| Show he favors the small ranchman near reserves washington dec 23 president in a letter addressed to secretary wilson ot the department at agriculture i on the subject of fees for grazing horses and cattle in the national forest reserves upholds the secre regulations formulated by him and which will become effective jan ast 1st 1906 whereby certain rules are laid down for the granting of grazing the communication Is the result of a protest sent to the president by battlo men from ono of the western states and i based on a report by secretary allson to whom the protest was referred the letter ot the president follows the walto house washington dec 21 1905 my dear mr secretary I 1 have received your letter of december I 1 cordially approve of the policy you are carrying on your effort is to keep the grazing lands in the forest reserves tor the use of the brockmen and especially the small stockmen stoc kmen who actually live in the neighborhood ot the reserves to prevent tho waste and destruction of the reserves and to keep them so that they can be permanently used by the stockmen stoc kmen no leas than by the public you have to spend a certain amount of money part of this money Is to be obtained by charging a small fee for each head of stock pastured on tho reserve less than a third of the actual value of the grazing ie at present charged and it is of course perfectly that the man who pastures his stock should pay something for the preservation of that pasture ho gets all the benefit of the pasture and be pays for its use tout a small fraction of the value that it Is to him and this amonoy Is in reality resumed to him because it Is used in keeping the forest reserve permanently available for use you this year make a special reduction by which the ranchman ranchmen ranch men pay but half rate thra Is in accordance with the steady policy of your department as regards the western lands which id to favor in every way the actual settler the actual the roan who himself tilla the coil or himself beare and cares for his email herd ot cattle in granting grazing permits you give preference first to the small nearby owners after that to all regular occupants of the reserve range and finally to the owners of transient stock this is as it should be the small nearby near by owners are the homesteaders the mm who are making homes for themselves by the labor of their hands the aften who have entered to possess tho land and to bring up children thereon |
