The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1912-09-20

violent protest arising from the
driving of settlers from their homes
within tho boundaries of forest re-
serve that special law was passed
permitting settlers to take home
steads within forest reserves?
Do you know that while Clifford
Pinchot was blatantly telling the
people of the Mississippi Valley how
beautifully the Government was tax
! ing a fatherly care of the homestead
ers who were located within the for
est reserves of Idaho that he was at
the same time instructing his forest
rangers to drive out every possible
settler from the reserve by any
means possible at their command.
Some were told their land was unfit
for agricultural purposes and so were
denied their rights. Others were
told that the forest service desired
their places for forest stations and
therefore the homestead could not be
allowed. Some of these settlers had
been living on these claims for many
years, being on unsurveycd lands no
title could be secured, although their
homes had been established there
long before the forest reserves had
been established.
Do you know who did all of these
monstrous things to Idaho? Theo-
dore Roosevelt did it. And like the
advertisement of Postum, There's a
reason" The chief reason was that
these lands thus reserved from pub
lie entry contained vast stores of un
developed resources in mineral, agri-
cultural and timber possibilities as
well as the power Of possibilities of
our rivers. If the great interests of
the East which dominated Roosevelt
then and now could retard or tie up
the resources of the West for num-
Der of years it would be millions of
dollars in their pockets. The rapid
ly developing West was their great
est prospective rival in business af
fairs and it was looming large
enough to sediously alarm them and
they used Roosevelt and his illegel
authority to tie up these resources
tighter than the gates of death. They
can well afford to finance his present
campaign if they can induce the
suckers of the West to vote him back
into power for the rest of his life.
Another reason was that the land
grant railroads crossing the contin-
ent had many millions of acres of
barren mountainous and worthless
lands within their grants and that If
these worthless lands could be tied
up in forest reserve the railroad
could get script issued for lieu lands
and this script could be placed on
any valuable government land and
thus bring millions of dollars into
the Golfers of the railroads from the
exchange thus made of their worth
less lands Many hundreds of acres
of lands right here in Lincoln County
have been located by this lieu land
script of the railroads. The land
upon which stands the town of Je-
rome and also Wendell was thus To-
Gated.
Do you know that now the vast ex
panse of agricultural lands in the
Snake River Valley have been re-
stored to entry? Thet it is now pos
sible for settlers to acquire home
steads on good agricultural land in
the Idaho forest reserves?
Do you know that during the past
three years the President of the
United States has been fighting
mighty odds and opposition in doing
all in his power to reopen the devel-
opment of the great resources of Ida
no?
Do you know who he s done all of
this? William H. Taft has, done it.
He has been nightly handicapped in
doing it for handful of influential
men (Senator Borah is quoted as re-
Gently saying about 100 meh) had