176 OUR USE OF THE LAND 



appointed rather than an elected officer, would have to take 

 over the control of the range in order to save it. It was a 

 task most individuals in the range states, were unable to under' 

 take. But in turning the range control over to the Interior 

 Department, two checks were put on it. In the first place, the 

 people of the region were given the opportunity to recommend 

 what they believed would be the best practice for their par' 

 ticular area. In order to prevent these people, however, from 

 selfishly deciding to destroy the range for their immediate profit, 

 their suggestions have to be approved by the Division of Grac 

 ing. Also the Division of Gracing can enforce any rules drawn 

 up by its own officials. And in order to check this power of the 

 Division of Grazing, the Senate has the right to accept or reject 

 the director of the Division of Gracing selected by the president. 

 Congress also has the power to end the Taylor Gracing Act 

 whenever it sees fit to do so. Therefore, if a majority of the 

 people of the country decide that the Division of Gracing is not 

 doing a good job, they can elect a Congress which will suspend 

 the Taylor Act. The fact is, however, that the Division of GraZ' 

 ing would have to become very corrupt before enough people 

 would be aroused to elect a hostile Congress. 



The power flows from Congress to the Interior Department, 

 to the Division of Grazing, to the people in the affected region, 

 back to the Division of Grazing, and from them to Congress 

 again. The weakest link in this chain is the people in the 

 affected region, since they have no actual power to control the 

 Division of Grazing. Their chief role is to supply local informa' 

 tion to the men who administer the Taylor Act. 



Here is another way of looking at the government control 

 of the range. The destruction of the range is a regional prob' 

 lem. The people in that region were unable to do anything about 

 it. The Wisconsin dairy farmer and the Wall Street banker may 

 not give a whoop for the problems of the rancher. However, 

 the dairyman and the banker and the rancher are like so 



