Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1907-12-04

inst and proper, so essential to our
national welfare, that l feel confident.
IL the congress will take the time to
consider them. that they will ulti-
mately be adopted.
some such legislation. as that proposed il
essential in order TO preserve the great
stretches OF public grazing land which are
UNIT for cultivation under present methods
and are valuable only for the forage which
they supply. These stretches amount in
an 10 some 500. 000. 600 acres, and are open
to the free grazing Of cattle, sheep, horses
and goats. without restriction. Such a
system. or rather lack Of system, means
that the range is not so much used as
wasted by abuse. AS the west settles the
range becomes more and more over-grazed.
Much Of il can not be used TO advantage
unless IL is fenced. for fencing is the only
way by which to keep In check the owners
~ nomad hocks which roam hither and
thither. utterly destroying the pastures and
leaving a waste behind so that their pres
ence is compatibl with the presence II
home-makers The existing fences are all
illegal Some Of them represent the i'm
proper exclusion Of actual settlers, actual
home-makers. from territory which is
usurped by great cattle companies. sons
Of them represent what is in itself a proper
effort 10 use the range for those upon the
lands, and to prevent its use by nomadic
outsiders. All these fences, those that are
hurtful and those that are beneficial. are
like illegal and must come down. But II Is
an outrage that the law should Dccessitate
such action on The part Of the administra-
ton. The unlawful fencing OF public lands
for private grazing must be stopped, but
the necessity which occasioned II must be
provided for The federal government
should have control Of the range. whether
by permit or lease, as local necessities may
determine. such control could secure the
great benefit Of legitimate fencing, while
at the same time securing and promoting
the settlement of the country. In some
places it may be that the tracts of range
adjacent to the homesteads of actual set
tiers should be allotted to them severally
or in common for the summer grazing OF
their stock. Elsewhere It may be that a
lease system would serve the purpose; the
lease 10 be temporary and subject to the
rights Of settlement, and the amount
nit Of the efficient and beneficial control
of the range by the government. and OF the
payment to the county Of the equivalent Of
what 10 would otherwise receive in taxes
The destruction Of the public range Will
until some such laws as these are
Fully to prevent the fraud in the
public lands which, through the joint &C
ton Of the interior department and the de.
Of justice. we have been endeav-
legislation. and especially a sufficient APP
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 home
not to the profit maker who does
not care to make a home. our prime OBJ
is to secure the rights and guard
he interests of the small ranchman, the
man who plows and pitches hay for him
self. 1t Is this small ranchman, this act
settler and hOme-maker, who in the
long run rs most hurt by permitting thefts
u the public lands In whatever form.