, 1907-01-28
THE LEASING QUESTION.

motives, The Republican will again en-
deavor to clear away at least a small
portion of the muddy water he has
sQuirted into the leasing problem. He
offers no solution to the vexed ques
ton but simply cries, Let us alone!
He has been able 10 carry this cry
into the dry farming convention at Den.
YER and there block the passage of a
resolution in favor of a sane leasing
system. We opine that many of the
dry farmers, before they are entirely
Independent in their agricultural op
erations, will wish that they had GER
tain control of perhaps three or -four
sections of grazing land upon which
to range their stock. The Wyoming
farmer will not be able in the near fut'
ure to give up cattle, sheep and horses
as an adjunct to his business. His 100
acres Of farm and will be all right up,
on which to raise forage for winter,
but he must have control Of Il certain
amount Of range land in order to make
his labor profitable, and that control
must be under the law, not the control
of the nomad with sheep wagon, rifle
and dog.
Lest some readers of The Republi.
can may be led to believe that the gov,
ernor has a considerable following in
this Let us alone" policy, the position
of n large number of western II
men will be given. In 1904 n full in
y~estigation of the problem was made
by the public land commission appoint
ed by the president. One member OF
this commission was Hon. w. A, Rich.
ards, ex-governor and for more than
twenty years a Wyoming man. More
than this, he was n Wyoming ranch
man and entirely familiar with range
conditions. 1t cannot, therefore, be
said that he entered into the matter
with an assumption born of igno-
the stockmen of the west a circular
asking questions regarding the use OF
the lands for pasturing live stock, II
what, in the opinion of the stockmep,
would be the most practical method Of
improving their condition and insuring
their permanent utility for grazing pur'
poses. Fourteen hundred nswer weie
received from the different states in
terested, wyoming returning 2l6. To
the question, DO yor favor govern
ment control under reasonable reSu.a-
tions?" 175 of the PIG Wyoming stock
men responded Yes" and % No"
And only IL said, Let us alone OF
PIG, IL is a mighty small bunch.
Therecan be no question but that the
return made by the stockmen was an
honest one. representing the very best
Judgment of the individuals. Those
circular letters We're taken to their
homes and pondered over. The an
were made without the influence
of passion or the heat of debate. Each
individual looked at the question in
the light of his experience in the range
and made return accordingly.
That return IA almost ten to n in
favor of government control of the
ranges under reasonable regulations
1t has been suggested that under gov
eminent supervision and control mat
ters should be so adjusted as not to
interfere materially with existing con.
ditions. Stockmen should be allowed,
nearly as practicable, TO occupy the
ranges they now have under control.
OF course there would necessarily have
to be some adjustments. Those having
more than they reasonably en-
titled to would be compelled to dis
gorge t o a certain extent, but after
matters had been adjusted, every man
would know just what he could depend
upon and he could improve his hold
ings with a knowledge that every Ell
fort put forth in that direction was for
his individual benefit, What is every
DOuN ) DuSllSSo 10 hObNAS = bN9AANSS'
This applies with great force to the
open range. 1t is never fed off with an
idea Of improvement, but simply with
the idea of getting all that can possibly
be obtained before the other fellow
gets it. This condition is not true
where the public lands are fenced, TO
be sure, but the fences are not to
remain. They are illegal and the presi-
dent says they must pc removed. BY
fencing, the ranges of Wyoming have
been improved to a wonderful degree,
and it is a pity hat some PLAN has not
been evolved whereby those who have
erected these enclosures might, main
tain them legally, but there appears to
be no hope at present. Hundreds of
thousands OF dollars worth of property
must be sacrificed in order that stock
mel may be aroused to the necessity
of agreeing upon some one method OF
legally handling the public grazing
lands.
There appears 10 he no doubt but
that Governor Brooks aims to be per
fectly fair in his argument in favor
of the Let Us alone" policy. This is
made clear by his attempt to divide