East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1909-06-15
REGULATION Of
GRAZING VALID
HAD BEEN QUESTIONED
BY STOCKNIEN RECENTLY
misunderstanding of Authority of
the Secretary of Agriculture Over
Forest Reserves-Was Due TO the
Recent Dismissal of Prosecution
Cases = Secretary Can Prohibit
Grazing, But Such Violation Held
Not Criminal.

San Francisco.-A somewhat prev
alent misunderstanding Of the sig
nlficance of the action recently taken
by Judge Wellborn of the United
States district court for the southern
district of California, northern di-
vision, in dismissing indictments
against three sheepmen, Cazajous,
Grimaud and linda, charged with
having unlawfully grazed sheep with
out grazing permit upon national
forest, has led Acting District For
ester Hatton of San Francisco to
send to all forest supervisors in Cali
fornia a letter explaining the situa-
ton in the following passages:
I'm connection with this case, my
attention has been called to a news
paper clipping referring to Judge
Wellborns decision as follows: This
decision means. in effect, that from
this time on there will be no restric-
tion of the grazing which may be
done In the hills, a matter of great
interest to those who have herds and
flocks i'm the mountains.'
another statement which appears
In the clipping is as follows: Graz
ing will be permitted ad lib1tum on
forest reserves until congress can en-
act new laws to cover the situation
'The language above quoted indl-
Gates an entirely erroneous concep-
'tion of the effect of Judge WeIlborn's
decision. Judge Wellborn did not
question the right of the secretary
of agriculture TO control grazing
upon the national forests. nor his
right to prohibit any unpermitted
grazing"
After setting forth that the au-
thorlty OF the secretary of agriculture
to prohibit grazing without a permit
had been expressly upheld by the
United States circuit court OF appeals
In the Shannon and Dastervlgnes
cases. Mr.. Hatton's letter continues:
"The authority of those decisions
was expressly recognized by Judge
Wellborn. These cases were, how.
ever, civil cases in which the United
States was granted injunctions re-
straining the defendants from graz
ing trespass upon forest reservations,
while the cases of Casajous, Grimaud
and linda. decided by Judge Welborn
at Fresno, were criminal prosecu-
tions,
Secretary Can Prohibit Grazing.
Judge Wellborn held that while
the secretary OF agriculture has full
authority under existing laws of con-
gress to promulgate regulations pro-
hibiting grazing upon national for
ests except under permit, and while |
the forests can be protected against |
any violation of such regulations by |
the bringing of civf actions and |
suits for Injunction, still a violation
of the regulations cannot be held to |
be crime. In other words, the de-
cision OF Judge Wellborn did not
question the right Of the secretary OF
agriculture to enforce by civil pro-
cess observance of the grazing regu-
lations. but held merely that viola
tions of the regulations could not be
made the basis of criminal action.
Under the criminal appeals act Of
March 2, 1907 (s4 stat, 1246O. tn,
attorney general has instructed the
United States attorney at Los An
yeles to sue out writs Of error at once
and have Judge Wellborn's decision
reviewed by the supreme court Of the
United States. This is the first op-
portunity the government has had
o obtain a ruling upon this question
~ the supreme court. The appeal
will be prosecuted to as early a de-
'ision as possible" /,
Judge Weflborn's ruling, as Mr..
Iatton points out, was directly con- {
rary to decisions Of the United
states district courts Of Idaho, north
rn California and South Dakota and
he supreme court OF Arizona, and /
lso to an opinion of United States c
Attorney General Grlggs. In ex-
'lanation OF the course now to be 4
pursued by the forest service, Mr.. v
Iatton's letter says:
VIII Enforce Grazing Regulations. II
"As heretofore, the grazing regu- v
atoms will continue to be vigorously o
nforced upon every forest. Any
,illful violation will be at once re-
.,rfad hv Tho fornat Officara and