, 1911-05-25
Regulations Upheld By Supreme Court

Washington, May I'll. The decisions handed down nv snnrou,
Court, on May l concerning the right of the Government y cnntro
grazing on the National Forests are of great interest to ,ha w.,
people and especially to the Western stockmen Tho rhnh. 80
Government to control its own lands within the various states and tsr
HtorIes, rs no clearly oenned that it is regarded by Secretary Wilson
as establishing absolutely the position these lands occurv nn,or te
law. Il m very sure" said Secretary. Wilson TODAY CHAT tb.
stckmen IT the West a we'll rs the western people generally will ~
cpt this decision of the Supreme Court at it's full worth and tho.
this controversy which has heretofore existed regarding to rioht :.
use the grazing lands within the various National Forests without -
permit from the Department Of Agriculture will be brot ito an end
"Ihe two cases decided were the So called Light case which mr.
ginated in Colorado, and the case in the United States against Grim
aud, Carajous, and linda, three California stockmen. In the LIGHT
case of the principal issues joined was the question whether the
fence laws u the state must be complied with in order that the Unit
ed States might sustain action for trespass on the National Forests
The California case concerned the question whether violation of tbe
National Forest regulations is punishable a a crime.
Light lisa Colorado stockman who, in 1906, turned his cattle loose
on public land adjacent to the Holy Cross National Forest in sucb q
way that they would naturally drift upon National Forest lands Mr.
Light refused to take any steps to prevent this and also refused to
take out a grazing permit. 1t was maintained by Lights LAWYERS
that inasmuch as the laws of Colorado do not allow q nivats naronn
any remedy against owners of stock which stray npon his land unless
the land is fenced, the government is without redress. An iniunc-
ton wss secured from the District court requiring Mr.. Light to hand
lie his stock SO a s to prevent them from trespassing upon the National
Forest. MIR. Light, however, refused to do this and, with the back
ing OF other stockmeD of his state and, eventually of the state of Colo.
RADIO itself, which made a special appropriation for the purpose, car
ried the case up to the Supreme Court for final decision.
SIN the effort to establish the contention that the Government
was wrong, hot only the validity of the grazing regulations but the
conSitutioDality of the entire National Forest policy was CHALLENGED
on every ground which the council representing tine stock interests
and the State were able to raise. The fact that their contentious
were,o one after the other, set aside by the cear.cut statements Of the
W mO. L CNcIlucl OtltNe
that the stockmen who have SO vigorously contested the Governments
position will feel that they have been fairly dealt with both by the
Department and the courts.
I'm the second case, known as the Grimaud case, the con.
tention of the stockmen was that the Act of Congress, under which
the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to make regulations for the
National Forests, was unconstitutional in 30 far as it delegated to the
Secretary of 4 Agriculture the power to make rules aud regulations and
made violation thereof a penal ofense. The unanimous decision
of the case is exceptionally clear-cut and final. The power of Con-
gress to authorize the Secretary to establish such regulations for the
administration of these forests is absolute, the court holding that Con-
had the full power to authorize the Secretary to make these
and enforce them. The punishment was fixed by Con-
and the Secretarys regulations merely provided the methods of
enforcing the law and, in the event of its violation, Of applying the
penaly fixed by the law. AS the court in its decision says, the
Secretary is authorized to regulate the occupancy and use and to pre-
serve the forests from destruction. A violation of reasonable rules
regulating the use and occupancy of the property is made a crime, not
by the the Secretary, but by Congress. The statute, not the Secre
tary fixes the penalty"
Il feel very certain" the Secretary stated, "now that these ques
tions IRE SO de6nately settled, that we shall have no further trouble in
regulating the use of the National Forest ranges by live stock. In
deed we have had very little for seine time, becauss the stockmen
themselves, altho originally inclined to resent the Inference of the
Government with their long uncontrolled use of the lands now within
these Forests, have, recently, accepted the situation and are rapidly
realizing their occupancy of these grazing lands is vastly more salts
factory under present conditions than it was in the old days when
these areas were open to all corners and it was a constant struggle to
obtain feed for their herds"