TENURE AND USE OF ARID GRAZING LANDS. 53 



now more or less well adjusted to the conditions, but it also fre- 

 quently induces misinformed men to attempt what can not be done, 

 with consequent loss and suffering to themselves, their families, and 

 the public that has to pay for their mistakes. 



Besides this, the general plan makes it possible for a certain type 

 of man to play upon the credulity of the sincere farmer and for others 

 to blackmail the stockman who has large investments in his range. 



From every standpoint the system is thus seen to be a poor one. 

 It not only does not introduce a higher type of industry into the 

 region but it displaces the industry that is already there and leaves 

 the land in worse shape than it was originally. 



Government leasing system. — A government system of leasing is to- 

 day in operation on grazing lands in Australia, New Zealand, and 

 Texas and on certain lands of other States. Various justifiable criti- 

 cisms of it have been made, but in operation it produces much better 

 results than the open-range system now compulsory on our arid 

 grazing lands. It authorizes individual control of the land for a con- 

 siderable period, and by so doing encourages the stockmen to use 

 their best skill in its management. This is the most important result 

 of any system of control and the main thing sought. To that extent 

 the leasing system is to be commended. 



There are two serious objections to the method, though they are 

 not insurmountable. Existing custom with respect to land leases 

 assumes that the lease transfers the land to the lessee for his indi- 

 vidual use for a given period of time, and leaves the character of the 

 use to his judgment. The price paid for the use of the land is ordi- 

 narily expressed as so much per acre. Consequently there follows a 

 tendency to overstock, particularly toward the end of the term of 

 the lease, and a continual squabble over the price. To avoid these 

 difficulties, it would be necessary to include in the lease a statement 

 of the number of animals that might be put upon the land, retaining 

 the privilege of counting them at any time. And this number of 

 animals and the price per acre or section should be based upon the 

 grazing capacity of the land, making the charge constant for an 

 animal unit. However, when these conditions are written into the 

 lease, two of the main features of the permit system have been 

 introduced. 



The second serious difficulty lies in the fact that the kind of law that 

 will suit the conditions in one region will not do at all in another place; 

 and so far no one has been able to devise a lease law that would 

 cover all the necessary provisos and exceptions and properly localize 

 the application of such limitations. Because there has been no way 

 of getting the men most affected by such a law to agree on a form of 

 law that all would be willing to support, the opponents of any and 

 every sort of change in the status quo are able to argue that these 



