THE TRRIGA T10N A GR. 315 



and in stating the arguments which have been presented by those 

 most vitally interested in the subject, both here and at Washington, I 

 shall do so without the slightest prejudice either for or against either 

 side. 



There are several collateral interests involved and each should be 

 referred to, in so far as it is evident that it relates to the main questions. 



First, there have been very serious differences between citizens of 

 the territory engaged in grazing cattle and these grazing sheep on the 

 public domain, and I believe these differences exist in a greater or less 

 degree whenever the two industries are carried on In the public land 

 states and territories. 



In Arizona, and especially the southern part of the territory, ac- 

 cording to my observation and all the evidence I have been able to 

 obtain, the cattlemen so-called have good reason for their protests and 

 just cause for complaint at the periodical and migratory manner in 

 which sheep graze over and destroy their ranges during certain sea- 

 sons of the year. While it is technically true that a sheep has as 

 much right on the public domain as a steer, it is also true that the cat- 

 tleman who has located a spring of water or a number of them for 

 home ranch purposes and has appropriated for grazing his cattle a 

 large area of the public domain contiguous to the watering places, has 

 certain rights recognized by custom, at least, to the range appropri- 

 ated by him and until the land is disposed of by the government by 

 sale, his possessory right is not disputed. Therefore when sheep 

 which are allowed to graze undisturbed during the summer in the for- 

 ests and on the plateaus of northern Arizona are driven down and 

 across and grazed upon the ranges of the cattlemen of the south in 

 the fall and winter, destroying these ranges for cattle grazing, at least 

 for the time being, the cattlemen who are thus imposed upon seem jus- 

 tified in adopting every possible means recognized by law to protect 

 their property: and when the law does not specifically protect them it 

 is hard to determine how far they are justified in going in their own 

 defense. Acrimonious disputes have arisen year after year, lives 

 have been lost as the result of armed conflicts and until some method 

 is adopted for legally controlling these conflicting interests I feel that 

 good order is being constantly menaced in certain localities of the ter- 

 ritory. During the Twentieth Legislature a bill was introduced to 

 regulate the salaries and fees of certain officers in fourth and fifth- 

 class counties, and a section was added to the bill authorizing the 

 board of supervisors of any county to license all kinds of business 

 within the county and to regulate the amount of said license. It was 

 an open secret that the object of the bill was to enable the board of 

 supervisors to require such a heavy license to be paid by sheep grazers 

 whenever deemed expedient as to be prohibitory, and it was not pro- 

 posed to enforce the terms of the law as to other kinds of business. 



