A SQUARE MILE OF LAND FOR THE ASKING 



217 



statement with the land offices, covering over twenty 

 million acres, the fees for which amounted to over two 

 million dollars, and they are still pouring in. 



Many western men honestly believe the government 

 is wrong in tempting its citizens to try to do the impossi- 

 ble by dangling in their faces this idea of quantity 

 rather than quality. 



Few people outside of those living in the region will 

 ever appreciate the trials and hardships which the dry 

 farmers are today experiencing in their endeavors to 

 make a home under the conditions that maintain in the 

 arid states. On a fair average a tract of 640 acres of 

 the class of land this stock raising law covers, cannot 

 possibly furnish feed for more than twenty-five head 

 of cattle for a full twelve months and with this number 

 as the sole basis of a living, the man who undertakes the 

 job of carving a homestead out of such raw materials is 

 facing a situation that will test his staying qualities to 

 the uttermost limits. 



Take the single question of water for either stock or 

 domestic purposes. Practically all the lands that will be 

 opened for this law have no surface water and most of 

 them lie in regions where well digging is either hopeless 

 or the expense prohibitive. 



An ordinary deep well, equipped with windmill or 

 gasoline power costs all the way from $1,000 to $2,500, 

 according to the depth and there is absolutely no assur- 

 ance that water will be found when the well is dug. 



Many years ago when the Texas Pan Handle was 

 first being brought under the domain of the dry farmer, 

 "Kafir Korners" they were called locally several of us 

 were driving across the prairie near where the present 

 city of Amarillo now stands. 



We turned out of the road to make way for a mangy 

 team of ex-cow ponies, mostly with rope harness, pull- 

 ing a rickety wagon on which were several barrels of 

 water, a fact established by the splashing of the liquid 

 at every bump in the road, of which there were many. 

 The driver stopped to ask for a light for his corn cob 

 pipe. We plied him with questions. "How far do you 

 have to haul water ?" " 'Bout eight mile," he puffed 

 vigorously. "Was that your claim we passed about 

 two miles back ?" was our next inqury. "Yep." He was 

 too hungry for a smoke to waste words. "Why don't 

 you dig a well and save hauling water so far?" We 

 were getting interested in the subject. He gathered up 

 the rope reins. "Stranger," his voice was full of re- 

 pioach, almost sarcastic in its tone, "stranger, I reckin' 

 you ain't got much idee about well diggin' in these yere 

 parts or you'd know 'twas jist about as fur to dig as to 

 haul an' while I'm haulin' water them there ponies is a 

 doin' all the work. Giddap Bill drag it, you Sam." 



Of the 230 million acres of public lands still left, it 

 is difficult to say just how much of it will be found suit- 

 able for entry under this law. If the classification work 

 is done liberally ; if such areas are opened as the open 

 plains country east of Denver or the eastern half of the 

 state of Wyoming or what is left of the public lands in 

 eastern Montana, it will not be difficult to classify over 



a hundred million for entry. On the other hand if it is 

 done critically and held down to such areas as will 

 actually support a family on 640 acres of straight graz- 

 ing land there will, in the judgment of most western 

 men, be precious little of it, perhaps not over 20 million 

 acres. 



Whatever the acreage, however, it will play havoc 

 with the western range livestock industry, during the 

 period of entry and occupation by the settlers. Then, 

 as titles begin to pass to the settlers it will go in large 

 blocks into the hands of big corporations, live stock com- 

 panies and individuals and eventually be again used for 

 producing range stock. Also it will find its way onto the 

 tax rolls of the several states, which will not be an un- 

 mixed blessing. But for at least ten years to come the 

 live stock business of the western range states will be 

 very decidedly up in the air. 



Already western stockmen are alarmed at the pros- 

 pect and the Secretary of the Interior is being deluged 

 with appeals to ask the President to postpone the taking 

 of effect of the law for two or three years, claiming the 

 breaking up of the ranges will force onto the markets of 

 the east approximately five million head of sheep and 

 cattle, mostly sheep, that are now using these lands for 

 grazing purposes. The legislature of Idaho recently 

 passed a resolution to this effect, and called upon Con- 

 gress to repeal the law and save the wool growing in- 

 dustry of the Nation from approaching ruin. There 

 is, of course, much merit in these statements, but it is 

 very doubtful if Congress will repeal the law and still 

 less likely the President will interfere to stop its opera- 

 tion, granting he has such authority, which is ques- 

 tionable. 



Many well posted men feel this law is a great economic 

 mistake, believing these lands should be held forever as 

 public grazing grounds to be administered by the federal 

 government as such. The interesting point to the whole 

 matter is that for years the conservationists of the 

 United States have been fighting hard to have these lands 

 so reserved and administered, but the sheep interests of 

 the west opposed it by every means in their power and 

 managed for twelve years to block the passage of the 

 law every time it came up in Congress. Now that it is 

 too late and they see their ranges about to be broken up 

 and dissipated and the western range wool industry 

 ruined, they realize their mistake all too late and would 

 be only too glad to see a law passed that would put all 

 of these remaining public lands under some form of 

 government control similar in character to the present 

 control of the grazing lands in the National Forests, 

 which has been the salvation of the range stock interests 

 of the west, a fact now freely admitted by its former 

 most bitter enemies. 



Meantime, to those citizens who do not live in one of 

 the public land states and are figuring on going west to 

 secure 640 acres of free public land under this new law, 

 let me say, as did Puck to the man about to be married: 

 "DON'T" for the present at least. 



If, however, you really can't be happy without some of 

 this cheap land, wait until the classification is completed 



