The Parker post., 1912-07-27

The foregoing extract is taken from
Senator Henry F. Ashurst's speech
on his desert-land bill in the senate
ON Tuesday of last week ThiSs re-
ference was made to the richness of
the lands at Parker i'm THAT part of
his speech i'm which he mentioned the
migration of American farmers ITO
Western Canada Continuing, Mr..
Ashurst said:
MIR. President, the Dominion may
boast of tits cheap lands, but i'm many
portions of the great state of Arizona
which l have the honor i'm part to rep.
resent, the land is so fertile that if lit
were not for the prohibitively high
freight rates we could ship Arizona
soil into Canada for fertilizing pur-
poses. If you be seeking fertile land
turn your attention to our own
great states in the west, where Cit
rus fruits fill the air with the frag-
rance of their blooms even i'm winter
"The frontiersman, the pioneer THE
true American will not for a moment
permit a beaurocrat or doctrinaire
sitting at a desk i'm Washington or
elsewhere to tell him where to go
and where not to go, and rather than
submit to this unjust, un7Americm
harassment and vexation he will re-
sign his citizenship under the ban
her of the Stars and Stripes and
seek a more congenial environment
under the Union Jack. To the true
American the lands within the state
are the lands of his fathers house;
nc will break through red tape; he
will be impatient when syllabub in
stead of craftsmanship is applied to
public questions
Let us therefore manfully face
the situation as it is; let us cease
banning those who are responsible.
Congress alone is responsible If
these departments and bureaus are
decentralization offices congress is to
blame"
Mr.. SMITH of Arizona. 'WilE my
colleague pardon an interruption?
Mr.. ASHURST. Every cheerfully."
Mr.. SMITH of Arizona. 81 do not
think that the animadversion cast
on congress in the matter of which
my colleague now speaks lis entirely
due to congress itself In quite a
long experience in the other house I
found the practice growing up that
congress instead of getting the facts
from the departments when necessary
and legislating i'm the light of them
began to legislate through bureaus,
until it has become the custom of
the senate today i'm the committees
on which | ann serving to ask the
advice of the departments The first
question which comes from the chair
man of a committee here when a bill
comes UP lis, What has the depart
ment advised about this measure? If
instead of this course we had been
getting only the facts from the de-
partment itself, and then congress
had used its own Judgment i'm these
matters, We would have avoided much |
that my colleague now very justly
critics. The sooner we break up
the practice and let it be a govern
ment of laws by congressional enact
ment instead of through the advice
of a bureau of the government, the
better it will be not only for us but |
for the balance of the United States. |
That congress is rapidly sumendering
its legitimate function to the execu-
tive branch of the government lis a |
lamentable fact, and if persisted i'm |
will in yet short time prove the
most dangerous, as it is the most |
insidious, assault on the guarantees
contained in the federal constitution |
limiting Within their proper scope
the three great powers of govern
ment.''
Mr.. ASHURST. 81 thank my dis
tinguished colleague most sincerely
He has in a few words said what |
have been trying to say for the
last 20 minutes. l ann very glad to
have what he haas stated here made
as contribution to my address, be-
cause l regard his interruption as the