The Russellville Democrat., 1875-09-16

careful perusal of our readers, an,
 if any of them feel intereste,
 enough in the matter to advanc
 any views on the subject we vii
 be glad to yield space for them
 Following is the letter:
 OFFICE COMMISSIONER OF IMsuGRTIoN.
 LITTLE ROCK, Aug. IS, 1875
 To the Editor of the State:
 | The article in the last issue o your paper, in reference to State Lands, deserves more than pass Ing notice. After thorough study of the subject, and witness ing the results, 1 am convinced that the state should repeal tho donation law, which authorizes the sale of forfeited lands for tho taxes. In my report to the Gov ernor last fall, which was submit ted to the Legislature, 1 had not then familiarized myself with the working of the donation law, suf ficiently to make up my mind that the policy was erroneous, and recommended it's continu- ance. Since that time, I have gwen special attention to this matter, and shall earnestly rec ommend the Legislature, at its fall session, to repeal that law, and substitute another authoriz- ing the lands to be disposed of at so much an acre; say 50 cents, or one dollar. At my suggestion, and after bringing the matter earnestly to the attention of the Legislature, at it's recent session, the act was passed raising the prices of swamp lands to $2.0 per acre-not $500, as printed in some of the state papers-and saline, seminary and internal i'm provement lands to $500 per acre. Prlor to the passage of this act, the lands were frittered away, and were really an expense to the state. 1 expect a confirmation of over 100, 1000 acres of swamp lands soon, which will, no doubt, be readily taken up at $2.00 thus disposing of large amount of our floating indebtedness. I have a clerk in Wash ington now, assisting in preparing the list, and in procur- ing a list of conflicts. That done, my next effort will be toward set ting these conflicts, and making final settlement with the Gov ernment, on account of all our land grants. This has never been done. So far the Legislature has backed my efforts in that direc- tion, and with the passage of an act this fall to enable me to com plete the work, I think in a years time our land matters will be in Il shape which will tell largely in favor of the State.
 Now, then, in reference to the lands forfeited to the state. The business in the land offices, dur- ing the past three months, under this head alone, has more than doubled. The donation and sales have averaged over 20 per day. Three clerks have done nothing but attend to this branch of the business, for three months, and even with that we can hardly at tend to the numerous applications to purchase, to donate, and for information in reference to this class of lands. And for all this the state gets the pitiful sum of $2.00 in scrip as fee for each donation, and where there are sales she gets the taxes due on the land. 1 am satisfied the same inquiry would have been made and the same activity prevailed, had the price been 90 cents or Sl.O0 per acre, and the empty coffers of our treasury largely benefited. In a majority of in stances, my observation leads me to the conclusion, that donations are made simply for speculative purposes. This was never the in tention of the law, but it cannot be avoided. By fixing a uniform price, and simplifying the manner of making deed, the work in all the state oflices-that in the land, auditors and treasurer's offices would be greatly frightened, and something saved in that direction. The Legislature has done well so far. Now then, if it will pass an act fixing the price of these lands, and one or two other measures to simplify matters, and give the proper authority for final settle ment, it will have done work of which it can be proud hereafter.
 I trust the Press of the state will back your effort in this di- rection. Respectfully, &c.,