East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1910-08-29

sible, in cases of constitutional
doubt, to get one set of judicial deci-
sions which render it difficult for the
nation to act. and another set which
render it impossible for the state to
act. In each case'the privileged bene-
ficiaries of the dicision invoke the aid
Of those who treat the constitution,
not as healthy aid to growth, but as
a fetish to prevent growth; and they
assail the advocates OF wise and eau
tious progress as being opponents of
the constitution. AS / have said be-
fore, 1 am a strong believer in eff
cient national action, wnere such ac-
tion offers the best hope of securing
and protecting the interests of the
whole people as against the interests
OF few. But I am emphatically in
favor OF state action. where state ac-
ton will best serve this purpose; and
I am no less emphatically in favor of
cordial and hearty cooperation be-
tween the nation and the states where
their duties are Identical or overlap.
II there is one thing which is more
unwise than another, it is the creation
by legislative, by executive or by ju-
dicial action OF a neutral ground in
which neither the state nor the nation
has power. and which can serve as a
place of refuge for the lawless man,
and especially for the lawless man of
great wealth. who can hire the best
legal counsel to advise him how to
keep his abiding place equally dis
tant from the uncertain frontiers of
both state and national power.
The Open Range.
l am here at the invitation of the
Colorado Livestock association, and l
desire to express my appreciation of
| their steadfast stand for decency and
progress in the handling of public
! lands and national forests. They have
met and overcome the unrelenting op-
| position of some of the most influen-
tial stockmen of the state; they have
won because they have been right.
want to express also my appreciation
! of the work of the American National
| Livestock association. 1t has been
one of the really important forces
working toward effective railway reg
ulation while its support of the pol
| icy of federal range control has given
| it a large place in national affairs. AS
an old time stockman / realize the
present order OF things on the open
range cannot continue, and that the
sure way to protect the range itself,
prevent the increase of big outfits
| promote the equitable use of the graz
! ing lands and foster genuine home
stead settlement is to extend over the
! open range a system of range control
somewhat similar to that now in ef-
| feet on the national forests.
Whatever system of range control
may be adopted in detail, there are
| two things it must not do. 1t must
| not handicap or exclude the small man
| by requiring him to spend more mon
ey for fences than he can afford, and
1t must leave every acre that can be
settled 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 set
tlement, and 1 know that the stock
men stand with me in their desire
| to remove 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 would
| be a calamity, whose baleful effect 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 else
where should pass into the unregulat-
ed ownership of monopolistic corpor-
ations.
The Forest Service.