The twice-a-week Twin Falls times. (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1916-1918, 1918-03-07
ASSOCIATION TO
SEND DELEGATES
WITH APROTEST
STOCKMEN AND FARMERS
AGAINST MINIDOKA Elk
TENSION LEASE
VIII be Heard in Denver
Monday
Assert That Plan Gives Monopoly
and Say That It Would Spell
Ruin for Sheep Raising and Ser
iously Hurt Farmers.

Vigorous protest against the leasing
by the government of the tract of 49,
600 acres of waste lands running from
Minidoka to Jerome to seventeen indi-
viduals is voiced in resolutions draft
ed by the committee of he Stockmen
& Farmers Co-operatice association,
who leave Saturday night for Denver,
where they will present their objec-
tons to the chief of construction of
the reclamation service, who has held
up the leases pending the receipt of
and consideration of the protest The
committee consists of r. c. Bacon, s.
p. Newman, w. S. Youngs, and p. O.
Bethune
The association was recently organ
lied by a number of sheep and stock
men from both sides of the river and
S. p. Newman of Shoshone elected
president, and w. II. Stanley, of Twin
Falls, secretary and treasurer.
The association protests on the
following grounds
First: That the leases entered into
by the government give monopoly to
few individuals, many of whom have
not stock commensurate with the
acreage received, so that while 100000
sheep were taken care of during GER
tain periods of the year previously,
to exceed $4,000 sheep and 1000 cattle
will be taken care of hereafter should
the arrangement stand
Second That the half mile trails
running through the lands north and
south are not large enough and are in
many cases made impossible by crew
Uses Moreover, that the characted
and location Of water holes make
many of these worthless.
Third: That the land abuts the
Minidoka and Northside projects on
which many farmers settled to raise
hay for sheep passing through and
that these will lose heavily should the
plan be carried out Besides it will
reduce meat supply at this time when
needed
Fourth. That small farmers with a
few head of cattle or sheep are frozen
out.
Fifth: That a barrier is created
stopping the passage of sheep from the
Twin Falls Southside tract and greatly
injuring this business in the neighbor-
hood of Twin Falls, Filler and Bull.
So much is this alleged to be the case
that the destruction of the industry
on a great part of the Southside tract
is said to be threatened.
Fifth The nature of soil on the
Northside and the Minidoka tracts is
such that rotation involving the plant
ing of grass crops is declared impera-
tive and the soil will tend to become
worthless should the hay market be
destroyed.
Sixth: That although most of the
land lies contiguous to the Northside
rather than ito the Minidako tract, il
was advertised as the Minodoka Pro
ject extension, so that sheepmen
stockmen and farmers we're largely de-
ceived into thinking that they were not
affected and that the proposed leas-
ing did not extend further than Bur
ley, and only learned of the error after
the leasing of the lands. Hence, they
say, they did not have time to pro
test prior to the letting of the leases
They say that they do not object tc
leasing but believe that leases should
be made to the association and not tC
individuals and that the association
should pro rate according to the mum
Der of users. In their opinion, the en-
forcement of the leases would con
stitute a serious menace to their in
dustry in southern Idaho and would
hurt everybody in this part of the
state