Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1910-08-30

n II aus leave every acre that car
be settled by bona fide homeseeker,
freely open to such settlement.
Il do not believe that a single acr,
of our public lands should hereafte'
pass into private ownership excep'
for the single purpose of homestead
settlement and | know that the stock.
men stand with US IN their desire &
remove every obstacle from the patti
of the genuine homesteader, and 1t
put every possible obstacle in tho
pathway of the man who tries To &c
public lands by misrepresentation ol
fraud. This is absolutely necessary
ON the agricultural lands. 1t Is a
least equally necessary on the minera
lands. II would be a calamity
whose baleful effect on the average
citizen we can scarcely ~eXaggerate, Il
the great stores Of coal and Other
mineral fuels still owned by the peopl,
in Alaska and elsewhere should pass
into the unregulated ownership O.
monopolistic corporations
The Forest service.
You progressive stockmpn have
stood heartily by the conservation
movement, and with You have stood
many others throughout the west, L
whom large credit Is due, such as tn,
lumbermen in Washington and ore
gon, the irrigators in California ant
the supporters of the country lif,
movement in and around Spokane.
want to malIe my acknowledgements
IN particular to the Colorado forestry
association, which has supported the
forest work Of the government viii
such unselfish zeal. The forest ser.
vice has enemies because II - effec
| tive. Some Of it's best work has beei
met by the bitterest opposition. Foo
example. 1t has done u real service b,
| blocking the road against the g%rabheri
of water power, n again by stand
ing Ike a rock against the demands
of bogus mining concerns 10 oNploi
| the national forests, | have AWAY
done my best to help the genuine min
er. believe that one Of the first du
ties Of the government is TO encour
| age honest mining on the public lands
But it Is equally important 60 enforce
the law firmly against that phrticu'
| larly dangerous class which makes NJ
living off the public through iraudu
lent mining schemes.
Much OF the opposition to the for
est service, like much OF the opposi
ton to conservation, takes the form @
| direct misrepresentation, For eN'
ample. the cry Is often heard that thu
| national forests inclose great tracts ol
| agricultural land which are thus pu'
beyond the reach of settlement. This
! statement seems plausible only till the
facts are known. In the flrst place
congress has specially provided tina
whatever agricultural land there may
he in any national forest shall he open
under proper safeguards, to home.
stead settlement. And in the second
place, when the opponents of conserN-
alton are asked 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
The Reclamation Service.
The National Irrigation congress Is
to hold q session in the city OF Pucp-
10 ate in September. ! am keenlN
sorry that ] could not have accepted
the invitation to be present. | must
however. be in the east at mat ume,
But since I cannot be present then To
express my keen, long-held, aud deep
felt interest in the reclamation of aria
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 rec
Iamation service, and no government
bureau while I was president had
reached a higher standard of eftici-
eney. integrity and devotion to the
public welfare.
Like the forest service, he recla-
nation service has clashed with GER
tain private interests. and has had TO
pay the penalty OF It's service 10 the
public i'm tho form Of bitter opposi
ton from those with whose profit II
has interfered The cry has been
raised against it that the government
must not do for It's citizens at a less
cost what private interests are ready
to make them pay for at higher
prices. Now. | believe fully In h
private development of irrigation
projects which the government can
not undertake. There is a large and
legitimate field for such work. But
the essential thing is to make homes
on the lands, not to enable individ-
uals to profit from the necessities OF
the men who make those homes.
There is no more warrant for object
ing to the reclamation of arid lands
by the government than there would
be TO protest against the government
for p|atenting agricultural lands di-
rectly to the actual settler, instead OF
through "a middleman, who could
make a profit from the transaction,
men who assert their right To
get something for themselves at the
cost of the community instead of by
service TO the community we have al
ways had with u.s.. ana 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 Tor the
attacks upon II.
II don't think that there IS one
YOU who is a better and more
thorough-going wcstcrner than / am
has been no support given TO
the conservation policies so welcome
that which came from the west,
and none i'm the west more welcome
that which came from Colorado.
There are men and organizations In
Colorado. ana / mention Delta IN par
whose support of the conser-
policies has been OF the great
est value 10 the nation. II has not
always been AN easy thing for them
stand for what WIS right, TO stand
for the real ultimate good as against
the seeming temporary good, but they
stood for ii steadily, neVcrthe-
less.
From the standpoint OF cunserva-
the east has wasted much OF IT,
own superb endowment; and as al
American, Hs "a lover OF the west, }
hope that the west will profit Oy the
casts bitter lesson, and viii not re-
peat the mistakes of the east. The
east has wasted it's resources. 10 SUI
from the effect OF the waste,
now puts IL at q disadvantage
compared 10 the west and 10 is sorry.
Most of the capital and very many ol
the men now attempting 10 monop'l-
ize your western are irom
the east. The west should learn the