The Raymer enterprise., 1910-09-01

Soeevo railway regulation, Whi1s ~
support Of the policy Of federal range
control has sivsa Il large piass In
national Affairs. A aA old-uns stock.
maa realise that the present order
OF thinss on the open range cannot
continue. and that the sure way to pro-
tsct the range itself, prevent the In
crease Of big OUTFITS, promote ths squit.
able use Of the grazing lands, and fos-
Ter genuine homsstsad settlement. 10 70
sxtsad over the open range . system
OF range control somewhat similar to
that now In effect on the natioaal for
ests.
Whatever system Of range control
may be adopted In detail, there are two
things II must not DO. II must not
handicap or exclude the small man BY
requiring him to spend more money
for fences thaA he can afford, sad Il
must leave livery acre that can Be set
tied by ,bonA-dds homesteadsrs freely
open to such oottlement.
do not believe that Q single acre Of
our public lal1s should hereafter pass
into private ownership except for the
single purpose Of homestead settle
msnt. and I know that the stoekmsn
stand with me In their desire to re-
move every obstacle from the path OF
NuV uOASoSOOoOts Auo " poS
every possible obstacle In the pathway
Of the man who tries to get pubae
lands BY INSTRUMENTATION or fraud.
The Forest Service.
You progressive stoekmsn have stood
heartily by the conservation move
ment. and with you have stood many
others throughout the West, to whom
large credit 10 due, such a. the lum-
bsrmen In Warrington and Oregon. the
irrigators In California, and the sup
portsrs Of the country life movement
In and around Spokane. I want to
make my, Acknowledgements in partie-
ular to the Colorado Forestry associa-
tion. which has supported the forest
work OF the government with such un-
selfish seal The forest service has
! enemies because II 10 effective. Some
oittsrest opposition. For example, II
the road against tho grabbers Of water
power. and again by standing like .
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 hrst duties of the gov
ernment Is to encourage honest mining
on the public laads. But 1t 10 equally
important to enforce the law firmly
against that particularly dangerous
class which makes its living OF the
public through fraudulent mining
schemes.
Much Of the opposition TO the forest
service. like much Of the opposition to
| conservation. takes the form Of direct
Misrepresentation. For example. the
cry IL often heard that the national
forests incloss great areas OF agricul-
tufal land which are thus put beyond
the reach Of settlement This state
msnt seems plausible only till the facts
are known. In the arst place. congress
has specially provided that whatever
agricultural land there may be In any
national forest shall be open. under
proper safsguards. to homestead set
tiement And In the second place. when
the opponents Of conservation are ask
inclossd agricultural land on the
ground and In the presence Of experts.
instead OF In speeches In . hail. they
fail.
Reclamation Service.
The National Irrigation Congress 10
to hold q session In the city OF Pueblo
late In September. I am keenly sorry
that could not nave accepted the
invitation to be present. I must. how
ever. be In the East At that time But
since cannot be present then to sx-
press my keen. long g-hsld. and desp-felt
interest In the reclamation Of arid
lands by tho federal government, I
desire to do so now. There 10 no more
effective instrument for the making Of
homes than the United States Rscla-
nation Service. and no government bu.
reAu while l was President had reach
ed higher standard of emciency, In
tesrity and devotion to the public well
fare.
Like the Forest Service. the Reciama-
ton Service has clashsd 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 proht II has interfered. The cry
has been raised against It that the gov
ernment must not do for its citizens at q
less cost what private interests are ready
to make them pay for at higher prices
Now. believe fully in the private de-
velopment Of Irrigation projects which the
government cannot undertake. There 10
large and legitimate field for such work.
But the essential thing 10 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 obiecting to the reclamation
OF arid lands BY the government than
there would be to protest against the gov
ernment for patentinG agricultural lands
directly to the actual settler. instead Of
through middleman. who could make .
profit from the transaction. The men who
hAt al aN ~
munity instead Of by service to the com.
munity we have always had with US, and
doubtless We always shall. But there 4,
no reason why We should yield to them.
The Reclamation Service has not done DO,
and that Is the chief reason for the At.
tacks upon It.
don't think that there 10 ono among
you who Ia better and more thorough.
going westerner than am. There has
been no support given to the conserva-
tion policies 80 welcome a. that which
came from the west, and none In the
west more welcome than that which came
from Colorado. There are men and or.
Eanizations In Colorado, and I mention
Delta In particular whose support Of the
conservation policies has been of the
greatest value to the Nation. II has not
always been IN easy thing for them TO
stand for what was right. to stand for
tho real ultimate good a. against the
seeming temporary good: but they have
stood for II steadily nevertheless.
From the standpoint Of conservation
the east has wasted much Of Its own
superb endowment: and ~ an American.
"a lover OF the west. hope that the
west will profit by the casts bitter les
son. and will not repeat the mistakes OF
the east. The east has wasted It's re-.