselves with such a proposal as TO be
willing to consider its adoption. The
need for collecting large campaign funds
would vanish II congress provided an ap-
preparation for the proper and legitimate
EXPENSES of each of the great national