New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1919-07-04
B. +. PANkEY GIVEN
DESERVED CREDIT
BY GREAT DIVIDE
EDITOR OF BIG DENVER
NKLY WILL HELP LIEU.
TENANT GOVERNOR N.
rnEsT SETTLERS TO
MAKE HOMES HERE
BY VOLNEY T. HOGGATT. Editor
Great Divide.

By VOLNEY T. HOGGATT. Editor
Great Divide.
In the field-by far the biggest
man that the drama of politics has
produced in New Mexico is Gov
ernor Benjamin Franklin Pankey OF
Santa Fe. Born and reared on a
farm in southern Illinois. he early
acquired the art OF good farming.
With the small means acquired by
an early frugal life he drifted west
to Kansas during its formative period
OF growth-later on he invested in
Colorado and by irrigation reclaim
ed 1000 acres of arid lands IN the
San Luis Valley, south of Alamosa,
where today it represents cash
value of 100000 He is the type OF
the very small family of actual and
practical farmers who might be
termed the farmer-road -blszer-or
farmer pioneer Whatever he did,
he did efficiently The lure OF the
frontier called him to New Mexico
where today, being not only the
most popular man IN the entire
state, he is the biggest single IN
dividual land owner in the entire
State-ownlng something like a
quarter million of acres of grazing ;
pasture, and farming land is his EN-
pire OF domain in the Sunshine state
OF New Mexico. Every acre Of land
he purchased came from money dug
out OF the ground. Every acre the
governor has today is placed to 4
beneficial use. Not one acre, he
states, he never bought for specula-
tive purposes. He does not own any
state lands. All his holdings were
purchased from owners of Spanish
land grants of which the state is
carved He gave this interesting and
interviews:
The primal reason why New Mex
ico today is not blessed with mil
lion people is for the sole rea son of
practically 20 per cent OF the land
surface OF the great commonwealth
being included i'll Spanish grants.
forest reserves, Indian reservatons,
and empires OF state land pastures
fenced in and from opportunity of
every kind towards home making.
THE land situation in New Mexico
is the most un-American of any state
in the Union. The policy of the old
Spanish grants which are empires OF
lands included in nearly every valley
in the state, whose exterior bounda-
ries are marked only by noun Ain
ranges, whose areas averaged from
O0m acres to as high as 1,UO.WO
acres in extent.
1T seems both the state and fed
eral government followed the GUS
toms of the Spanish crown in carv-
ing out nearly all of the best re-
naming portion OF the territory now
known as the state of New Mexico.
The federal government at one time
fell swoop, withdrew from homestead
settlement under the guise of the
national forest act Of congress, nine
and one-half million acres of the
public domain. There is not nine
and one-half million acres of strict
ly forest lands in the entire states
OF New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and
the south half of the great state of
California. Again, there is with
drawn from occupation and use by
our millions of homeless families APP
proximately five million acres as In
dian reservations where now and for
ever not per cent of the area is
placed to the least beneficial use
With these views expressed by the
governor | asked the remedy. In
reply he said: Nothing but a plain,
American, businesslike administration
OF the unoccupied public lands of the
state" First, he reiterated to me
what he told me when he was work
ing the race for lieutenant gov
ernor of the state. He said then
Il will, with all my power and with
all my influence undertake to fol-
low the plan adopted by far off
Australia and New Zealand. which
was the breaking up the iordly sheep
pastures under the God-given law of
eminent domain, the condemnation
of private property for public pur-
poses and under the general welfare
clause of the English common Law
the result of the subdivision of the
great baronial estates in New Zea-
land and the placing of the small
sheep farmer on small tracts in
creased the number OF sheep in the
past twenty years from two million
to twenty-five million on an area
of land surface of equal size TO the
state of New Mexico. This wonder
full DEVELOPMENT of sheep farming
e made in New Zealand where the
rainfall and the native grasses were
far less than exist in New Mexico
Why this marvellous increase IN the
sheep population was that while the
sheep were on the summer range
'he small sheep farmer was busy
planting and harvesting sufficient
forage for their finishing and fatten-
ing.
1t meant a better grade of wool and
mutton and practically a lamb crop
Of twice 'he weight of that produced
by the sheep barons on their oDen
range, where the idea of raising for
ape for their flocks was never dream
ed of That policy adopted in New
MEXICO. favored bv nature as this
great state is. for the sheen industry
world mean instead of 3mOO0 sheer
in .he safe todav. 0O00m0. sheer
:, New Mexico within ten wears from
IBIS date. And that would in nc
wise interfere with the cattle and
farming industry Of the state in the
least because the sheep would bS
reared and fatteped ON land today