Show SEP OWNERS I MAKE EII A PROTEST + Wyoming and Utah Join In at Convention TALK AGAINST CLOSING UINTAH RESERVATION One Member Wants Abner McKinley Employed as Agent 4 Declares He Should Be Hired to Present Pre-sent the Case of Woolraisers to the Interior Department at Washington Wash-ington George IT Cannon Ex Senator Brown John C Mackey and Others Make Various Speeches r A spice of politics was injected into the meeting of Wyoming and Utah sheepmen in the Grand Opera hQuse yesterday afternoon The session was J called for the purpose of protesting against the recent action of the Interior department in closing the Uintah reservation res-ervation to bands of sheep During the argument that followed the presentation pre-sentation of a set of resolutions George i Franklin Curtis of Salt Lake made a t cpJ S i I I Uncle Jesse Opens the Meeting reasonably warm talk He suggested that the convention ought to employ the best legal talent possible to have the order revoked Dont lets balk at the price hew he-w ent on Let us get the most influential influen-tial man I understand Abner McKinley I McKin-ley has a big pull in Washington just now He has only been practicing law two or three years but hes considered the most prominent attorney in New York If necessary let us hire him to present our case An Awed Hush There was an awed hush while Mr Curtis was speaking for most of the woolmen are Republicans and the direst di-rest thrust at the McKinley administration administra-tion went home Chairman Smith as soon as he could recover his breath TIliiT d t I f Mr Johnston of Wyoming Beads Some Letters said that under the resolution the finance fi-nance committee could send whoever it pleased to Washington There the matter was allowed to rest but Mr Curtis sank back into his seat with the satisfied sigh of a man who has done a solemn duty and done it well In j Some 300 sheepmen participated the proceedings Helds band was gotten out early in the nfterrtoon to help attract a crowd ito i-to the opera house It paraded the streets for half an hour and then gave a brief concert mn front of the Theatre building The convention was called to order by Secretary E H Callister of the Utah Woolgrowers association after af-ter the band had played with great fire Baa Baa Black Sheep and Mary l Had a Little Lamb Mr Callister suggested that nominations nomina-tions for chairman would be la order I and proposed the name of Jesse M Smith of Layton Mr Smith Is president presi-dent of the Woolgrowers association i z 7 Contlnuedon page j r j = SHEEP OWNfRS MARE A rROTfST Continued from page 1 There were no other nominations and the man from Layton was unanimously elected He briefly thanked the convention con-vention for the honor and asked that a I secretary be chosen Mr Callister was selected without opposition and the meeting was declared organized The secretary first read the call which was published some days ago It recited the recent order of Land Commissioner Hermann closing the reservation and asked that all interested Inter-ested parties get together for the purpose pur-pose of trying to have the order abrogated ab-rogated or modified After the reading of the call had been finished Chairman Smith made a brief talk Chairman Smith Talks We have met here today he said to protest against this action on the part of the government which deprives us of one of our best ranges The wool growers of Utah have taken a prominent promi-nent part in opposing the closing of this reservation from the time it was set apart as such We joined in a let Jc I I bfl Mr Cannon Says Campers Are Responsible Re-sponsible For Forest Fires ter asking the secretary of the interior to abrogate his order or modify It so I as to permit sheep to graze within the reservation It appears that the government gov-ernment has issued this order against the wishes of stockgrowers generally In conclusion Mr Smith suggested the appointment of a committee to prepare suitable resolutions A Freebairn moved the appointment of the committee and Mr Smith named Representative Reuben G Miller of Carbon county Ephraim Ellison and William H Haigh of Taylorsville While the committee retired to prepare pre-pare a report some speechmaking was indulged in George M Cannon talked first Mr Cannon said he felt that he must at first express his desire that the primeval forests be preserved in all their natural grandeur While that is true he continued we must not give up everything else we have for the sake of the forests We must not strike down our other interests The sheep industry stands second only to mining in this state and in some places it is even mere important Our sheep are owned by citizens of the state while many of our most important import-ant mines belong to outside capitalists and the dividends they pay goes beyond be-yond our borders Utah is peculiarly situated A large part of her surface is made up of desert which is good for nothing except to graze sheep on in winter If our sheep are excluded from the forest lands they must seek to secure pasturage elsewhere Then they will encroach upon cattle lands so it is to the interest of cattleraisers to secure the abrogation of this order Continuing Mr Cannon argued that sheep did not Injure land by trampling on Itas stated Neither did they destroy de-stroy young trees or other useful Growths The waters the animals are charged with befouling are not used he thought by but very few people Re jii QfI 4 f I V I W I Pickard Watches Proceedings With Great Interest ferrlng to the statement that sheepherders sheep-herders are careless about their campfires camp-fires and that they frequently cause conflagrations on the timbered hillsides Mr Cannon gave it as his opinion that where one fire is started by a herder hundreds are caused by the recklessness reckless-ness of campers for pleasure John C Mackeys Remarks John C Mackey talked next Mr Mackey was very much in earnest He started out by saying that the meeting was of vital importance to the citizens of Utah He took a fall out of Colonel May of Denver who has been delegated ay the government to keep sheep out of he reservation Mr Mackey declared that Colonel May had reported to headquarters head-quarters that the sheep were injuring the forest when as a matter of fact he was lamentably ignorant on the subject Cattle defile water he said but sheep do not There is Jio more cleanly animal than a sheep It will go to a stream of water and stand on the edge while It takes a drink but a cow or a hog will wallow In the water all daylong day-long If we are kept out of the Uintah forest reservation It will work untold hardship on us The people of Utah own between 3009000 and 4000000 sheep and we cajmot afford to see this Industry destroyed I hope such pressure will be brought to bear that this order will be rescinded or revoked Wt have been condemned without a hearing by this man May I never heard of his coming to Utah or Wyoming and talking to a single sheep man He has acted outrageously He simply sat In his office In Denver and took the advice of a Texas steer before sending his report to Washington Mr Mackey concluded by expressing the ellef that delegates should be sent to the capital to lay the grievances of the sheepmen before the authorities EsSenator Brown Speaks After music by the band J A Johnston John-ston of Cheyenne read letters written i > c A by Governor Richards Senator Warren and exSenator Carey to the interior department protesting against closing William Moss Manager of the Des eret livestock Association the reservation to sheep Mr Johnston I was followed by Senator Arthur Brown Mr BroWn stated at the outset that he was not a sheepman but If the righteousness right-eousness of their cause could be judged by the persecution to which they Have been subjected one might rightly infer that the Lord loves sheepmen In the lawmaking bodies of states territories and of the nation continued Senator Brown the sheepmen have alike been pointed out as objects of hatred and unjust legislation In spite of all I tell you the sheep is here and Is here as a boon and a blessing to us all Loud applause The sheep is a perpetual fountain of prosperity at which this state is toda drinking its fill I believe it has been a permanent source of wealth to us Now we are menaced in a new direction direc-tion Today they propose to exclude the sheep even from the timber Our object here is to see what can be done to prevent the rights of sheepmen from being jeopardized and injured Looking back I find that in 1891 at the close of a session of congress a clause was added to the sundry civil service bill proVldng that the president should have the power to establish forest for-est reservations We had better lay IfJt Senator Brown Proposes Some Remedies Reme-dies our ax at the root of the evil and if that Is an unjust law let us ask that it be repealed Independently of this law the president has no power to create cre-ate forest reservations I The measure lay dormant until 1S97 when Grover Cleveland reserved 21000 000 acres for forests Of this amount S75000 acres are in the Uintah reservation reser-vation I believe we ought to ask to have that act wiped off the statute books Here Senator Brown gave a brief resume re-sume of the money that fs tied up in sheep and the hardship worked on their owners by closing the reservation to them Concluding herald Let us say to Binger Hermann that the law Is unjust and that his literal enforcement of it is an outrage Let us say to him that we hear the first mumblings of a crash that is coming and that well do what we can to send men to Washington who will remedy existing conditions Resolutions Presented When Senator Brown got through the committee on resolutions announced its readiness to report Chairman Miller Mil-ler read the following resolutions which after the debate already mentioned were adopted without dissent Whereas The secretary of the interior has issued an order prohibiting the graz r The Sheep Is the Cleanest Animal On Earth said John C Mackey ing of sheep within the forest reserves and Whereas Said order will work a great hardship upon one of the leading Industries Indus-tries of this and neighboring states and as wo believe the object Intended of preserving pre-serving the timber will not be accomplished accom-plished and no good result therefrom and Whereas We believe said order was Issued Is-sued upon a gross misunderstanding of the facts therefore be It Resolved That yYe in massmeeting IML 1 = Ljr I assembled do hereby protest against said order as being unjust and discriminating and be It further Resolved That the following petition adopted as the sense of this meeting and be It further Resolved That we secure signatures ot representative citizens tosad petition and that the same be presented to the secretary secre-tary of the interior by two delegates to be elected by this body and bo it further Resolved That a committee of five be elected on finance to secure funds to defray de-fray expenses of said delegates Petition to Department The petition referred to follows Mr SecretaryYour petitioners sheepowners in Utah and Wyoming beg respectfully to ask that you will prior to the time when your order forbidding for-bidding the pasturage of sheep in the high mountains of Utah and Colorado takes effect cause some responsible and disinterested man or men to Investigate investi-gate the matter that if in his or their Judgment the order Is too sweeping or severe it may be modified One reason for appealing to you Is the belief that the man who asked the order from you was and Is grossly deceived as to the actual facts which ought to govern in the matter We are qF Jim Leary Looks and Listens ready to establish the following facts 1 That since the settlement of Utah there has been no more sudden disappearing disap-pearing of the snow In the spring in late years than In the first years after the coming of the pioneers 2 That the snow clings longer to the naked hillsides than to the canyons where there is herbage for a double reason Fir t that it falls deeper or Is blown into deeper drifts on the hillsides hill-sides than in the canyons and second that where there is herbage it starts to life with the coming of spring that disintegrates the snow at the bottom and It moves swiftly away 3 The eating off of the herbage annually an-nually is an immense protection In the arid belt against forest fires for It Is upon the herbage that the fire when started communicates from tree to tree and soon increases beyond human control 4 The high hills where our sheep range in summer are Inaccessible to cattle or horses and absolutely useless save for the timbers upon them and for sheep pasturage 5 A rigid enforcement of the order will cause a useless loss to sheepown ers and to the states above mentioned of cuite 1000000 per annum We respectfully ask the privilege of fully establishing the truth of the above statement confident that the government govern-ment would not knowingly impose un meriated hardships upon any portion of its citizens And your petitioners will ever pray To the Hon E A Hitchcock Secretary of the Interior Washington D C We citizens of Utah and Wyoming respectfully commend the above petition peti-tion to the careful consideration of the honorable secretary ofthe interior After the resolutions had been adopted adopt-ed James H Moyle moved that a committee com-mittee of five on finance be appointed by the chair The motion carried and Mr Smith named Mr Moyle A J Nolan of Kansas Kan-sas City Adam Patterson of Ogden R G Miller of Carbon and William Moss of Woods Cross on the committee John D Mackey moved that the executive exec-utive committee of the Woolsrowers association name the delegates to Washington E H Callisters amendment amend-ment giving the finance committee the appointive power carried Then J H Klrkpatrick of Stockton Cal in a short speech urged the convention con-vention to act promptly and stand up for the rights of the sheepmen He cited a case in California where it was proven by competent witnesses that hoop do not harm forests To Relive Present Need There seemed to be a disposition on the part of the convention to adjourn at the conclusion of Mr Kirkpatricks remarks but J A Johnston quietly suggested that the very thing the meeting was called for hadnt been done That is no steps were taken looking toward immediate relief At this juncture Senator Brown suggested sug-gested that a telegram be sent to Commissioner Com-missioner Hermann expressing dIsapproval disap-proval of his course together with a message to Senator Warren asking him to take the matter up with the department de-partment with a view to leaving the reservation open for this year at least The idea met with approval and the telegrams were ordered sent Chairman Moyle of the newlyap pointed finance committee now urged the Importance of liberal response to the request for funds and asked those present to help the cause along The sail was started when William Moss as manager of the Deseret Livestock association announced a contribution of 100 from that corporation Other responses re-sponses were prompt and before the meeting adjourned the following subscriptions sub-scriptions had been made Deseret Livestock company 3 100 W H Park 10 W Pixton 5 Edward G Arthur 20 g lay Robinson company 50 George Canning 15 James Winter 10 John B Rudy 10 rank Rudy 5 T W Jones 20 Rotholl Bros 40 Clegg Nelson 20 iv B Emlns 10 W H Caldwell 20 J R Allen 10 Joseph Hansen 10 B B Bitner 5 William Rigby 5 A Freebairn 5 W T Monk 3 A W Hatch 5 J E Austin 10 Thomas Girard Ii W J Panter 10 A Garside 5 John Richardson 5 S A Bills 5 E P Ellison J 10 C S Carter 10 J M Smith 10 William Corcoran 10 Bennion Nichols 10 Densley Bros 25 Total 495 The following were named as members mem-bers of an auxiliary finance committee O P Miller Riverton William Haigh Taylorsville James Rotholl Grants yule R A Clegg Tooele J A Reeder 1 Vernal Thomas Welman Payson Geo McCune Nephl Orville Thompson Sclpio John Seeley Mt Pleasant E J Arthur St John Tooele county Hans Tuft Monroe Sevier county W B Ennis Draper Hiram Jensen Bear River City Tom Smoot Logan Peter Johnson Randolph John McKinney Redmond Sevier county Heber Stevens Stev-ens Henefer John Nebeker Laketown Peter Thompson Ephraim nro G Olsen Emery H A Kearns Gunnison Wyo John C Maokey Taylorsville George Chapman Evanston John Stover Copevllle Wyo William H Park Mill Creek C D Carter Vernal A D Flndlay Kanab Jonathan Heaton prderville Gordon Beckstead Gole C D White Beaver George B Chester Fillmore The meeting then adjourned |