The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-10-01
ROOSEVELT HITS CORRUPT POLITICIANS

nical high schools as are to be found, for
instance, IN both st. Louis and Washing
ton, have by their success shown that 1t Is
entirely feasible to carry IN practical fash
ion the fundamentals of industrial training
into the I aims of our secondary schools.
At present there Is a gap between our
primary schools IN country ald city and
the industrial collegiate courses, which
must be closed, and if necessary the
nation must help the State to close il.
altogether TOO great q premium upon mere
literary education, and therefore to train
away from the farm and the shop.
we should reverse this process. Spe-
cific training Of a practical kind should be
given to the boys and girls who when
men and women are to make up the back
bone of this nation by working in agricul-
ture. IN the mechanical industries, in arts
and trades, in short. who are to do the
ali of us. the duty Of home-makiDg and
housekeeping. Too narrow a literary edu-
cation is, for most men and women. not a
real education at all. for a real education
should fit people primarily for the indus
trial and ~home-making emplOymentI in
which they must employ the bulk of their
activities. Our country offers unparal-
leled opportunities for domestic and social
advancement, for social and economic
leadership in the world Our greatest
national asSet is to be found In the chill
dren. They need to be trained to high
ideals of everyday living. and to high
efficiency In their respective vocations; We
CaI1OI dlIDiu ~ udNt Itltii RANT OLltl-
wise, and the nation should help the
States to achieve this end.
Now, men of Iowa, / want to say just a
gord on n a 3bd mater Mtss,s that e Vaiisv it1 nGt tine 6nf
the States west of them, the States of the
great plains and the Rocky Mountains.
u~nfoFtun ate l v,s am th hos a stste on or ThiT
should speak to their own people on the
point to which | now intend to allude; but,
after all, anything that affects a consider
ohip nnmhar 0f Americans who live under
one set of conditions must be of momeat
to all other Americans, for never forget,
friends, that in the long u we shall all
go up or go down together.
1.-THE States of the high plains and OF the
mountains have a peculiar claim upon me.
because Tor a number Of years l lived and
worked In them, and / have that intimate
knowledge of their people that comes un-
der such conditions. In those states. there
is need of a modification of the land laws
that have worked SO well in the well
watered fertile regions to the eastward,
such as those in which you mere oven;
The one object in all our land laws should
always be to favor the actual settler, the
actual home-maker, who comes to dwell
on the land and there to bring up MS
children to inherit it after him. The gov
eminent should part with its title to the
land only to the actual ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
to the proft-maker, who. does not care
to make a home. The land should be SOLD
outright only in quantities sufficient for
decent homes-not in huge areas to be held
for speculative purposes or used as ranches
WnETe inOSG WHO uO Tie dNludi WI a.
| merely tenants or hired hands. No tenn
porary prosperity of any class of men
could in the slightest degree, atone for
failure on our part to shape the laws SO
that they may work for the permanent
good of the home-maker.
This is fundamental, gentlemen, and Is
simply carrying out the idea upon whicn
1 dwell in speaking to you of your own
farms here in Iowa. Now in many States
where the rainfall is light 1t Is q simple
absurdity to expect any man to live, still
less to bring up a family, on one hundred
and sixty acres. Where we are able 10 IL
troduee irrigation, the homestead can De
very much less in size-can, for instance,
be forty acres; and there is nothing thai
Congress has done during the past SIX
years more important than the enactment
Of the national irrigation law. But where
irrigation is not applicable and the land
can only be used for grazing, 1t may be
that you can not run more than one steer
to ten acres. and it is not necessary &c
be much of a mathematician in order to
see that where such Is the case a home
stead of one hundred and sixty acres Will
not go far toward the support OF n family,
In consequence of this fact, nomesteader
do not take up the lands in the tracts IN
question. They are left open for anybody
To craze upon that wishes to. The result
is that the men who use them moderately
and not with a view to exhaustng thell
resources are at the mercy Of those wht
care nothing for the future and simply
intend to skin the land in the present
For instance. the small sheep farmer wh'
has a homeland who wishes that home Il
pass on TO his children improved in valu'
VIII naturally run his flock so that thu
land viii support 1t, not only today, bu
ten years hence; but a big absentee sheei
owner, who has no home ON the land a
all, but simply owns huge migratory fiocl1s
or sheep, may well find ii to his profit t
drive them over the small sheep farmer
range and eat ii all out. He can theI
drive his flocks on, whereas the small
man cannot OF course, to permit such {
l state Of fhiunc ia not nnlxr axffI Fos fJa emo 1
man, but Is destructive of the best in
terests of the country. Substantially tbs
same conditions obtain as regards cattle
The custom has therefore grown up OF
fencing great tracts of government land
without warrant Of law.
The men who fenced this land were
sometimes rich men. who, by fencing 1T,
kept out actual settlers and thereby
worked evil 10 the country. But in many
eases. whether they were large men or
small men, their object was not to keep
out actual settlers. but to protect them
selves and theii own industry by prevent
ing overgrazing of the range on the part
or reckless stock owners who had no place
IN the permanent development of the
country and who were Indifferent to every
thing except the profits of the moment.
To permit the continuance of this Illegal
Fencing inevitably tended to very grave
abuses. and the government has therefore
forced the fencers to take down their
fences. In doing this we have nat only
obeyed end enforced the law, but we have
corrected many fragrant abuses. Never
theiess. we have also caused hardship.
which, though unavoidable, / was ex-
ceedtngly unwilling to cause. In some
way or other we must provide for the
use of the public range under conditions
which shall ,nure primarily to the benefit
of the actual settlers on or near 1t. and
which shall prevent its being wasted.
This means that In some shape or way
the fencing of pasture land must be per-
mitted under restrictions which will safe
guard the rights Of the actual settlers.
i desire to act as these actual settlers
wish TO have me In this matter. 1 wish
to find out their needs and desires and
then to try To put them into effect. But
they must take trouble, must look ahead
to their own ultimate and real good, must
insist upon being really represented by
their public men, If we are to have
g good result, A little while ago / re-
ceived a very manly and sensible letter
from one of the prominent members Of
the Laramie County, Wyo., Cattle and
Horse Growers Association.
My correspondent remarked incl
dentally, In his letter, I am a small ranch
man, and have to pillow and pitch hay my
great majority of their people had COM
piled with the government order, had re-
moved their fences and sold their cattle,
but that they must get some kind of a
lease law which would permit them to
Craze their stock under proper conditions
or else it would be ruinous to them to con-
tinue in the business. The thing [ nave
most at heart as regards this subject is to
do whatever will be of permanent benefit
to just exactly the people for whom this
correspondent of mine spoke-the small
80 - IL LAAa#- = - IA 49,