The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1911-05-04
STOCKMFN LOSE IN
SUPREME court

ernment, without consent of the state
affected, may set aside vast areas of
public lands as a forest reserve, and
that such reserve is not subject to the
state fencing laws, the Supreme Court
of the United States Monday settled
two burning western issues.
Judge Lamar announced the opinion
of the court as to the constitutional
ty Of the forest reserves. He said that
the United States has the absolute
right to do what it pleases with it's
own property; the constitution had
given it such power. This control, the
Justice said, was not a right incident
to sovereignty, as claimed by the op-
ponents of the reservations, but was
the exercise of right which every
citizen possessed.
"All the public land is held by the
United States in trust for the whole
people, and it is not for the court to
say how that trust shall be admins
tered-that is for congress to say"
The constitutionality of the vast
forest reservations of the west and
the validity of thes modern conserva-
tion policy were raised early in this
case in the Circuit Court of the United
States for the District of Columbia.
Colorado Aids Light.
The United States government had
brought suit to enjoin Fred Light, a
prominent Colorado cattleman, from
causing or permitting his cattle to tres
pass upon the Holy Cross forest re-
serve in Colorado. A stubborn contest
arose, and among the other defenses
put forth by Light was the one that
the formation of the Holy Cross re-
serve, without the consent Of the state
of Colorado, was unconstitutional. As
the other vast reserves in the west had
been formed by similar process of
Federal action in withdrawing public
land from entry, the argument applied
by anology to them The injunction
was granted and an appeal taken to
the Supreme Court of the United
States.
Throughout the contest the Federal
government claimed that when Light
turned his cattle on to his ranch ad-
joining the forest reserve they fol
lowed well defined cattle trails in or
der to get grass and water directly to
the reserve shore, where there existed
superior grass and water supply. Such
practice, the government contended,
was tantamount in law to Light driv-
ing the cattle on to the reserve
The defense met the government
with several arguments. In the first
place, it was pointed out that the re-
serve had not been fenced by the gov
ernment, and Colorado law provided
that no person should recover damages
for trespass unless the land in question
was fenced. Therefore Light pointed
to this law as barring the government
from relief. The government retorted
that the fence law applied anly to in
dividuals, and not to the state of Col
orado or to the United States. If it
was meant to apply to the United
States, it was argued by the govern
ment that the law was unconstitution
al. One of the sharp issues of the case
was centered on this point.
| So widespread was the interest in
the case and so vital the question in
volved that the state of Colorado
threw itself into the contest. Attor-
ney- General Barnett was authorized to
assist Light in fighting the Federal
government. He did so.
The attorney general emphasized the
argument before the Supreme Court
that no provision of the constitution
empowered the Federal government to
"conserve the national resources by
providing for a continuing timber sup
ply and regulating the flow of streams
and preserving power sites from being
monopolized. He argued that the
withdrawal of such large tracts of
land, said to be one-fifth of the entire
area of Colorado, was the denial of
equality with the older states, which
had been allowd to exercise dominion
over all the territory within their
boundaries.
Stockmen Lose Fight.
Stockmen of the west lost a hard
fought contest Monday, when the Su,
preme Court also decided that indict-
ments could be brought against per-
sons grazing stock on forest reserves
without permits.
The court held that regulations of
the secretary of agriculture requiring
permits was not an unconstitutional
exercise of legislative power.
The decision was announced in the
cases of Pierre Grimaud and J. P.
Carajous. indicted for grazing sheep
on the Sierra forest reserve.