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Show ; Ct'TTlAU PLHL1C TIMDEK. SrBtN'i City, Sanpete County, ! -W I'.Kh, I S 7 1 . Editors ILadd: i Do 'he po.vers tint be, at Washing-I Washing-I ion, D. C-, clearly understand tut :ua(tei? 1 allu le to the rutiia? of timber or rh; public lands of thi Territory. Our limber grows upon the mountains and in the canons, aud not one stick suira "lo lor lumber grows upon tin: firsi toot of the surveyed lands in the Terri-j Terri-j T"ry so fur as my knowledge extends In order to make roads into thecanuns, , ro bring out timber with any degree of facility, there must first bo an expenditure expendi-ture and outlay of from one to fifty thousand dollars. The inhabitants oi Utah are generally not a mining people, j but an agricultural people. Tho suc-;ceaS suc-;ceaS of this branch of" industry is the root aud f oundation of tho success and t prosperity oi" every other branch of in dust rial labor; and it seems to me that Government would be exercising a 1 wiso policy to declare the mountains and canons to bo ever open and free to tJI persons who may wish to avail themselves of tho benefits of the timber. The timber is in a high state of preservation, is'o man is going up into tho mountains or into tho canons to cut it unless driven by actual necessity ne-cessity for its use. Hence, there is no fear of tho article being wasted or unnecessarily used. Keen-eyed Keen-eyed speculators may see fit to procure a special survey of tho titu bercd lands in tho mountains, and preempt pre-empt tho same with a view of monopolizing monopo-lizing tho timber and imposing a tax upon tho agriculturist for every stick that ho may have occasion to usa. Not that he ever expects to cut a stick himself, but to ho liko the dog in the manger that will neither eat the hay himself nor allow tho horse to do it; even after the settlers have made the roads themselves at an enormous ex pense. Whereas, if all wore free, the pecuhtor would have equal chance with the agriculturist; but under these circumstances the speculator would never go into the mountains for timber, neither would anyone else, if he could possibly avoid it. W hat is the value of that timber? It is very difficult to tell. A r-tarvinjr man might a-k the price of a loaf of bread. Could he got none anywhere else it would be difficult to fix an esrimate of its value, yet he must have it. The actual oost of manufacturing lumber in this country, as a general ihiog, is mora than double its value in the market, and therefore the lumber ing lni-iuc.3 in this region is quite limited, wliich tact opens a door for ihe importation of lumber by rail from California and from some portions of tin-E tin-E isiern tinncs. We pay dearly for every foot of lumber we u.-e. and foi every fence polo we haul from the mountains, and to a!l jw speculators to -pread over the timber a pre-emption title to benefit none but themselves is a great bar to the prosperity of the country; and our unsu-pecting farmers, iire burdened with taxa'ion by a class1 of speculators that is a moth to any jomtuuuitv. If members of Congress were com-1 polled to shoulder the spade and pick, crowbars and blasting tools, and go, inio our canons and make roads, haul out timber amidst broken wagons, broken legs and broken arms, and sometimes broken heads, and haul their timber from ten to fifty miles, they would think they had paid "stum nage" enough, and would forth-wiib forth-wiib give their vote in favor of the total repeal of all existing regulations concerning tho timbered lands of the Rocky Mountain region and not sutler the agricultural interests of the coun try to be sacrificed at the shrine of selfish self-ish speculators. Will not our honorable honor-able Delepa'e bring this maiter to the notice of Congress? And will not our Government protect the agricultural agri-cultural interests of Utah by suitable legislation? Very respectfully, Orson Hyde. |