The Colorado statesman., 1907-10-05


all go up or go down together.
"The states of the high plains and of
the mountains have a peculiar claim
upon me, because for number of
years lived and worked in them, and
/ have that intimate knowledge of
their people that comes under such
conditions. In those states there is
need of modification of the land laws
that have worked SO well in the we'll
watered fertile regions to the east
ward, such as those in which you here
dwell. The one object in all our land
laws should always be to favor the ac-
tual settler, the actual homemaker,
who comes to dwell on the land and
there to bring up his children to in
herit it after him. The government
should part with its title to the land
only to the actual home-maker-not to
the profit-maker, who does not care to
make a home. The land should be
sold outright only in quantities suf
ficient for decent homes-not in huge
areas to be held for speculative pur-
poses or used as ranches, where those
who do the actual work are merely
tenants or hired hands.
But where irrigation is not applica-
Bile and the land can only be used for
grazing, 1t may be that you cannot run
more than one steer to ten acres, and
it is not necessary to be much of a
mathematician in order TO see that
where such Is the case homestead of
160 acres will not go far toward the
support of a family. In consequence
of this fact, homestes1ers do not take
up the lands in the tracts in question.
They are left open for anybody to
Craze upon that wishes TO. The result
is that the men who use them moder-
ately and not with view to exhaust
ing their resources are at the mercy
of those who care nothing for the fu-
ture and simply intend to skin the
land in the present. For instance, the
small sheep farmer who has a home
and who wishes that home to pass on
to his children improved in value will
naturally run his flock SO that the land
will support it, not only today, but ten
years hence but big absentee sheep
owner, who has no home on the land
at all, but simply owns huge migra-
tory fiocks of sheep, may well find it
to his profit to drive them over the
small sheep farmers range and eat 1t
all out. He can then drive his flocks
on, whereas the small man cannot. OF
course, to permit sucS state of things
is not only evil for the small man, but
is destructive of the best interests of
the country Substantially the same
conditions obtain as regards cattle
The custom has therefore grown up of
fencing great tracts of government
land without warrant of law The
men who fenced this land were some
times rich men, who, by fencing it,
kept out actual settlers and thereby
worked evil to the country. But in
many cases, whether they were large
men or small men, their object was
not to keep out actual settlers, but to
protect themselves and their own in
dustry by preventing overgrazing OF
the range on the part of reckless stock
owners who had no place in the perma-
nent development of the country and
who were Indifferent to everything ex-
cept the profits of the moment To
permit the continuance of this illegal
fencing inevitably tended to very
grave abuses, and the government has
therefore forced the fencers TO take
down their fences. In doing this we
have not only obeyed and enforced the
law, but we have corrected many fla
grant abuses. Nevertheless, we have
also caused hardship. which, though
unavoidable, | was exceedingly unwill-
ing to cause. In some way or other
we must provide for the use of the
public range under conditions which
shall inure primarily to the benefit of
the actual settlers on or near it, and
which shall prevent it's being wasted
This means that in some shape or way
the fencing of pasture land must be
permitted under restrictions which
will safeguard the rights of the actual
settlers. | desire to act as these actual
settlers wish to have me in this mat
ter. l wish to find out their needs and
desires and then to try to put them
into effect. But they must take trou.
BILE, must look ahead to their own ul-
innate and real good. must insist upon
being really represented by their pub |
lie men, if we are to have a good re-
suit
The thing I have most at heart as
regards this subject is to do whatever
will be of permanent benefit to just
exactly the people for whom this cor
respondent of mine spoke-the small
ranchmen who have to plow and pitch |
hay themselves. All want to do is
to find out what will be to their real |
benefit, for that is certain to be to |
the benefit of the country as a whole. |
1t may be that we can secure their |
interests by permitting all homestead !
ers in the dry country to inclose. in
dividually or a certain number of them |
together, big tracts of range for sum-
mer use. the tracts being proportioned |
to the number of neighboring home |
steaders who wish to run their cattle |
upon it. 1t may be that parts of the |
range will only be valuable for compa- |
MES that can lease it and put large |
herds on it, for the way properly to |
develop a region is to put it to those
uses to which it is best adapted. The |
amount to be paid for the leasing I
privilege is to me a matter of COM
parative indifference. The government |
does not wish to make money out of |