The Alaska citizen., 1913-12-15

 1 sny"l'r' in the Jnt,t States. This | "t'p"sjtj"n tHH ra5ir"ad aaain prompt 1 ' r"-"rtri T. may be well to recall | #Fat al this oprortuue and critical .4ms Nr Paul Morton was one of tha | =r,at powers in tho santa I-e rail- | .aaf- t.at he had great influence in ! .enus.r,attnu- circles. He was Him- self great "cous.ryatfonist.~ In eH- "t tH,-- Preserves. called tAe san ! Francisco Mountain reserve. tl.r. v're Included a&5.po0 acres os laui be ! .au-tnr to jH" santa Fc railroad . H-s~ land was practically useless for any uarpn~". most of tt being unfit 't'u Tor sheep pasture. il Was har- r.n deserts and sand dunes. contain
 Ha oHsy sa-ehrs~ta aui cactus. inluhit- ai "uit hy coyotes and fack rabbits. lee .'.lss3'~ aAa tlrauauIas. raitlcsnll,..,
 mt lu.,r3~ Fieht hundred tHousau I a,r's - this land We're valued by tss ra.ir"aa~ themselves at from , to r- aeHt- Ter acre. The railroads insist ! rd that they be permitted to tra Ie 1 Lis lani. acre for acre for the best l and tgat >tiH remained in all the anhllc domain THey made this offer md in spite of the protest of t.4. l commissioner of the general lanI of . flee aul in spite of the fact tEat the secretary of the interior had twice i r'cnnm, ,uI.d asaiust the proposition ! ' was accepted. with the single re- stric'Ion that 1>0.0o0 acres of th~
 @25.oo8 shouH he located South of the | taiftT-scEenth standard parallel of la 1 tirudo and south of the TehicHina ran-" "f mountains, and under thi- 1 utra't, urged hy tn" Forest Ser ice. r"nsuumaicd in thc name of conSerya- | lion, for this vast. worthless, tree | ''ss waste, the santa Fc railroad soI- 1 trt.d s5o,eo0 acres of the very hest i If all the public lands in the Republic 1 fHeS" selections We're made with great ear" in - different states. The very cream of the ruh1c domain every
 where Was secured l HaHo. trac..1 1 5000 acres o1 this selection to th, 1 state of Nashin2tnn, although the i santa I'e railroad does not own and 1 never has owned q rail within Non l miles of tEat state In the 5G.09p | acres in the state of Washinston is i tppni today som" of the finest ti1uh-
 TT laHd upon tAis sIohe The Bar,aa 1 of Corporations, in its recent report | >ays Lat some of tls land thus rc. s"iFod for nothing ny the santa le 1 fa2roal k worth from Si0B to $2no
 arr acre for the timber alone Tas 53.aoo acres secured in the state of 1 Nashinston alone are worth many | Imes what ta" entire e&5.oo0 acres 1 orfsinalIy owned by the railroad is l worth. The history of this Nation i gp to that hoHr contains no transac- [ lot. 1 rigbts of the public with this tran 1 tcllon in maktng tbts princety -jft 1 tn the santa Fe railroad.
 .tt the instisation of AIr Morton an1
 she otAer officers of the santa ro rairpa1. they We're permitted to se!- sot for thase BROOD acres. absolutely
 worthless. s&a.odo acres of tbe best
 54elie land beneath the ftas That is
 .ree That is taken from tEe re 1aras. ana challenge any man to 1 Hspute t.
 i Tae aranl Canyon Forest reserve vas created in Arizona. This re- serve contained &7a,oa0 acres of San n Te land also These &75.000 acre, were also mostly worthless. But in f.3e name of consor> atian, and With 1 fhe active assistance of the Forest
 service, for these &75,OOO acres of i worthless land the santa I'e railroad 1 was permitted tn select 3h0.O00 acres of thc hest of the public lands that ! vel remained II was afterwards dis covered that through some mistake they had been allowed to take 5.000 acres to much, but so far as l hayt i been ahle to discover this little inSi.- i nificant error was never corrected. 1 Thus more than million and a quarter acres of our best public Ian Is Were given in the name of conserve tion to the santa Fe railroad for | practically no consideration whatever.
 's ii any wonder that the officials of the santa Fe railroad Were great Con
 IT. ationists?
 Although the commissioner of pub lie lands was constantly protestin@ 1 that tn" public was being robbed by these transactions, and that the depart
 ment of the interior had no legal riglt to permit such agrecments to be i cons ummated the conSerNationistS f were not 10 hc deterred. They ii 1 nat, however. restrict their fayors ell l 'irelS 10 the railroads. They were i ycvclinely generous in these gifts Of l the public lands to private corpora i tions.
 A company owned 4s.000 acres in i California. The city of santa Bar
 bara Cal. said it would be a spleniia thu@ to have this strip included in 1 q forest reserve. in order to protect
 their water supply The commissioner
 If public lands said that if the city
 would buy this strip he would be dad to recommend that it be inclu1- l e1 in the forest reserve, and stated l sS shown by the records in the case. | that such lanl was worth only about l 10 cents an acre, and that for the
 government to include it in a forest
 reserve and give licu-land scrip there | for would be great injustice
 to the government. But those who were interested in the transaction | ably assisted by the Forest Service. objected. and the transaction, in spite of the protests of the commissioner
 of public lands, was consummated
 and this private corporation was per
 mitted to give this 4S.000 acres of | i0-cent land to the United States and l to select therefor 4S,000 acres of the
 best nontimbered public land in all the
 public domain And that. of course
 was done in the name of the people and conservation"
 But the Forest Service and the rail
 roads. havin% so successfully "con-
 served" the resources of the south
 west, having permitted the Santa Fe
 railroad to trade the great rattle
 snake playground of the Nation for
 the best public lands beneath the q