The new era. (Walden, Colo.) 1906-19??, 1908-11-12

0cl SOVCl iIillCuI WllCIl COlllllSS
operations to the police duties of
purely democratic administration
to being protected and hog tied by
a government which would regu-
late their minutest acts to stand
ard form for everybody If they
do desire this change. the thing for
the people to do is to bring social
pressure to bear on the administra-
ton in office and upon the legisla-
tors in office for what they want
1t would have done no good to
elect a demagogue who promised
miracles, and having elected con-
sentative of considerable inertia, it
is up to US to move him the way we
want him to go. If we want a free
government let the Washington bu-
reaus know we are after it and put
our demands in concrete form. If
majority of all voters want the
same thing. or if the administration
thinks they do, the administration
will be only too glad to do the thing
that may give second term in of
flee. 1t is in the power of the cleo
torate to choose whether to be
ruled automatically, socialistically
or democratically, but the nation
is even now at the parting of the
ways, and the choice must be made
promptly and insisted on vigorous
ly or the present drift of events
will take Uncle Samuel down the
road that leads in one branch d.
rect to despotism and in the other
round by socialism to despotism.
The claims are made the timber
conserves water in summer and
that timber must be grown by
the government to keep US from
running entirely out of lumber. We
want to say that it is fact we'll
known to all mountaineers that the
best late summer water supply
comes only from drifts of snow
which lie above Underline. 1t is
the snow above timberline we al
ways look at from the plains to see
whether we get late water or not,
and no creek heading in the timber
ever was reliable for late supply.
We want to say further that we
learned through bulletins of the ag-
ricultural department that in many
otherwise improbable territories
timber is already being grown for
market in half the time and better
timber than is the rule in our pine
forested mountains. One more
consideration: All property de-
veloped by opening public domain
is taxable. Closed domain is a
dead expense. Does Uncle Sam
want to be land poor?
The situation being established,
the next concrete action to demand
is the first consideration. To the
Rocky Mountain region the prop
osition offers immediate solution.
The public land policy of the ad-
ministration must be reformed. We
have no quarrel with minor officers.
They are in the main good enough
fellows who have their orders to
carry out or loose their jobs. But
we do have something to put up to
the Washington administration in
the way of advice about land re-
serves and the public lands.
In the first place the west is
settled by pioneers. 1t is only a
little developed industrially. Free
dom to appropriate and exploit nat
ural resources found is absolutely
necessary to pioneer industrial de-
velopment, and scarcely one-tenth
of such pioneering is complete in
the state of Colorado, and less than
one twentieth in Wyoming.
The forest, coal and prospective
arid land reserves are in a fair way
to curtail such freedom to an ex-
tent which beyond a doubt can