The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1910-09-02

handicap or exclude the small man by
| requiring him to spend more money
| for fences than he can afford, and it
must leave every acre that can be set
| tied by bona -fide homesteaders freely
| open to such settlement.
| 1 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 1 know that the stockmen
| stand with me in their desire to re-
| move every obstacle from the path on
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. It
| would be a calamity, whose baleful eff
| 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. I want to
| make my Acknowledgements in partic-
| ular to the Colorado Forestry associa-
| ton. 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, *
has done a real service by blocking
the road against the grabbers Of v@ter
power, and again by standiEg like q
rock against the demands of bogus
| mining concerns to exploit the national
forests. I have always done my best
to help the genuine miner. 1 believe
that one of the first duties of the gov
eminent is to encourage honest mining
on the public lands. But it 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 agricul-
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
Element. And in the second place, when
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 hall, they
fail.
Reclamation Service.
The National Irrigation Congress is
to hold session in the city of Pueblo
late in September. 1 am keenly sorry
that 1 could not nave accepted the
invitation to be present. 1 must, how
ever, be in the East at that time. But
since 1 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
ed 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-.
waite 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 it has interfered. The cry
has been raised against it that the gov
eminent must not do for its citizens at a
less cost what private interests are ready
to make them pay for at higher prices.
Now, believe fully in the private de-
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 Directing to the reclamation
of arid lands by the government than
there would be to protest against the gov
eminent for patenting agricultural lands
directly to the actual settler, instead of
through a middleman, who could make
profit from the transaction. The men who
assert themselves at the cost of the COM
munity instead Of by service to the COM
munity we have always had with us, 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
going westerner than I am. There has
been no support given to the conserva-
ton 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
CARNATIONS 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 fer what was right, to stand for
the real ultimate good against the
seeming temporary good; but they have
stood for it steadily nevertheless
From the standpoint of conservation
the east has wasted much Of it's own
superb endowment; and as an 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 it's re-
sources, 1t suffers from the effect of the
waste, which now puts it at disadvan-
tage compared to the west, and 1t 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 it
should remember that conservation in
the west will help the west first and
most, and that the movement for con-
servation is most earnest, most vigorous,
and most effective in the west and among
western men. That is one strong reason
why the conservation policy has come to
stay.