The Mena weekly star., 1910-09-01


 state and national power.
 The Open Range.
 I am here at the invitation of the colorado Livestock association. and 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 unreientlng op- position of some of the most influential stockmen of the state; they have won because they have been right I want to express also my appreciation of the work of the American National Livestock tsso dation. It has been one of the really important forces working toward ef- fective railway regulation, while its support of the policy of federal range control has given 1t a large place in national affairs As an old-time stock man realize that the present order or things on the open range cannot continue. and that the sure way to pro- tect the range itself. prevent the in- crease of big outfits. promote the equit- able use of the grazing lands, and fos- ter genuine homestead settlement. is to extend over the open range a system of range control somewhat similar to that now In effect on the national for ests
 Whatever system of range control may be adopted in detail there are two things it must not do. It must not 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 tn and around Spokane. want to make my acknowledgements in partic- ular to the Colorado Forestry associa- ton. which has supported the forest worf of the government with such un- seifinh zeal. The forest service has enemies because 1t is effective. Some of its best work has been met by the bitterest opposition. For example. 1t has done a real service by blocking the road against the grabbers of water power, and again by standing like a rock against the demands of bogus mining concerns to exploit the national forests. have always done my best to help the genuine miner. I believe that one of the first duties of the gov
 
 on the public lands. But it Is equally important to enforce the law firmly against that particularly dangerous class which makes it's living or the public through fraudulent mining schemes.
 Much of the opposition to the forest service. like much of the opposition tc conservation. takes the form of direct misrepresentation. For example, the cry is often heard that the national forests inelose great areas of agrioui- iural land which are thus put beyond the reach of settlement This state ment seems plausible only till the facts Ire 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 tiemens. And fin the second place. when the opponents of conservation are ask e cd 10 point out the great stretches of inclosed agricultural land on the ground and Tn the presence of experts. instead of in speeches in a hail. they fail.
 Reclamation Service.
 The National Irrigation Congress Is to hold session In the city of Pueblo late in September. I am keenly sorry that I could not nave accepted the invitation to be present. l 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 hy the federal government. I desire 10 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 Q higher standard of efficiency, in- tegrity and devotion to the public well fare.
 Like the Forest Service, the Reciama- ton Service has clashed with certain pri- vate interests. and has had to pay the penalty of its 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 ernment 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, I 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 objecting to the reclamation of arid lands by the government than there would be to protest against the gov ernn.ent for patenting agricultural lands directly n the actual settler. Instead of throug a mddleman. who could make a profit frar,, 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 att | tacks upon 1t.
 1 [ don't think that there is one among you who is a better and more thorough | going westerner than I am. There has | heen no support given to the conserva- | lion policies so welcome as that which | came from the west. and none in the | west more welcome than that which came | from Colorado. There arc men and or | ganizations in Colorado, and I mention l Delta in particular. whose support of the | conservation policies has been of the 1 greatest value to the Nation It has not | always seen an easy thing for them to stand for what was right, to stand for | tho real ultimate good as against the seeming temporary good but they have stood for 1t steadily nevertheless.
 From the standpoint of conservation the cast has wasted much Of it's own sunerb endowment: and as an American, aa a lover of the west l hope that the west will profit by the casts bitter ies- son. and will not repeat the mistakes of the east The east hae wasted lis re- sources 1t suffers from the effect Of the waste. which now puts 1t at disadvan- tere compared to the west, and It IS aoTrv Most of the capital and very many of the men now attempting to monopoize your western resources are from the east. The west should learn inc Spsson of the casts mistakes, ana II