The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1910-09-03


must leave every acre that set
tied by bona -fide homesteaders freely
open to such settlement
l do not believe that a single acre of
our public lands should hereafter pass
into private ownership except for the
single purpose OF homestead settle
ment ard know that the stockmen
stand with me in their desire to re-
move every obstacle from the path OF
the genuine homesteader. and to put
every possible obstacle in the pathway
of the man who tries to get public
lands by Misrepresentation or fraud
This is absolutely necessary on the
agricultural lands. 1t is at least equal
ly necessary on the mineral lands. 1t
would be calamity. whose baleful ef-
feet on the average citizen we can
scarcely exaggerate. If the great stores
of coal and other mineral fuels still
owned by the people in Alaska and
elsewhere should pass into the unregu-
lated ownership Of monopolistic cor
porations.
The Forest Service.
You progressive stockmen have stood
heartily by the conservation move
ment. and with you have stood many
others throughout the West, to whom
large credit is due. such as the lum-
bermen in Washington and Oregon the
irrigators in California, and the sup
porters of the country life movement
in and around Spokane. 1 want to
make my Acknowledgements in partic-
ular to the Colorado Forestry associa-
tion. which has supported the forest
work of the government with such un-
selfish zeal The forest service has
enemies because it is effective. Some
of its best work has been met by the
bitterest opposition. For example. IL
has done real service by blocking
the road against the grabbers Of water
power, and again by standing like a
rock against the demands of bogus
mining concerns to exploit the national
forests have always done my best
to help the genuine miner. 1 believe
that one of the first duties of the gov
ernment is to encourage honest mining
on the public lands. But II is equally
important to enforce the law firmly
against that particularly dangerous
class which makes it's living Off the
public through fraudulent mining
schemes.
Much of the opposition to the forest
service. like much of the opposition to
conservation. takes the form of direct
Misrepresentation. For example the
cry is often heard that the national
forests inclose great areas of aEricul-
tural land which are thus put beyond
the reach of settlement. This state
ment seems plausible only till the facts
are known. In the first place. congress-
| has specially provided that whatever
agricultural land there may be in any
national forest shall be open. under
| proper safeguards to homestead set
ticihcht. anu III tut bcConu pldce, wnen
| the opponents Of conservation are ask
| ed to point out the great stretches of
| inclosed agricultural land on the
| ground and in the presence of experts.
instead of in speeches in a hall. they
| fail.
Reclamation Service.
The National Irrigation Congress is
to hold a session in the city of Pueblo
late in September. l am keenly sorry
that ! could not nave accepted the
| invitation to be present. I must. how
| ever. be in the East at that time But
| since l cannot be present then to ex-
| press my keen. long held. and deep-felt
| interest in the reclamation of arid
| lands by the federal government.
| desire to do so now There is no more
| effective instrument for the making of
| homes than the United States Recla-
| nation Service. and no government bu-
reau while I was President had reach
| cd higher standard of efficiency, in
| tegrity and devotion to the public well
| fare.
| Like the Forest Service. the Reclama-
| ton Service has clashed with certain pri-
| vate interests and has had to pay the
penalty Of It's service to the public in the
| form of bitter opposition from those with
| whose profit 1t has interfered. The cry
| has been raised against It that the gov
| ernment must not do for its citizens at q
| less cost what private interests are ready
| to make them pay for at higher prices
1
| velopment of irrigation projects which the
| government cannot undertake. There is
large and legitimate field for such work.
| But the essential thing is to make homes
on the lands, not to enable individuals to
profit from the necessities of the men who
| make those homes. There is no more
warrant for objecting to the reclamation
| of arid lands by the government than
there would be to protest against the gov
| ernment for patentinK agricultural lands
| directly to the actual settler instead of
| through a middleman. who could make q
| profit from the transaction. The men who
| assert themselves at the cost of the COM
| munity instead of by service to the COM
snunity we have always had with u.s. and
| doubtless we always shall. But there Is
| no reason why we should yield to them.
| The Reclamation Service has not done so,
and that is the chief reason for the at
| tacks upon it.
| I don't think that there is one among
| you who is a better and more thorough
| going westerner than I am. There has
| been no support given to the conserva-
tion policies SO welcome as that which
came from the west, and none In the
| west more welcome than that which came
from Colorado. There are men and or
ganizations in Colorado. and I mention
| Delta in particular. whose support of the
| conservation policies has been of the
| greatest value to the Nation. 1t has not
always been an easy thing for them to
| stand for what was right to stand for
the real ultimate good as against the
seeming temporary good; but they have
stood for 1t steadily nevertheless.
From the standpoint of conservation
| the east has wasted much of its own
superb endowment; and as American
| as lover of the west. I hope that the
| west will profit by the casts bitter les
son. and will not repeat the mistakes OF
| the east The east has wasted its re-
sources. II suffers from the effect of the
| waste, which now puts 1t at a disadvan-
| taee compared to the west, and II is
| sorry. Most of the capital and very
| many Of the men now attempting to
| monopolize your western resources are
| from the east. The west should learn
| the lesson of the casts mistakes, and 1t