The avant courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1871-1872, 1872-04-11
CAN 1 LOCATE 4 FAnM ON q
SCHOOL SECTI3N I

EDITOR GDEFJK II - He qu6stlGh - often
! asked ME. herewith submit MY views On
! the subject, which yon may publish il you
! think they embodY sufficient general interest.
Section Ia of oar Territorial Constitution,
j the Law Of Organization, reads q follows
srhat when The lands lii the sud Territory
shall be slaryeved under tile direction oi the
Government OF the United States, prepare
/ tory to bringing the same into market, see.
4 lions numbered 16 and 36 inseacl1 TOWNSHIP,
/ lii said Territory shall be, and the Same are
/ hereby reserved for the purpose of being APP
/ piled TO schools Iii said Territory, and iii the
States and Territories hereafter 10 BE- erected
out Of the same. y 81
From our earliest history Congress has
made liberal donations Of land for the educa-
/ ton of the masses Each Territory organ
i lied previous I'd the admission Of California
was given the central Or 10th section Of eaeh
township for this purpose; California re-
4 ceived two sections, the 10th and sd iii
]aevery township, and this quality has been
] given to all the Territories organized since
| her admission.
/ The Organic acts Of Utah, California,
Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Kansas, Ne
| hraska and Colorado contain tile provision
quoted from our Organic Law, and in the
same words.
Is the conveyance from the General te the
Local Government final and complete under
/ that provision? AS the word reserved is
used, instead OF granted, there might be some
doubt on this question we might presume
/ that Congress reserved tie right OF future
/ Legislation, If necessary, to compel the State
or Territory benefieially interested to apply
4 Tile lands in good faith to the specified OBJ
/ ject. But 1 lind, after pretty thorough re-
se,lrch, that all local laws and Judicial de-
l cisions bearing on the subject have construed
! the words of the Organic Act to be IN abso-
isete and ffasat grant to the LEGAL Government,
and no action on the part Of the General
tsovernment has ever contrayened this uni-
i form practice, nor III any way has It ever
Ebeen legally eonyroYerted. The date OF SUR
yey determines all presualptiye rights as be-
i tween the General ami Local Government,
and thenceforward the control of the Local
Government is absolute and unconditional
Til 1868 the Legislature Of Washington Ter
i ritory enacted two laws providing for the
i sale of her school Lands, and under them the
i Comnaissio sers of each county issue patents
To purchasers, and 10 claimants 5y posssssaa
hight on their paging the minimum price Of
4 SIS ps5. aere. The constitutionality OF
those laws has never been questioned.
sll1lll;sr laws were passed BY the Territorial
I Legislature ct Kansas
i And all the State laws utilizing school
4 land grants by Congress contain the most
liberal provisions the reiiet q coma flde
j settlers, tile most stringent providing that
i,,sprore.acats shall not be- aaclAdea In the OPP
/ praised caiue.
/ Isut the Montana schooi-land squatter, 4
claim. has special protection. One Of the
statutes of this Territory oesfs 0bsos3te rights
] 5y occupancy, o. local p5'e-snlptsoa. IN the
most emphatic and clearest terms Montana
guarantees to protect the rights Of the first
settler on s'aazy portion Of the public domain
against all claimants except The asee,Aass,at
/ or tas Uasited Statss;;'' and as the Govern
rnellt of the United States has parted abso-
lateIy with all claim to sections IL and 80 OF
Oh ch township, the settler OF school lands il
IL 10 danger Of his rights being Disturbed by
any regulation of the United States Land
Denartment. The local is the supreme law.
and II seems TO be his shield. He has only
IL uroeeeo. in good faith. under LIE Act Of
January 9th, 1916, and, IN tle language 81
that law, his right to the land 50 occupied
and possessed -.shau be respected, IN law and
II equity, iii all tile courts andfrlbunals OF
This Territory. as a chattle real, possessing
| fhe character of real estate Ihetribunals,
ii INV opinon, would hold any future law
host,Ie 10 rights thus vested TO be unconsti-
tusioiaaI, on the ground that it would be
bresela OF the public faith, and have the effect
Of ilalnairil9 the obligation of contracts. 1
admit that the law Of occupancy and posses
sion Is defective. The right Of The Territorial
Legislature to give away lands expressly do-
mated Tor school purposes is questionable.
Mere settlement aud cultivation is no consid-
Grafton to the interests to promote which
these lands were set apart. All good citizens
must wish to see every saleable rood con-
tribute its full worth to the 5enefceilt OBJ
Iject for which all were appropriated. But f
am confident that no law can stand that
would impose upon the school-land settler
any other price than that which prevailed for
public lands at the time - recorded his
claim and made settlement ii good ssaitl, ac-
cording to the requirements OF the lay =
1865. And the right to charge that, even,
can only rest on inference. az the law Of oc-i
cupancy and possession is without reseya-
lions or qualifications.
& 1t may, with reason, be eontended that
these reserved sections are not a part of the
public domain, and therefore, that the 1stl
section Of the LEGAL law does not apply to
them. But section three would seem to re-
move all doubt OH this point. as it ignores h
its operation all distinctions between differ
ent classes Of lands quote it. in full.
Section 81 The owner of every claim or
Improvement on assy tract oa. parcel 81 land
has transferable interest therein. which may
be sold BY execution VI otherwise, and any
sale Of such improvement is Il sufficient con- |
sideration to sustain PROMISE
Under this section the claimant certainly
would require equities by settlement and Gull
ovation which the courts would have to re-
spect at least 30 far as to allow him
TO deduct from the value of the land, at the !
time of sale, al his outlay In the way Of i'm
x,rnun,nautS and he mOrld then ha Il fsre- 1