American Forkst Congress 225 



interests, and the few small stockmen and home- 

 builders. Then came the "rustler," who, tempted by 

 opportunity, appropriated the cattle and stock of these 

 companies along with parts of the range, and I am 

 sorry the ^'rustler" is not yet extinct. But the public 

 lands of the West are rapidly filling with real home- 

 builders, and these large ranges, outside of the Mexi- 

 can grant lands and private holdings, must be given 

 up to the use of the settlers. We, whose stock feed in 

 large pastures and cover large areas of public lands, 

 must gradually give way to the smaller home-builder ; 

 and I regard the change as no individual calamity, 

 but as a part of the evolution of the greatest country 

 and best government civilization has known. 



The powers that control these large companies and 

 employ our friends, their advocates, will give up with 

 reluctance and only at the end of a hard struggle. To 

 this end Congress has been besieged with lobbies and 

 bills for the leasing of the public domain, and for the 

 exchange and consolidation of the railroad grant lands 

 all in the interest of these monopolies, but shrewdly and 

 ably covered up a veneering of some benefits to the 

 public, real or imaginary. 



These measures are dangerous because of the money 

 behind them, of the ability and character of their ad- 

 vocates, and because of the sincerity of some begotten 

 of the study of one side only, and chiefly because, for 

 the most part, but one side is represented in the contest. 

 The home-builders are busy with their home affairs; 

 individually they have neither the means nor training 

 necessary to meet the arguments of the interests that 

 threaten them. They have no organization and, in 

 fact, few of them know what is being done for or 

 against their interests ; but let some of these deceptive, 

 unwise, and unjust measures pass Congress, which 



