Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-08-30

beneficiaries OF the decision invoke the
aid TO growth. but az a fetish TO prevent
growth and they assail the advocates OF
wise and cautious progress as being OPP
ponents Of the constitution. AS l have said
before. am a strong believer In efficient
national action, where such action offers
the best hope Of securing and protecting
the interests OF the whole people as against
the interests OF few But ! am emphat-
ically in favor OF state action. where state
action can best serve this purpose; and l
am no less emphaucally In favor OF cordial
and hearty cooperation between the nation
and the states where their duties are iden-
teal or develop.
III there is one thing which Is more UNI
wise than another, II Is the creation by
legislative. by executive, or by judicial &C
tion 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, and especially for the lawiess
the lawless man, especially for the lawiess
man OF great wealth, who can hire the best
legal council to advise him how TO keep his
abiding place equally distant from the UNI
certain frontiers Of both state and national
power
The Open Rdnse.
II am here at the invitation of the Colo
RADIO Live Stock association, and l desire
express my appreciation OF their steadfast
stand for decency and progress in the hand
ling Of public lands and national forests
They have met and overcome the unrelent-
! ing opposition of some of the most influ-
entail stockmen of the state; they have won
because they have been right. ! want to
express my appreciation OF the work of the
American National Live Stock association
II has been one of the really important
forces working toward effective railway
regulation, while its support OF the
policy Of federal range control has
given 1t large place in national affairs.
AS an od-time stockman realize that the
present order Of things on the open range
cannot continue, and that the sure way to
protect the range itself, prevent the in
crease Of big outfits, promote the equitable
use OF the grazing lands. and foster genuine
homestead settlement, is to extend over the
open range a system Of range control some
what similar to that now in effect on the
national forests.
Whatever system OF range control may be
adopted in detail, there are two things II
must not do. 1t must not handicap or ex-
clude the small man by requiring him to
i bpchu HiOlC hlSHey LOT lenNts NnhI H0 Cdu
afford, and It must leave every acre that
can be settled by bonafide homesteaders
| freely open to such settlement.
i Il do not believe that a single acre of our
public lands should hereafter pass into pri-
vate ownership except for the single pur-
i pose of homestead settlement, and / know
| that the stockmen stand with us in their
desire to remove every obstacle from the
path of the genuine homesteader, and to
| put every possible obstacle in the pathway
| OF fraud. This is absolutely necessary on
the Agricultural lands. 1t is at least equally
i necessary on the mineral lands. 1t would
be a calamity, whose balekul effect on the
1 average citizen we can scarcely exaggerate,
II the great stores of coal and other min
eral fuels still owned. by the people in
Alaska and elsewhere should pass into the
unreguiated ownership Of monopohstic cor
porations.
The Forest Service.
!, Your progressive stockmen have stood
heartily by the conservation movement, and
with you have stood many others through
out the west. to whom large credit is due,
} such as the lumberman in Washington and
Oregon, irrigators PIN California and the
; supporters of the country life movement in
Stand around fSpokah9nF want TO make my
r ACKNOWLEDGMENT 1nypAftieular to the Colo
RADIO Forestry association, which has sup
ported the forest work of the government
with such unselfish zeal. The forest ser.
e vice has enemies because 1t is effective
] Some OF its best work has beer
E met by the bitterest opposition Fol
example, 1t has done real service
by blocking the road against the grabbers
OF water power; and again by standing lik,
I rock against the demands OF bogus min
( ing concerns to exploit the national forests
n have always done my best to help tn,
genuine miner. I believe that one of tn,
first duties Of the government is to en-
n courage honest mining Of the public lands
' But 1t is equally important to enforce TIL
. law firmly against that particular danger
GUS class which makes its living off tn
a public through fraudulent mining schemes
! Much Of the opposition to the forest ser
vice. like much OF the opposition to con
servation, takes. the form OF direct misreD
resentation. For example. the cry is ofte,
heard that the national forests inelos
great areas OF agricultural land which ar
thus put beyond thereaeh Of settlement
This statement seems plausible only I'll
the facts are known In the first place
: congress has specially provided that what
ever agricultural land there may be in an
national forest shall be open, under prope
safeguards, to homestead settlement. An
n the second place when the opponents O
! conservation are asked to point out tn
I great stretches OF Enclosed agriculture
: land on the ground and in the presence q
y experts, instead OF In speeches in hal
they fail.
The Reclamation Service.
The National Irrigation congress is I
= hold session in the city OF Pueblo in Ser
= TENDER am keenly sorry that / coul
! not have accepted the invitation TO be pres
, = ent. ! must however, be in the east q
that time But since 1 cannot be presen
= then to express my keen. long held, an
: deep-felt Interest in tahe reclamation 9
- arid lands by the federal government, I d
: sire TO do so now. There is no more ei
= fective instrument for the making OF home
y than the United States reclamation serv1c,
. and no government bureau while / wa
president had reached higher standard q
efficiency. integrity and devotion to tn
public welfare.