The Elbert County tribune., 1908-01-30
FORESTER PiNcHoT DISCUSSES
GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF
THE RANGE.
HELPS SMALL OWNER
MORE CATTLEMEN THAN SHEEP
MEN ARE BONA FIDE
HOMEMAkERS.


National Live Stock Association, it be-
fng addressed to President Murdo Mac
kenzie:
my Dear Mr.. Mackenzie-It fs q
matter of the most sincere regret to me
that l eau not be at the Denver meet
ing. Nothing less than such a serious
illness as my father has been going
through would have been sufficient to
keep me away
You know my position about gov
ernment control of the range so thor
oughly that l do not need to restate 1t
at length. There are, however, certain
points l should like to repeat. First of
all. 1t seems to me that this question
Is now up to the men of the West and
in their hands. Whatever the West de-
cides about it should be done and will
be done. Secondly, whatever bill is
passed for government control Of the
grazing lands should provide, without
fail, for the gradual extension of such
centrol, district by district, and the de-
sires of the stock raisers in it. General
application of a law to all parts of the
West at once would be disastrous. 1t
would be equally disastrous If the sec.
retary OF agriculture, under the law,
should be deprived of the right to
make specific regulations, adapted TO
the needs and desires of the stock.
men of each district so that whatever
form OF contract is best for the stock.
men in each district can be secured
with certainty and effectiveness, al
though unsuited for any other district.
Third, the secretary of agriculture
should have the right to issue permits
either per acre or per capita, in each
district, as the stockmen of that
district may desire. There has
been much misunderstanding on
this point and l want to make IT
clear. Fourth, while l should greatly
prefer not to see a minimum and max
imum grazing fee stated in the law,
nevertheless, If the stockmen prefer
that it should be there, | should
acquiesce, and believe that the limits
should be between Y cent and cents
per acre, on an acreage basis, OF 80
cents to 81 per head on cattle, and 10
cents to 80 cents per head on sheep on
per capita basis for the year long
permits, with proportionate reductions
for shorter periods.
"Ono other matter of real Importance
demands attention at this time. While
certain of the more public spirited own
ers OF sheep are in favor of government
control OF the range 1t is well known
that the majority Of the sheep men are
against it. The reason is obvious.
Sheep are herded, cattle are not. With
out some form of government control
range adapted to both cattle and sheep
must necessarily fall into the control
OF the sheepmen, unless violent meth
dds are used by the cattlemen to keep
81
the average large owners, while the
cattlemen on the average are small
owners Therefore, control of the
range by the sheepmen means the loss
of the range by the small owners, and
its control by the large men, which is
directly opposed both to square deal
ing and to the whole public land pol
icy of President Roosevelt and his ad-
ministration. 1t is sometimes claimed
that more men are employed in taking
care of, say 100000 worth of sheep,
than are employed in caring for like
value of cattle, and that consequently
the sheep are of more benefit to the
country than the cattle. This argri-
ment is fallacious. The men who are
employed in caring for the cattle, as a
rule, are owners OF the cattle and act
ual home-makers. The men employed
in caring for the sheep are hired men
in the majority of cases, and many are
not home-makers at ALL There are ex-
oeptions to this statement, but it is
true for the West as whole. want
to make it very clear that the fight for
control of the range by the sheepmen
is fight of the large man against
the small man; of the rich man with |
hired help against the small man who |
owns his own stock AS the President |
stated in his Keokuk speech, his ad-
ministration is for the man who |
pitches his hay himself
THE records show that of the per-
mits issued for grazing on the national |
forests for thepast year II, ,65S were to |
owners of less than 40 head of cattle: /
and 4,2S4 from Al to 100 head; 1851 |
from 101 to 200 head, and 1889 for |
over 200 head. And of the permits is
sued for grazing sheep and goats, 1874 |
were for less than 1000, 1,459 from
! ,001 to $500, Alb from 2,5O1 to 1000,
and 306 fer over 1000 head.
TT is one of the fundamental princi-
pies of the forest service that it would
rather help the small man make a liv-
ing for his family than help the big
man make profit. This same prin-
ciple should be written clearly in any
bill for government control of the open
range.
During the past year the advisory
boards of many local live stock associ-
atoms have co-operated with the Off
GERS of the forest service in the adjust
ment of grazing matters. The results
have been exceedingly satisfactory, and
much good has been accomplished. I
wish at this time to thank the stock
men for the valuable assistance they
have given us, and invite the fullest CO.
operation in all matters for the better
ment Of the live stock industry.
please give my regards and greet
ings to the members of the American
Live Stock Association and
my best wishes for a successful meet
In Nnr-,. cir, ,cnrel.. ,.cllr-s. lGie-..al \