The Washington herald., 1920-02-01

OF our more fortunate and wealthy
States Of the, other sections Of the
These western States have
great works Of Improvement and
tdeveiopment tos perform. FOR the
oenent. not only Of those States,
but for the benefit and the enioy-
ment OF the whole nation aeSIon-
ment which involves the expendi-
ture of millions and millions. Of dol
lars. all OF which must be raised
by direct taxation from the peo-
pie. .-I =, =
IF these lands, were ceded to the
states, their sources or revenue
would thereby be largely increased.
the burden of taxation upon its in
haoitants would be materially .dinnin-
lshed and the work of deveiocment
would be advanced very. materially.
The West offers to the people Of the
whole country a natural scenery. the
beautyaof which certainly Is not sur
passed anywhere in the world, and
the main thing that is needed to nut
all this within reach of the tourist is
good roads. This tourist often be-
comes a resident or an investor in n
state which appeals to him for one
reason or another. &C."
Nsrow-Minded 0sjeetiel.
'One Of the objections raised to the
ceding OF these lands Is to the effect
that the public domain belongs to tho
nation and that 1t should be kept by
the Federal government as a revenue
producing fund for the beneft Of the
Hnole country. This Is a rather mar
row-minded argument. because, in
deed. IL the thing Is looked at in its
proper light, 1t is to the interest of the
wnole country that its natural re-
sources be fully and thoroughly de-
Veioped. regardless OF that part Of the
republic where they may lie, because
this nation as a whole Is benefited NV.
whatever benefits any portion of ii.
and Is likewise injured by ANYTHING
that retards the growth and develop.
ment OF any part of the same.
Granting that the argument Ia
sound. / would be willing to concede
that there is merit in 1t II Il vere
true that the public domain is a source
OF revenue in the hands of the Federal
government. but II Is a fact that can
not be contrsdicted that IL Ia a liz bJI-
ity and not an asset In the hands Of
the government In 1884 the Congress
appointed a committee to inyestipate
the management of the public domain.
and. after thorough Investigation.
that committee reported that from the
inception of the creation of the public
domain to the year 1888. covering a
period Of over 100 years, there had been
expended by the government In its
management the sum Of ss5I ,ss1 ,1eo. g
and during the same period of time
there had been received from that
source the sum of SIS So. SIC. 9, leaving
deficit for that period OF SIPS, 42s.-
ls4ss.
Dencits for I4e Years,
TT is a fact that there has not been
one single year from the BEGINNING to
date. Towering a period of over 40
years, when the handling Of the public
domain by the government has not re-
suited in deficit of from Hr"5.ooo to
S2'5oO.OOo every year. which de, cit has
been covered by appropriations by
Congress. In my State we came in
possession OF 1900. 900 acres of land
when we were admitted to Statehood.
and we still own over 9,6O. 900 acres;
we have managed these public lands al
total expense of ~ per cent in 1913
to is per cent in 1919. of the total
revenues derived from them, and we
have been able to pay into our State
treasury considerably over sl,OoooOO a
year from that source. Comparing the
two managements. the results speak
for themselves.
Considerably more could be said on
this subject. but l feel that i have
sufficiently explained this matter to
show the justice of our plea and the
sure advantages that will result to
the whole country by granting these
lands to the States where they are
situated. All that we want is for the
people Of the country to be informed
on this matter. and we feel confident
that their own sense of justice will
inpel them to join with US in this our
just request"