The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1920-12-27
Maj. Reed Refntes y !. !
Biased Statements
Continued from page one

Johnson's homestead law. The fol-
lowing quaint, but authentic quota
tion is from the old record: t'This
wholeSale robbery Of the old states
for the benefit OF the new should be
denounced by every honest man the
land over. Will not the good sense
of the senate strangle this political
monstrosity? Besides the injury
done to the old states by deprivine
them Of their property in the public
lands and draining OF their popula-
ton, the agrarian character Of the
bill is most Objectionable. It Is the
most fragrant act of depredition on
the public domain yet attempted by
demagogues. - The people an.
prove not such agrarian and Utopian
schemes
L.. West Above Sectionalism 8.s
iisFiNrIf the writer Of Bulletin No. IL
had q better understanding OF our
western pr0bleMx hesyOuld, not so
readily malign the motives Of those
who bespeak a western man for sec
rotary Of the interior
1T Is this very local view, this Sec
tionalism, that we wish to steer clear
of when we ask for western man to
be secretary of the interior. We want
q man who will see our, country as q
whole. not one who thinks the real
United States is bounded by the At
lantic, the gulf, the st. Lawre.ce and
Mississippi river, and that all the re-
mainder is frontier, except q few play
places for mentioning.
I'm his repeated illusions to the
fact that some Mormon settlers
would be benefited by the Fall river
project, this gentleman also lays
himself liable of being understood as
taking the very un-American attitude
OF making covert appeal to the pos
sible religious prejudices of his
Defends Mormons
II am not Mormon, but like my
friend Franklin X. Lane of Cali
fornia, ] know the value of the Nor
mon people. In the June number
Of the National Geographic, Mr.. Lane
says: Never speak disrespectfully OF
the Mormon church. It has a law
abiding, steady, hardworking, kindly
a group of people as will be found
anywhere this round globe over.
Brigham Young may not have been
q phophet of almighty God, but he
worked a miracle when he crossed
from the Missouri river over that
desert, leading his band OF q few
hundred followers with their push
carts going out into that unknown
waste and turned the land that lies
around Salt Lake City into garden
II might add that these Mormon
settlers referred to particularly by
Mr.. Yard gave their sons Just as
freely to the A. e. F. as did our peo-
pie OF the east, and among those
Mormon boys we're numbered heroes
second to none, lest it be that son
of the southland, Alvin C. York,
member also of another unfashion-
able religious body of good people.
Harding Favors Reclamation
I'VE of the west now rejoice in the
fact that we have a president-elect
who has voiced the true vision of
what we are seeking in these words,
August 81: -
I undertake to say that there
is no region in all the world whose
resources could be developed to the |
utmost, with greater benefit to the |
world as a whole, and America in |
particular, than our mountain west
We have come to the time |
when the problem Of our far west is
,ne of wisely directed development
' development that will consti-
ute the wise form of conservation
- Conservation, it must always
)e kept in mind, does not consist in
ocking up the treasure house Of our
lational resources. That would be
he most Objectionable form of
waste. Conservation in it's truest
ense consists in the judicious use of
he resources that are ours
;oal we leave lying in the mine, re-
mains for the use of those who may
ONE later on, while the water which
lows unused to the sea is lost be-
ond reclaim 49, We must make N
'ur mountain west a country of
zones for people who need homes
and the work must be so done
hat 1t. will insure most to the ad-
antage of society and the develop |,
nent of the Independent, self-sus-
aiming family unit in our citizen
hip = -
Fasteners Don't Understand
TO people living in sections of
ne country where water is SO plenti-
I'll as often to be nuisance and
ometimes a serious menace, It may
eem nothing short OF wantonness
nd vandalism even to suggest con-
ldering the use of a drop of national
ark water for either irrigation or
'aterpower. But each section of the
nited States has an individual
typography, which must be studied
arefully before righteous Judgment
an be given, and there is q funda-
rental law of necessity underlying
II statutes. For instance, you can
OF buy the land around a mans
lrm and enclose 1t, leaving this man
o roadway. So, In the western
ountry, where streams are few, to
ut q perpetual ban on using certain
atural reservoir or power sites
light, in some instances, forever
lose to development great valleys
I priceless value to the nation. Each
ase where request is made for park
or power sites must be tried
nd decided solely and absolutely on
8 inherent merits aud the facts.