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Show DOHERTY'S PLAIN SPEAKING. Mr. Ilonry L. Doherty is tho latest, and in some respects the severest critic of ex-Forester Pinchot. Mr. Doherty is an expert himself in the matter of conservation, con-servation, being president primarily of tho Public. Service Corporation of New York, and is president also of a number of other corporations having to do with conservation and public service, so that ho does not criticiso without knowing the points of the case, aud without understanding un-derstanding tho purpose involved. First of all, Mr. Doherty criticises Pinchot because Pinchot. lent the weight of his name and official position and in-fluenco in-fluenco to seusntional statements that were not true. He accuses him further of falling into popular errors in furtherance further-ance of existent agitations, and in effect ef-fect playing for popularity by yielding to the public's apparent desiro to hear charges of misconduct against wealthy people and corporations. Pinchot yielded to this clamor apparently appar-ently in search of notoriety and popularity. popu-larity. Mr. Doherty denounces the "popular craze for attacking all quasi-public quasi-public corporations" as unjust and futile, fu-tile, as it ccrtuiiil- is. A furoro has been croated all over the country which will result whore it has any effect, merely mere-ly in reaction against progress, and will tend to restrict development wherever wher-ever tho idea is put in force. The basis of all the contention lo which Mr. Pinchot lent himself so readily read-ily and so powerfull-, is that the couu-trv couu-trv shall be left in a slate of nature; that, no ono shall develop water powers, cut timber, or in auy way disturb the natural conditions as they have existed in tho unused wildncss from tho first. Any attempt at developing the country, .1113- ono attempting to establish homesteads home-steads and farms, to develop water power and use tho flowing streams, is denounced as outrageous, and an in-fringmcnt in-fringmcnt upon tho rights of the people. peo-ple. All this sort of talk makes for non-progression, aud is an effort toward holding tho country whcro it is; it is a plea for succeeding generations which might well also remain a plea for generations gen-erations to como nnd so on indefinitely, barring present generations from any use of public utilities or tho occupation of the public domain. If it could have been applied at first as tho propaganda for this sort of thing now seeniB to domand, the whole country coun-try would yot be iu a stato of naturo, with a straggling settlement or two on tho coast, on lands granted by or bought from tho natives, and that would he all. A tract of land in a state of nature, undeveloped, with no farms or occupancy, occu-pancy, to servo as a range for wild gnmo, is in tho view of the conservationists conservation-ists fnr more desirable than a tract of land under tillage, well developed, and with a thrift' American citizenship making a good living thereon. The whole tendency of the Pincholism is to prevent tho occupation and de velopment of tho country by imposing impossible conditions. Tt is tho same thing as stopping progress allogolhcr. No ono is going to develop land unless ho can get tho land that ho develops. Nobody is going lo develop a water right, a powor site, or anything of the kind, without securing ownership, and the right to ubu it. And no ono is going go-ing lo put his money into an enterprise enter-prise without having something to say about what is to be dono in tho course of Jhc uso of tho things necessary thereto. A Tcmarkablo feature of this whole conservation movement is that it has its cinot support from States that contributed con-tributed nothing whatever to tho public pub-lic domnin. The original colonics kept their land themselves, 'within their boundaries. It was never a part of tho Federal lnnd system. Not only this, but Virginia is trying to stir up the other colonics which made grants of wild land west of tho Allegheny inoun-tains, inoun-tains, to demand pay from tho National Government for tho lunds they granted. grant-ed. The United States received tho Northwest and the Southwest territories terri-tories from the old colonics in consideration consid-eration of stipulations granted therein. It bought the Louisiana Territory which includes everything west of the Mississippi River except tho "Oregon country" and the region ceded by Mexico Mex-ico in JS4S. The original colonies, forming tho first thirteen States contributed con-tributed to the money for the National Treasury to pnv for the Louisiana pur -hae, to pay the cost of tho Mexican War, and to survev nnd to open the country in tho Northwest and the Southwest grants. But they received their money back many times over in tho sale of public. lands, llto prococds of which wont, into the National Trens-ury, Trens-ury, just as the money to pay for the Louisiana purchaso and other expenditures expendi-tures went otit of tho National Treasury. Treas-ury. " So that tho original States have in fact no equitablo claim on the lnnds in this region. And yet, tho representatives represen-tatives of those States arc tho vory ones most eager in pushing tho conservation conser-vation idea which gives them an untitle and unfair grip upon thoso lauds, whereby thoy aro enabled to stop colonization colo-nization and retard dovolopmcnt. Pinchot Pin-chot ism is pretty .bad in itself, but Pinchot ism supported by tho voice and the votes of the people who havo no claim whatever upon tho rogiou' affected, affect-ed, is far worse. |