, 1907-02-01
A QUESTION
OF FENCING
LITERARY CLUB HAS DISCUS
SION ON MERITS AND DE-
MERITS OF THE ORDER.
Or. WhItehouse Argues for Retention
Of Fences and D.. N. stickney
Against the Proposition-some
Things for and Others that Seem
to Be Opposed to the Best.

The question, Resolved, That the
Action of Secretary Hitchcock in Or
dering Fences Torn Down in the State
OF Wyoming IS De~plorable n Will
Cause Ruin and Destruction" was a
topic which brought out much dever.
sity of opinion at the meeting last
night of the Laramie Literary club.
h consensus of opinion appeared to
curb the greed of the large stockman
as against the rights and interests Of
the smaller owner AS regards the
lands inside OF the railroad grants, es-
pecially in this part of Wyoming, the
action Of the secretary was regarded
as likely to make n huge sheep pas
ture.
The meeting was called to order by
President E. N. Rogers with a num-
Der of visitors present. Mr.. Ross
Moudy was appointed chairman and
Rev. A. C. Hogbin as critic.
Impossible to Improve Breeding.
Arthur W%hitehouse, in taking the
affirmative side of the question, con
fined his remarks chiefly to the ques-
lions which have come up inside of
the railroad land limits. He spoke of
the fact that stockmen have been led
to purchase railroad lands under the
belief that they could fence the gov
eminent lands contiguous to the Sec
lions purchased and that they have
paid more than the land was worth I'M
der that belief. Should fences be or.
dered down. among the things that will
happen, will be that it will be impos.
sible to improve the breeding of herds,
as the standard will be measured by
the worst herds upon any range, ex
cept in the case of sheep; that cor
tagious diseases will spread with no
means to check them; there will be
no winter grazing and no leans to
protect the herds from poison weed
in the spring. AS a remedy, Mr.. White
house suggested that the owner of a
section of land be given the right to
fence a government section adjoining.
The tearing down Of fences would
throw the country back thirty years
in development and force all ranch
men to go into the sheep business.
Mr.. stickney Feminist.
Mr. Stickney, who took the negative
side of the issue, said that the big
stockmen are enabled by fencing large
tracts to keep off the small man. He
spoke of several decisions of the courts
that hold that the fencing of the pub
lie domain is illegal and works for the
benefit Of the few against the many.
He said that the majority of the ranch.
men in Albany county have no govern
ment land fenced, but that there are
some very fragrant examples of the
length to which fencing a be carried,
noticeably in the case of one big stock
man who has forty thousand acres of
the public domain inside of his fences.
Mr.. Stickney said that in some cases
in this county ranchmen have built
fences along county roads with the
consent of the commissioners and now
defy anybody to pull them down. He
was of the opinion that the tearing
down of fences would tend to drive
out cattle and force all ranchmen into
the sheep business.
Some More Speakers.
Among the other speakers were
John Ernest, N. E. Corthell, Charles
Berry, Rev. Lansdell and James Hard
man. Mr.. Hardman instanced the
case Of one fenced tract Of 10000
acres which has at the present time
just n family settled upon 1t and
the case of the $4,000 acres under the