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Show Uncle Sam's Sheep anfCallle Range Evor slnco President Hayes, nearly forty years ago, appointed a land commission com-mission to consider nmong other mnt-tors, mnt-tors, legislation relating to tho control con-trol of tho open rango, tho nation's groat natural stockhrcodlng pastures, thero has been a constantly growing conviction among practical stockmen of tho west that to provent tho gradual grad-ual destruction of the rango through overgrazing and build up Its carrying carry-ing capacity through Intelligent uso, somo definlto national legislation was nocessary that rogulated uso undor federal control might bo substituted for tho prevailing conditions ot In discriminate nnd wasteful mlsUBo. With no control of this public rango and no determination of tho respective respect-ive grazing .rights of tho occupants, tho Btockgrazlnrf Industry has naturally natur-ally been moro or loss of a strugglo for oxlstonco. Constant clashos of interest havo occurred between r'ock men, particularly between shcop and cattle men, resulting In almost constant con-stant friction nnd sometimes blood shed. A few years ngo, In a lettor n clear think'ng young friend of mine from Arizona voiced this situation In tho following pkturesquo language: Tho federal control of tho public grazing lauds Is a question of greater importance to our country than is the child labor question, or the negro lucstiou, or any other problem boforo our country except banking regulations regula-tions and the Mississippi River. Tills luestlon can never bo solved with a Colt and Winchester, but tho pcoplo who llva on tho rango will keep on trying to reach a solution with tho old of those two American clvlllzers. Sheep, by nature and necessity nro migratory; cntt e, by nature and by necessity, becomo domiciled. Sheep, by nature and by, man, go In herds; cnttlo abhor closo herd, nor docs their protection demand it. The mnlnten-nnco mnlnten-nnco of Just nnd fair relations between be-tween these two antagonistic Interests Inter-ests can only bo accomplished by federal fed-eral control. Of recent years tho stendy rlso in the cost of meat has made the general gener-al public reallzo that something Is radically wrong in tho matter of meat production and compelled them to look ubout for a remedy. Fortunately thoro Is one. That this problem of protection and regulated control of tho public grazing graz-ing lands is a vital ono and of national nation-al size, is evident when wo consider that tho area Involved, according to tho lntest government figures, Is about 2SO.000.000 acres nearly one-sixth one-sixth of tho area of tho United States, excluding Alaska, which means thnt Uncle Sam's Open Rango Is greater than tho combined area of Gcrmony, Franco, nnd Uelglum. While 99 per cent of theso public grazing lands is located In tho States of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Ida-ho, Montana, Novado, Now Moxlco, Oregon South Dakota, Utah, Washington Wash-ington nnd Wyoming tho .problem of how to obtain tho, bept uso of theso lands Is ono In which tho peoplo ot tho entire nation are Interested for tho reason that not loss than C.000,-000 C.000,-000 head of cattle und horsesof which 4,000,000 head are cattlo and IC.000,000 head of sheep are now grazed on this public domain. From Public Grazing Lands: Tho Rnngo Homestead.by Dwlght n. Heard in tho American Rcviov of Roviows for September. mm i |