The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1910-06-20
OPPOSITION TO CONSERVATION.

OPPOSITION TO CONSERVATION
Senator Hepburn OF Idaho Is PROB
ahly the least popular member o
the upper house at Washington, bu
it, does not necessarily follow thai
he is always in the worng. On the
Subject of conserving the public re
sources he says many things that
are deserving of attention. When the
qrriJlic land withdrawal bill was un
der consideration in the senate a
few days ago Mr. Hepburn said the
proposition to withdraw the public
lands for socalled conservation was
"a political impeltinence on the part
of the people of the east and there
is no doubt that many of the in
habitants of the far west feel that
way about it. lie declared that in the
great falls of the Potomac there was
enough water power to move every
wheel in the district of Columbia
Hepburn advised the national govern
.ment to give its attention to the
water power possibilities nearer the
centers Of population. where they
would be made available. and an
nounced the doctrine that couserva
ion should begin at home.
There is unquestionably some reac
dion in the public mind against
gushing the conservation policy to
fhe lengths favored by Clifford Pin
:chot and his more enthusiastic fol
aowers. Mr. Hepburn asserts tina,
fhe government has spent five times
more than the receipts in its forestry
policy and that we are drawing oa
the national treasury to create game
preserves and solitudes. New coun-
tries want settlers, and where the
population is sparse there is hostility
10 any restrictions upon immigra.
zion. Land does not look as valuable
as people where there is much va.
cant land and but few men and
women coming into the country. Out
lining the pending bill. Hepburn as
serted its purpose was the with
drawal Of all the public lands so as
60 leave them open only to miners
end prospectors. He placed the re-
sponsTbility of this policy upon Pin
chot and Cogtended that the conse-
quence of the former forcster's in.
fluence upon legislation would be the
prevention OF the extension of min
ing in the Urite3 States. The sen
a,or said that the government ex-
ports never had found a mine In the
west there is, and always has been.
tendency to distrust men of theory
whose technical education is superior
20 their practical knowledge
William Marion Reedy Of the st.
Louis Mirror, who has always been
sufficiently friendly o the Roosevelt
policies, takes a very reasonable view
OF conservation. e says out west
there are good people who oppose
the conservation Of public lands and
resources on the ground that such
a policy prevents development There
IS something in this attitude worth
considering. No one wants to prevent
development. The demand that pub
lie lands be withdrawn from entry
upon such ridiculous terms as en-
able the grabbers to secure impe-
rial domains for insignificant sums.
By all means let the lands be open
ed UP, but let them be paid for on
a reasonable basis. Let them be
taxed progressively as their value
develops with their operation. The
sbsence Of any law providing for
adequate payment for the lands is
what makes the big syndicates so
anxious to get possession of the re-
-ources."