Show MORE rjlOM SPACES 1 There are In the employ of the I government as officers a good many men and a Very fair percentage of them are men who have little or no conception concep-tion of the duties required of them tot of all the asses in high position William A J Sparks CommissioBer of the General Land Office seems to be the most conspicuous and pronounced General Sparks professes to be a reformer re-former and his administration of the office he claims is in the line of reform but ho has been guilty of so many bulls and blunders and downright idiocies thata real intelligent reformer would require months if not years to undo and right the wrong that has been done Every little while the Secretary of the Interior has to sit t squarely down on Sparks but It dOes not cure the latter the only thing that will help him or rather help the country will be to bounce the Commissioner Com-missioner from his office Ever since General Sparks was commissioned com-missioned he has manifested an Insane desire to persecute and annoy the pea and equally peo the Territories an f iusane affection for the few timber trees scattered about the mountains of this region He has issued some of the most ridiculous and nonsensical orders and circulars regarding the catting of trees and has put mine owners and mill men to great trouble and expense His latest exploit ex-ploit in this matter is a circular bearing dale of May 7th and which went into I effect on Jane 1st It is based on the Congressional act of June 3d 1878 authorizing the citizens of Colorado Nevada and the Territories to fell and remove timber on the public domain for mining and domestic purposes and among the rules and regulations prescribed pre-scribed by him are the following The land from which timber is felled or removed under the provisions of the act must be known to be strictly and distinctly mineral in character and more valuable for mining than for timber tim-ber or any other purpose or use No person who is not a resident citizen citi-zen or boda fide resident of the State Territory or mineral district shall be iiprnni1 to fell or remove timber from lands thereon iiiuuer iciied or removed shall be strIctly limited tobmlding agricultural mining or domestic purposes All cutting cut-ting of such timber for sale or commerce com-merce is forbidden But for building agricultural mining and otter domestic purposes each person authorized by the act may cut or remove for his or her own use by himself or herself or by his her or their own personal agent or agents only No person will be permitted to loll or remove any growing trees of any Kind whatsoever less than eight inches in diameter di-ameter Per ons felling or removing timber from public mineral lands of the United States must utilize all of each tree cut that can be profitably used and must cut up and remove thIS tops and brush or dispose of the lame in such a manner as to prevent the spread of forest fires Now and then one runs across an official paper that Is so childish as to be poitively ridiculous and this by Commissioner Com-missioner Sparks is such a one But the idiocy of it might be passed over if it were not for the malice and meanness mean-ness which prompted and framed the circular The Congressional act refer red to was intended to give to the people peo-ple of the States and Territories mentioned men-tioned the right to fell and use the timber tim-ber for mining agricultural and domestic domes-tic purposes and Sparta predecessor but sor eo interpreted the law the present Commissioner evidently holds that the act was deelgned to prevent pre-vent the taking of the timber for any 1 I purpose whatever The result of the enforcement of the recent order will be to close every mill In the Territories I and compel miners builders and farmers I far-mers to go to Caltforniaand Oregon for I their lumber The Utah mill owners who have seen the circular have concluded con-cluded to let their mills lie idle this I season unless an intelligent modifies tion of the order can be obtained Meantime western Senators and Representatives Rep-resentatives are interesting themselves in the matter and in all probability a bill will be introduced soon to take it out of the power of some official jacken apes like Sparks to make so senseless and annoying an order |