The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-01-02
TIE wooLMEN's CONVENTION

The woolmen who have Just finished
their State convention in this city arc
which they see threatened disadvan-
tage 10 them.
First in immediate importance, per
haps, is the restriction by the Govern
mcnt officials upon the grazing privi'
leges of the forest reserves. 1t is not
our intention here to discuss the gen.
eral features Of the reserve policies, or
to state objections to them, but to
suggest possible remedy for much of
the trouble The stockmcn do not wish
to be restricted III their grazing priyi
eges; and the Government officials con
slider that the public interests, and the
keeping up of the forage possibilities
of the reserves, require that restriction
shall be made, Our suggestion is this,
that the Government lease to the sheep
men certain stated and well-defined in
divdual areas for number of years
without hothering itself much about the
number of sheep that the owner will
Craze upon the lands which be lenses
| If the flock k-master has a lease on a
given area Of land for grazing pur
poses, that lease to run for a number
| OF years, even as many as ten, per-
haps, it will greatly be to his own in
terest to restrict the number Of ami
mails that he will feed upon that area,
| SO that il will not be ovcrfed; he,
| cause if he ovcrfecds one year and
runs out the capacity, of the land
which he has leased to feed his stock,
he will necessarily have to reduce the
number Of animals he viii keep. If
the grazing areas were leased in this
manner, every lease holder would be
careful to protect his own leased ground
from intrusion, and there would be the
| llvcIicst incentive upon the part of the
| sheepmen to protect the grazing and
forage. Indeed, they would do this in
| their own interest TO n far greater ex
tent than the forest rangers are likely
TO do.
The other main anxiety of the sheep
men, as expressed in that convention,
is in the danger of remodcling of sched
ule K, which provides the customs
duties on imports of wool and woolens
II does not necessarily follow, however,
that revision of this schedule would
he disastrous or even Instantaneous
TO the flockmasters. They have had OK.
perience with the present conditions,
whereby the wooden manufacturers have
absolute control Of the American wooden
market, and fix the price largely to suit
themselves. Tho consequence is that
the woolmcn have been obliged to pro-
vide warehouses for the storage or
their wool. waiting for better prices.
tain, and as the woolcn manufacturers
become more and more thoroughly ad
vised of the helplcssness of the wool
raIsars. and the complete control that
they themselves by combination can cx
ercisc over the wool markets of the
United States, we do not see that the
wool raisers are necessarily interested
IN perpetuating the present conditions.
We think there is one thing upon which
they can be quite easy in their minds;
and that is that the United States Gov
crnment, Congress included, is not in
the least likely to deal more harshly
with them than the combination of
wooden manufacturers has done, and is
likely TO do even more arbitrarily in
time to come.
Besides the general questions in
voIved, the Utah woolgrowers had To-
cal differences among themselves.
Some of these related to the orCaniza-
ton, some to representa- tion In the Ma
tional association, some to the person
mel of the forest rangers. and there was
bitter contest over the order of the
commissioners requiring the general dip
ping of sheep. Altogether. the conveu
tioD was decidedly lively one in de-
veloping differences Of opinion and ex.
plotting different interests in way
that kept the interest in the proceed
iDgs up to the sensational point all
through But the convention united on
one good thing, and that was to urge
'"''' -'a'' ''"hS ivy Dt Juc Uedu-
quarters of the National Woolgrowcrs
association, and TO have the National
Woolgrowers' convention meet in this
city year from this month. We trust
that IN both of these matters the Utah
woolgrowcrs will have unqualified
success, and that Salt Lake City will
reap benefit correspondingly as the
flockmasters arc sure to do if they agree
to the Utah propositions,
THE CASE OF SIMS.