The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1921-06-12

hble ana tho h.rH fnfNiccuble and III
less carrying capacity In all respects,
and u less desirable than any Of the
rest OF the land. and I think u II
almost true, " not entirely 20. that
ther" IL no water on ~. ~ N land
that ~ Of very poor quality or ~ unfit
for profitable purposes.
Tie Land Problem,
Now, the problem ~ what 10 do
u belongs 10 the federal govern
ment aud n a liability on the hands
Of b federal government IArge
blocks % that selected IN $50 acre
homestcada when some 5000. 600
acres We're aiken because Of the fact
that the war vas In progress aud boys
going 10 the army were granted the
privilege OF filing on Gt0 acres and
run on Just the same ~ " they were
on the granted h privilege or
taking go acres Of land, without hav-
ing To stay or wOrk on a..
Of courne. "A lot OF those Texas boys
who wished To. dropped over here.
MED on $40 n would go on TO the
war. tndnr that form G.OOO. 600 acres
were taken up-occasionaliy q
would be taken up They are finding
those lands OF such little value that
a living cannot be- made on go acres.
THIS iand N scattered all over New
Mexico n fepresents-in every
county and every district and every
section-the worst land that there N
left. n Is a liability on the hands OF
the federal government. II does not
scrve a needlul or useful purpose 20
FAR as the Federal government ~ con-
cerued; II IN mot a haven OF refuge noe
a good place 60 send homeseekers nor
men looking for means OF making a
living on a homestead.
HNnaa nHaWIe HIauAw
OF course. for a great many years
the theory Of the government was
that the public domain was the place
that the government had TO offer her
TO come ana make q home.
ana the hOmesteaders had "a prior
right over anybody else because OF
the fact that he was coming out and
creating his home and building up a
better aud higher class of citlgenry,
and establish a home whers he could
raise a family. both az the same time
benefiting the stats aud the nation.
! think " " fair 10 assume that that
time has passed and that these lands
not offer those Inducements any
The lands hat are remain
ing are IN uneven and IN odd-shaped
tracts AL through the state OF New
MeSico, an through the other lands,
with the railroad lands they las, a.
! say, az cross sections. each township
within the railroad grants has foul
OF school lands aud all the
townships Of which | am familias
some hom~steaders In the even
mum hered sections. 40 there are only
relatively small areas remaining.
4 General Liability.
That public doiaain which does re-
main inside Of thesH railroad grants
b. "a great and "a great hind
rance TO the proper development OF
other N.MIU aud o. a.. a.UAaU..HHaa
ot TIT people. and az "a matter OF fact
public domain a. Il remains to-
lay u not only a liability to the gov
but h. a liability and n curse
10 the citizens OF New Mexico. a nui-
to the citizens OF New Mexico.
Ia the users OF THE result is that
land s. perhapl d~eprcciating In
aud liz carrying capacity IL be-
reduced, " the cattleman tries
10 use IL, he IL restricted from fenc-
~, ana without fencing Il his
are nt liberty 10 roam whore
will, while increasing his cost
loss In stealing, and throw |
the doors va open 20 the preda-
thief because the thief has got
Just as good right on the public do
as the man that owns the cattle, |
md the cattle are at their mercy.
which would not be 30 much W. N the |
nnds were enclosed. n these lands
under local control Of any in
iustry, the stockmen. for Instance. |
hey could be fenced and the carrying
would be looked after, would
increased. However. the men who
b benefit Of Il In the long run
Ose, ! think. Tine use OF public do
main by cattlemen today entails
loss through ~straying nway-
through the fact tina, ne cannot con-
.rol his cattie-than tho profit he
go IH.HHm -. g.
'crscd. u used 10 Dc hat YOU didn't
n 10 " my water or land: ali
a 70 own was the cattle and
ct them go. Hut now you have To
'untrul enough range: otherwise the
public domain which remains L. apt
q be IL menace To- YOU rather than
benefit. You cannot fence these
townships IN. even though
controlled 90 or as per cent 81
he land inside o. them. you n pro-
from fencing them. ~ .r1m
preventing anybody else from vras-
NIX out TO u. with the result that IL
contiguous private lands are III less
alue "a YOU than they would be II
hts public domain were put under
'omo form Of control.
The I'rphlslm of Control.
Now what control to put " under
= the problem. II u - pu, under
'drrnl control II would have to be-
administered from Washington The
lngipnl way IN under the control
n the forest service whose chief duty
function u conservation Of tim
Der.
Nv Judgment is that the best. moss
ogiCnl and Hirest way To handle
host lands for all pnrtles concerned.
including the federal government. b.
% crde Them 20 the various western
tntog, particularly ~ In New Mexico.
~ this $4,000. GOO acres ~ land which
.cmnins a. appropriated public do
main, ANA lot he state ~ New Mexico
this land as h does IT, state
ands. because they have state lands
contiguous To practically an Of u
fheY have fOur sections ~ arh0ol
ana W every Township u would take
rom he hands ~ tho federal gov
'rnmont a liability because thu nd-
niniHtrati0n Of theae lands now costs
he federal government more every
than the returns 20 he land Of
Ice; thrv are a liability al the federal
ana otitc'; they are a nuisance 10
NE stockman They impose a burden
boa thv taxpayers OF New Mexico which