The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1917-02-15

Senator W. E. Borah, in which he
points out with characteristic force
and clearness the grave menace to the
west concealed in the land and power
leasing bills now before congress which
are being pushed by the secretary OF
the interior. Colonel KEENAN, is a min
ing engineer and geologist of note
particularly in Colorado, where he re-
sided for many years and where he
has been identified with large and sue
cessful mining operations. He is emin
entity qualified to speak in behalf OF
the west on this most vital of all ques-
tons now confronting the mountain
states. His letter to Senator Borah
follows:
Senator VIM. +. Borah,
Washington, d. C.
Dear Senator-As to House Bill 40S
the public land states and the people
of the public land states must bitterly
protest against the leasing clause in
that bill.
Under our public land system, estab-
lished and consistently followed since
the very inception of our government.
practically all the public lands in
states east of the Rocky mountains
have passed to private ownership and
are taxable by the states in which
they lie, for the support of state gov
eminent, and the owners thereof are
freeholders.
The proportions of government lands
to the total areas of each of the eleven
mountain states varies from 40 per
cent in Washington to so per cent in
Arizona, with an average of about 81
per cent of the total area of the eleven
mountain states. Eighty-three and
eight-tenths per cent of the area of
Idaho is government land. The various
leasing bills now pending in congress
were drawn promoted, lobbied and
caused to be introduced in congress
ed by Mr.. Pinchot;. and lobbied
ed by Mr. Pinchot; and lobbied
through the committees by the secre-
tary; and in the aggregate these bills
provide for the leasing of practically
all these public lands. thereby leaving
them forever non taxable by the
states, and making the future occu-
pants of these lands serfs and vassals
OF the ruling landlord-not freehold
ers. In other words, the leaders of the
so-called conservation party" are
straining every eXertion to overthrow
the sovereignties of the eleven noun
tain states, and subvert our establish
ed system of land tenure, and in it's
stead to fasten upon the public land
states an ancient feudal system of
land tenure long since discarded by
all civilized nations, as only good for
the bureaucrats. The public land
states must ever bitterly protest their
being sectionalized, set off to one side,
degraded to mere dependent provinces,
and not allowed to develop upon an
equal footing with the older states
the equal footing" guaranteed them
by the acts of their admission to the
Union.
The Alaska Outrage.
In planning and scheming this sup
erambitous political intrigue, it's pro-
motors have exercised an adroitness
and political cunning conceded to have
been worthy of a decent cause. Their
first major step was to impose upon
our helpless territory, Alaska,-that
land of bounteous promise and golden
opportunity, now known all over the
civilized world as the penal colony of
the United States of America-the in
famous coal leasing law which has
been a most disgraceful and dismal
failure. Under the abominable mall
administration of our bureaucrats for
the last Is years Alaska has made a
disgraceful shrowing of progress even
as compared with her sister penal col
ony, Siberia, just across the way, tyr
annized by the Russian czar! Many
a pioneer In our bureau ridden north
land" who has carried our flag on
hard fought fields, would now gladly
exchange the execrable tyranny of our
bureaucracy for the more beneficent
rule of England, Russia or Turkey!
The next major step of our bureaus
Is to have congress pass H. r.. 40S,
which includes comparatively only a
small acreage of land, and then to use
that as an entering wedge to the pass
age of all their other leasing bills.
Pinchot Made the Laws.
AS to the administration and dis
posal of the public domain, for many
administrations last past, the Unit
ed States has, in effect, had no con-
gress, except Clifford Pinchot and the
secretary of the interior whose sole
effort has been to make conquest OF
power, influence, patronage and gain
for themselves; and to accomplish
their ends and reap the full reward OF
their efforts, it is only necessary that
congress now pass the secretarys
leasing bills. Thus far congress has
PASSED all his bills on these most vi
tai matters Of government affecting
the public domain, as mere matters OF
course, without question, and simply
for his asking! Good government de-
mands that when bills are drawn, In
troduced, lobbied, solicited, and pro-