Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1907-12-05

carried through in time appreciably
to relieve the congestion of our great
freight-carrying lines of railroads.
and continuously carried forward in
accordance with some well-conceived
plan. The main streams should be i'm
proved to the highest point of eff
| cheney before the Improvement of the
branches is attempted. The inland
waterways which lie just back of the
whole eastern and southern coasts
should likewise be developed. More
over, the development Of our waterways
| involves many other important water
! problems, all of which should be con-
sidered as part of the same general
scheme. The government dams
should be used to produce hundreds of
thousands of horsepower as an Incl
1 dent to improving navigation; for the
annual value of the unused water
power of the United States perhaps
i exceeds the annual value Of the prod
ucts of all our mines. AS an Incl
dent to creating the deep waterway
J down the Mississippi, the government
i should build along its whole lower
:, length levees which taken together
with the control of the headwaters,
will at once and forever put COM
: plete stop to all threat of floods in the
i immensely fertile delta region.
Reclamation Work.
j Irrigation should be far more ex-
: tensiveIv developed than at present,
not only in the states of the great
plains and tn Rocky mountains, but
) in many others, as, for instance,
large portions of the south Atlantic
and gulf states, where it should go
hand in hand with the reclamation of
swamp land. The federal government
should seriously devote itself to this
), task, realizing that utilization of wat
, terways and water-power, forestry, irrl-
CATION and the reclamation of lands
E threatened with overflow are all in
!. terdependent parts Of the same prob
3, lem.
Public Lands.
The effort of the government to
deal with the public land has Deen
> based upon the same principle as
: that Of the reclamation service. The
land law system which was designed
to meet the needs of the fertile and
: well-watered reg ons of the middle
west has Largely broken down when
4 applied to the dryer regions OF the
great plains, the mountains, and mucf
/ Of the Pacific SLOPE, where a farm OF
/ 16O acres is inadequate for self-sup
I port. In these regions the system lent
S itself to fraud, and much land passed
e out of the hands of the government
without passing into the hands OF the
home-maker. The department of the
RI interior and the department of justice
8 Joined in prosecuting the, offenders
al against the law; and they have accom-
y plished much, while where the ad
:. ministration of the law has been de
+ fective it has been changed.
II Some legislation is essential IN
q order to preserve the great stretches
o Of public grazing land which a. unit
for cultivation under present methods
: and are valuable only for the forage
;, which they supply. These stretches
; ! amount in all to some SOC, 0O0,OOV
acres and are open to the free graz
ing of cattle, sheep, horses and goats
without restriction, Such a system
or rather such lack of system, means
! that the range is not so much used
I as wasted by abuse. AS the west set
i Ties the range becomes more and
| more over-grazed. Much of it can not
l be used to advantage unless it Is
I fenced, for fencing is the only way by
: which to keep in check. the owners
) of nomad focks which roam hitnel
0 and thither, utterly destroying the
r pastures and leaving waste beuInC
i so that their presence is incompatible
with the presence of home-makers
The existing fences are all IlegaI
e All these fences, those that are hurt
G full and those that are beneficial, are
@ alike illegal and must come down
q But it is an outrage that the law
!. should necessitate such action on tnt
q part of the administration. The un
4 lawful fencing of public lands for PR
waite grazing must be stopped, but the
3 necessity which occasioned it must be
provided for. The federal govern
= ment should have control Of the
:, range, whether by permit or lease, a.
= local necessities may determine
Such control could secure the grea
benefit of legitimate fencing, whlle a
. the same time securing and promouns
: the settlement of the country. AZ
: destruction of the public range vii
Z continue until some such laws a.
, these are enacted. Fully to prevent
, the fraud in the public lands Wh1cl
Il through the joint action of the int
u rior department and the department
o of Justice, we have been endeaVorlns
Il to prevent, there must be further leg
e islation, and especially a sufficient ap
d preparation to permit the department
a of the interior to examine certain
|, classes of entries on the ground be
n fore they pass into private ownership
e The government should part with It's
e title only to the actual homemaker
Il not to the proft-maker who does no
care to make a home Our prime %
b iect is to secure the rights anC
d guard the interests Of the small rancn
e man, the man who plows and pitcl-as
: | hoy biT1cn1f