Show I LAND SITUATiON IS SCRUTINIZED Party of Keen Newspaper Men Observe W Workings of the Roosevelt Policy ENTERTAINED BY GOVERNOR w w JERMANE GIVES S SOME ME GUARDED IMPRESSIONS I An Investigation of f President Roose veiLs land policy and its effect upon the west and Its people Is being conducted b ba by bya a party of seven newspaper correspond correspondents representing sOme of the most Influential Influential papers In the country who arrived In Salt Lake Lako yesterday It Is their object to secure data which will aid them In an Intelligent under understanding understanding standing of the pUblic land situation when It lq il discussed by congress at its ILI next session The party came here from froni Mon Montana Montana tana where the newspaper men have been spending several weeks In and amI around Billings Butte and Helena Conditions In Idaho and Wyoming have also been Investigated and from Salt SaIl Lake the petty leaves aves today for Provo whence Smoot will take them into Vintah county to view the great sheep ranches From Provo the scribes go to Glenwood Colo and from there to Denver Deliver and thEnce home Personnel of Party In the party are arc W V Jermane of the Minneapolis Journal Angus McSween Philadelphia North American D II 11 MacAdam St Louis Lotus Republic James News Thomas ThomasR ThomasB R B Shipp Washington Star and Cincin Cincinnati nail nati Enquirer and also private secretary of Senator Beveridge Fred red W Ford of the Boston Tr Transcript and George E Miller of the Detroit News With them is C J J Blanchard chief statistician of th the reclamation service who Is acting as guide The party was entertained at luncheon yesterday at the Alta club by tho goYer gover governor nor and a party of Invited guests In speakIng of the object of the trip and what it was wall hoped would bp be nc ac accomplished Mr Jermane Jerm ne sard Sald The impression Is pt v lUnt in some localities that we are a sort of a press agent aggregation for the Republican party parl This is not so We Ve have not been sent out by administration and e cv cry ery one of us Is a free lance and is per perfectly willing and able to criticise the government policy if we see fit New Policy I Ye Ve have all been sent out by our re respective papers to the situa situation tion and there Is absolutely no political motive motle in our trip We e have taken Mr Blanchard Bianchard along alons as a a guide as aI we felt that we needed some one who knows the situation to President Roosevelt as you ou Imo know has Inaugurated an entirely new s system stem of administering the federal land office James R B Garfield secretary of the in interior tenor who recently visited Salt Lake Is the moving In carrying out this poll policy C and it 11 is the effect that It Is having on the west In which we are Inter Interested interested ested Each state is having its own trou troubles troubles bles in Interpreting the new rules and of course numerous misunderstandings have resulted I am not here to sa say that the government policy polley Is right In every particular but am only here as Investigator as I know alt all my col colleagues colleagues leagues are arc t Find Considerable Complaint In many ot of the states and the same Is true In Utah we have found consid considerable considerable erable complaint against the forest re reserve reserve serve policy polley To those who fully under understand understand stand the situation this is no mystery The complaint generally made Is that the government nt has withdrawn vast areas from entry under the forest reserve act When the agricultural appropriation bill went through a rider was attached tak taking ins ing from the president his power to des desIgnate ignate forest reserves without the sanc sanction sanction tion of congress This was engineered by bya I Ia a number of western senators who feared Roosevelt would take awa away from froni their respective states much valuable land The president was aware that this rider was to be tacked on and immedi immediately immediately gt bus busy He knew lie he could not veto the appropriation bill so he called together the chiefs of the forestry bureau and had them prepare on short notice the particulars regarding each tract of land landIn In the west which should be set aside as asa asa a forest reserve I Anticipated the Rider The day before the bill was passed the president Issued a proclamation setting aside all the territory recommended by I the forestry department as a 3 reserve and when the bill came to him he sl signed ed it without hesitancy knowing that his ac action action tion of the previous day had made the rider ss In doing this however much land riot ilot wooded was Included as a precautionary measure It Is now the In Intention Intention of the department ol of the interior to segregate this land from the actual reserves and throw It open for entry This In my opinion wilt will simplify the situation here and In other states consid considerably although I appreciate the tact fact that the public does not generally under understand stand the situation |