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Show POLICY ON j RANGE USE Montanan Addresses Governors' Conference on the Public Domain Question Since the Advent Ad-vent of the Foresters Administration of the Reserves Salt Lake City, June 7 "Our National Na-tional Policy as to the Use of the Public Range." was the subject of an adaresp by Governor Stewart of Montana Mon-tana before the Conference of Western West-ern Governors here today. Referring to the lack of any settled policy in dealing with the public ranges of the west until recent years, Governor Stewart said that very lack of any policy had done much to promote the upbuilding of the nation "While I nclc Sam sat with his teet cocked up on his desk," said Governor Govern-or Stewart, 'and advised the pioneers and rangemen to help themselves and they did help themselves with freedom and self-liberality that same elongated Uncle Snm winked his weather eye und pretended not to soc, I because he knev. that the production of great herds augmented his wealth I and promoted hie prosperity. He knew that a homesteader, a cowmnn i or a flockmaster who was willing to I leave civilization and bury himself j in t ho solitude of the plains or moun-j moun-j tain fastness ought to have every encouragement that n beneficent na tion could extend to him Knowing I this, nothing was done to administer the ran pes " Adverting to the time when thn I national povernmrnt first took any interest in the open range, the speaker speak-er said it was a few yean 'iRo when l.irce operators began fencinc th? public domain and monopolizing its use Then the forest reserves appeared ap-peared and with the advent of the forester there was Inaugurated within with-in the reserves a system of ranpe regulation reg-ulation that has worked out with some degree of satisfaction Administration of Ranges "Havlne had an opportunity to observe ob-serve the administration of ranges within forest reserves," said the gov ernor, "I am still undecided a3 to the merits of the system. With a fair degree of liberality and a goodly portion por-tion of common sense and old fashioned fash-ioned honesty actuating an official I would say the system is first class, but with a predominance of narrow-minded narrow-minded bureaucracy and inflated conceit con-ceit in the foreground It certainly is bad In the early days of the forest service wo had the latter character istics too much in evidence The re-suit re-suit was friction and disagreements with settlers und a consequent ba I reputation for the system and the ser vice. A.U these things seem to be improving, and today I know of districts dis-tricts so satisfactorily administered that a suggestion of a return to the old methods would elicit prompt and forceful remonstrance. "The old range question that whirl, pertains to the lands outside tlx- foi est reserves, is sohing itself by th-process th-process of absorption. No extensive areas of open range exist today outside out-side of the forest reserves The honv steader the dry land farmer and the stockman (using fenced lands) have brought about this situation The public range, like (he true pioneer, disappears before the march of civilisation. civili-sation. "Some there Rre who bemoan the-loss the-loss of the public lands, and who de cry the liberality with which our government gov-ernment was wone to deal with home steaders, not realizing that homesteaders homestead-ers are home builders. As we look at the question In the light of results as they show today, we are able ) say with pride that while the gov eminent was liberal, it has been most liberally rewarded The herds followed fol-lowed (he trails of the first pioneers, the ranchman went with the herds, and the farmer, desiring a greater re turn for his labor, followed the ranchman, ranch-man, then came the town builders, (he railroads and (he industries incident inci-dent to a thoroughgoing civilization until today we base a land that is r 1 1 wonder and the admiration of the world a new land, a young land whose achievements are phenomenal, and whose possibilities arc almost UD believable " oo |