Evening star., 1925-10-11

One of the biggest fights at the ap-
preaching session of Congress will be
over the administration of public
lands. national forests and parks,
mineral lands and Indian reservations.
1t involves the question as to what
is the wisest conservation policy for
the United States, which has been a
controversial issue ever since Clifford
PhcliDt, nov Governor of Pennsyl-
vania. became national forester under
the Roosevelt regime.
Chief Of the complainants against
the way the Government is safe
guarding the public domain are the
cattle and sheep producers, who de-
clare that the future of the Western
live stock industry is in jeopardy, and
that the cost of living of the entire
American people is affected. Meat
costs, they say, are now three times
what they We're in pre-war days, and
| the consumer can look forward to still
higher prices unless something be done
to rehabilitate the live stock industry.
In general, the grievance of the
West against the East-for the con-
servation issue is invariably a section
al one-is that the development of the
Western States along all lines Is being
retarded, if not actually set back, by
Il policy that would preserve the Ma
tons natural resources for future
generations, and that it would be far
better to have a little present pros.
perity and less regard for the pros
poets of posterity.
In answer to this the conservation.
lists assert that what their opponents
call development" is but a polite
term for the exploitation and plunder-
ing of the public domain by selfish in.
terests that do not consider the vel.
fare of the Nation as a whole, but
seek their own aggrandizement at
whatever cost in the way of the sac
rif1ce of the country'S natural re-
sources.
Grazing Land Fees.
The. Il States especially concerned
in the controversy have an aggregate
of. 400,000,000 acres Of public lands
Some idea of what domain this is
may be gathered when it is pointed
out that it equals the combined areas
of France, Italy, Spain, Denmark and
the British Isles. The States that
could tuck away a good part Of Eu.
rope in Uncle Sans holdings within
their boundaries are Colorado, Wyom-
ing, Montana, Idaho. Utah, Oregon,
Washington, California, Nevada, New
Mexico and Arizona.
Seven United States Senators
Stanfield Of Oregon, Oddie Of Nevada,
Cameron of Arizona, Walsh of Mon
tana, Kendrick of Wyoming, Dill Of
Washington and Ashurst of Arizona
who are members of the, Senate COM
mittee. on, public lands, have toured
these States during the present Sum
mer while Congress has not been in
session and held q series of hearings
on various phases of the public land
question. Perhaps the most out
spoken witnesses to appear before the
committee have been cattlemen and
sheepmen and their princial complaint
had to do with grazing fees and regu.
lauonS. .-
Until about 90 years ago there were
no grazing fees, but that wholly sat
isfactory-to the live stock industry
state of affairs was terminated while
Clifford Pincbot was at the head Of
the forestry service. The fees first
charged were comparatively small
and the raisers of cattle and sheep
insist that 1t was agreed that the
fees were not to exceed the cost
to the Government of administering
the public lands. Increases were
made from time to time, however,
one-half the amount charged for
grazing privileges on private lands.
This, the cattlemen and sheepmen
claim, is rapidly putting them out of
business, it being stated at. one Of the
hearings that from one e-fourth to one
half of the cattlemen in the public
lands States are bankrupt, and that
nine-tenths of the others are SO debt
ridden that unless some measure of
relief is accorded them, they. too. will
be ruined.
Accordingly they ask that the fees
be reduced to the old basis, that the
revenues derived therefrom should go
to the State treasures instead of to
Uncle Sam, that the ranchmen have
such rights as are theirs definitely
established by law SO that they will
have some standing in the courts, and
hat those who formerly enjoyed free
grazing be conceded pioneer rights.
They also urge the creation of a
board Of appeals which would be en-