The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1908-01-30
SHEEP MEN or IRE WEST.
They Held a Convention at Helera a,
HOnt.. and Our Correspondent
RoaStS Them.
Helena. Montana. Jan. %, 1905


Pennsylvania. There were about four
hundred delegates present.
The committee on reception met the
incoming members without overcnats
and clad in straw hats to call their at
tentsOn to the mildness of the weather
because the previous year they declared
they would ali freeze to death if they had
to hold the 1903 meeting in the Rocky
mountains
So far we have had but three inches
of snow to date and December and jan
uary have been more like April and
Nay cham ND winter with the mercury
standing 30 above by night and 50 to 50
by day. Sweet peas were blooming out
of doors till the middle of November.
To return to the sheep men lot of
them were inclined to be hog men as
regards the public domain. Every
speaker toasted Theodore Roosevelt to
a turn for his policy regarding the public
lands in setting aside forest reserves
and advocating a leasing system for the
public lands. They never, looked at the
question from any other stand point ex-
cept their own self-intertest.
They declared it was fragrant and
unconstitutionalint interference with states
rights for tho President to set aside
large tracts of land as forest reserves
in state or to charge for the>use of the
same to the residents of that state not
seeming to recollect that the Public
Lands belong to all of the people in
stead of to few thousand sheep men.
The only hope of the future for the
dangerously congested cities of the east
is to homestead some of the population
on the public lands in the west.
Millions of acres have been stolen the
past few years and had it not been for
Roosevelt millions more would have
gone the same way.
Gua- ~..l~,I., q rich Jew from Colora-
do who has recently broken into the
Senate, is out as the father of very
dangerous bill to give millions more of
the puDnc lands into the hands of a few
inperpetuity for the nominal sum of
80 cents and 81 per acre. The bill is
not in the interest Of the masses but of
the classes
As | look from my window l can see
a great lake Of water covering thous-
ands Of acres Of the Pnckey Pear val
ley. Some months ago | had steam
slannch ride on it. 1t is the back-water
Of the Missouri river from dam No. ,
ten mics away, which has been built to
give electric power to Helena, Butte
and Great Fails and to raise the waters
to a height sufficient to irrigaie the
valley Of the Prickly Pear
tits q magnificent feat Of engineer
ing skill and defiance of natural limita-
lions placed by Nature.
The work at Niagara Falls which at
tracted world wide attention few years
ago was child's play compared to this
colossal conquest of mighty river.
We saw by the paper that there was
aF2nic in the East but it's effects were
not visible here. The banks kept on in
the even tenor of their way and the
people also.
There's great deal Of wealth here
but not very much refinement. the chief
aim being to make display and to out
shine each other. Bridge whist is the
all-absorbing pastme among the women
and poker and money grabbing among
the men.
Two Of the citizens near here who are
making good in a very substantial
way were born near Oakland and lived
there until late in their teens. 1t has
taken hard work and plenty of it to put
them on easy street but now with
thousands Of sheep and nominally fine
range winter and summer, they are
practically certain of an average of 50
per cent on their investment.
do not see how eastern sheep grow
ers are going to compete with such con-
ditions successfully as it only costs about
80 cents per head here to fit sheep for
market and they shear from pounds
Of wool up to II or Is and that more
than pays purchase price and cost of
keeping, in year or less
Yesterday | attended a reception
given to the Daughters of the Confeder-
acy by the wife of General Wade Hamp
toms son, who is U. S. Government In
spector of Chinese immigration for
Montana.
The pastime was naming correctly the
greatest number of the photographs of
distinguished Confederate generals and
Southern leaders whose pictures adorn-
ed all the curtains.
Prizes were distributed to the two
most successful ladies'.
NJ. Az.
Eagle Instead of Coon.