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Show 'ransMEoT CiiETII SAYS ' David F. Houston Is Confident Con-fident Covenant Will Be Ratified. Secretary of Agriculture Here to Confer With Cattle Raisers. , The peace treaty and the league of nations covenant, which forms part o' it, will be ratified by tho United States senate, in the opinion-of David F. Houston, Hous-ton, secretary of agriculture, who arrived in Salt Lake to attend the meeting of western stbekmen, which op 3ns today. Mr. Houston said last night that in his opinion the treaty an! league covenant will ue ado;jt.d without material reservations. reser-vations. Public opinion, he said, wherever he has been able to judge of it, is overwhelmingly overwhelm-ingly in favor vt the adoption of the league of nations. 4 Mr, Houston said: "From wha. I hive been able to judge from conversations with people during my travels of the recent re-cent month, and while in Washington, there is hardly a handful of people in the United States who do not wiwh to see tho peace treaty signed. ' Expresses World's Desire. "While it may be that the treaty is not one that any individual nation of itself would have adopted, it is, nevertheless, never-theless, the closest approximation possible pos-sible to the expression of the desires of the civilized world as a whole. "The league of nations covenant I regard re-gard as the chief factor in making possible pos-sible the solution of a great many questions ques-tions decided in the treatv now before the United States senate. Without the idea, of the league of nations, how would the peace conference have been able to agree on the disposition of the German colonies, colo-nies, the settlement of 'the Adriatic question, ques-tion, the problem of disarmament, the fate of Danzig? How would they have reached some means of fixing the great economic measures which involve the entire en-tire world in their reaches? "Criticisms directed against the league -by its opponents speak of an entangling alliance. Many of these objectors were the loudest in their cries that the United States e'nter the war long before it did. They, these opponents, talk about our isolation. With the modern means of transportation and communication Europe Eu-rope is now nearer to New York and Washington than San Francisco. They .speak of the possibility of interference with our domestic problems. The league covenant provides against that. , The Monroe doctrine is held to bo violated under the league of nations. As a matter of fact, the covenant not only provides for the maintenance of the Monrpe doctrine, doc-trine, but extends the principles of that policy to the whole world." Favors Grazing Extension. Secretary Houston is now on the last leg of a trip which has taken him through most of the western states, and. which has been his first opportunity to see agricultural conditions throughout the country since before the war. He will appear before the gathering of stockmen and take up with them their desire to see the grazing and other privileges privi-leges granted now in the national forests, for-ests, extended to the national domain outside the forests. He said he believed sincerely that legislative provision should be made, and made soon, to allow the cattle and sheep raisers the use of public domain under the same provisions as now , obtain in the national forest preserves. To open the public domain to the organized or-ganized grazing under federal direction would make possible the feeding of 40 per cent more stock than are now on the hoof, according to Secretary Houston. There are now 12,000,000 head of cattle and sheep grazing in the public forests. In regard to the forest tires now raging hi the north, Mr. Houston stated that his department is doing everything in its power to cope with the situation, but that the drought conditions prevailing were n-raking it exceptionally difficult this year to curb the ravages of the flames. As to the general crop conditions throughout the country, Mr. Houston said that the indications are splendid for rec-I rec-I ord-breaking yields in almost all agricul-! agricul-! tural products. The farmers, he said, increased in-creased their cultivated acreage during the war so materially, even under the adverse conditions encountered, that they will this year bring forth splendid crops. Europe Still in Need. The United States, he said, will be compelled to feed Kurope at least until the harvest time of 1920, for this year, even, they will produce only the minimum crops which have obtained abroad during the war. There will be sufficient grain to ship abroad this fall about 500,000,000 bushels and still leave sufficient for home consumption. The wheat guarantee of a minimum price, be said, will continue only until this year's crop has been purchased. pur-chased. Mr. Houston is accompanied by his wife. He will remain here for the meeting meet-ing of the stockmen, and then proceed directly to Washington. |