East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1907-02-08

Inc uGClSlOll LANlii ShiNSN SNiNN'
supreme court, published yesterday,
upholding the constitutionality of the
state two-mile limit law, is believed
by the sheepmen of the state to be a
crushing blow to the sheep industry
of Idaho, says the Statesman of Boise.
Inquiry among the sheep owners
now in the city shows that they re-
gard the decision as a great financial
loss to themselves. The Idaho supreme
court declared the law constitutional,
and the appeal was taken to teh
United States court. Pending this ap-
peal, the law has been loosely en-
forced Sheepmen have come to re-
gard It somewhat lightly, and others
have believed that the United States
court would reverse the decision, so
there have been few prosecutions The
sheep we're allowed to run much as
though there were no such law. The
ranges of the state have been popu-
lated with woolly money makers,
without great protest from the set
tiers who did not keep sheep.
Now that the highest court has
spoken, the sheep interests are be-
ginning to wonder why they ever took
the case there at all. Even with the
state decision against them they had
the practical fruits of victory, so far
rs the people believed the higher
courts would declare the law uncon-
stitutional. Some of the more far
sighted ones tried to fight shy of the
court at Washington, urging that they
already had-a belief that the law
would not hold, while they might lose
all in a final decision. However. the
suit was brought, and now there is
no recourse.
Various estimates are made by the
different sheepmen as to what effect
this decision will have on the sheep
industry. Some of them believe it
will affect the values of their flock:
as much as a dollar a head, while
others are inclined to be more con-
servative and say that so cents would
cover the decline. According to the
reports of last years assessment there
are 1,145,000 sheep in the state SUBJ
ject to tax. Even at so cents a head
this would mean depreciation OF
s572 900 in the value of the flocks OF
Idaho, through this decision. These
figures, even allowing so cents a head
as tco large, are perhaps not far out
of the way, inasmuch as the actual
number of sheep is doubtless much in
excess of the assessed number.
Some active steps are promised in
the legislature, in the near future, in
TIE way of state legislation looking to
a repeal or at least a modification of
the law. 1t is expected that bill will
he framed very shortly, covering the
matter as fully as possible.
Under the present law, sheep own
ers are not allowed to pasture their
flocks within two miles Of a home
stead or possessory claim. The claim
in making the law so was that cattle
and horses would not Craze after
sheep, and the sheep, cropping the
grass so closely, were a menace to the
outlying settlements because destroy-
irg the feed for horses and cattle, and
making 1t impossible for the settler to
stay there without feeding his stock
which would be impossible.
In the campaign of two years ago,
one Of the arguments used against
Governor Gooding, at least in the cat
tie country, was that If elected, he
would at once see to passing law to
repeal the two-mile limit statute. No