The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-04-05
Where the Homestead Law is Nulliacd.

Title to- agricultural lands belonging to
the United States cannot now be acquired
except under the provisions Of the PrcGmp-
tion and Homestead laws, which restrict
| ownership TO one hundred and sixty acres.
actually settled and improved.
1t il one of the phenomena Of Federal
legislation. 50 rich in errors and impcrfcc-
tions, that these two laws were enacted in
! ignorance of the physical geography Of the
larger part of the public domain over which
/ they were made operative. The Government
and the people are now confronted 10y an un-
forcsccu notification Of both. Tho object
Of the laws was. primarily, to stimulate the
productive forces, which the settlement and
cultivation of the unOccupicd public land
would necessarily bring into play; second
arly, To propitiatc the feeling among the
voters in the Western States aud Territories
which asks for lands for the landlcss, and
gives paramount importance in border
politics to the actual settler" Nature
/ placed limit 10 tho extension westward Of
this policy of giving away the public land to
/ poor men. That limit was the line of sufli-
/ cient rainfall. The Homestead and Pre-
eiaption laws lost jurisdiction and efficacy
where Nature ceased 10 iirit,ate the soil at
the times and TO the degree required for the
! regular production Of crops. Beyond that
liie no poor man will go; for ii is impossible
| for him to make a farm.
The area over which Nature has nullllcd
the wisdom of Congress in cnacting these
statutes is enormous. 1t is bounded 10y the
Tooth meridian OF longitude on the east. by
/ the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges Of
: al ttn Drft h
/ Diary line con the north. and the Mexican
! line ON the south. Within all this area agr-
culture a. pursued in the Mississippi valley
or New England has no existence; and agri-
/ culture within the means Of the statutory
/ homc-toadrr it. absolutely impossible.
| Throughout this immense region artificial
{ irrigation il Indispensable to the cutiva-
tion of the soil. The greater portion of the
/ region II not susceptible Of irrigation, save
hy windmill pumps. which would Ice cncc-
! tive for very small holdings only-fractiOns
/ of sectional fractions. The cost Of thus
watering "a hundred and sixty aero home
B stead would bc a. much beyond the means
OF tn" average settler a. would be granite
aqucduct from the nearest mountains. Ii
is true that numerous areas in this region
can command rain by bitches from sur
rounding hills and heights. But these
bitches. as they are called In mining par
lance are really formidable engineering
works. frequently miles in length, scicntih-
cally constructed. and costing great deal
of money 10 make and keep In repair
They can only bo constructed by wealthy
capitalists, or associations Of men pos
sc~s.ng money for investment. They arc
wholly beyond tho reach 81 the poor men
for whose benefit the Presumption and Home
stead laws were enacted. The rivers within
this region of insufficient rainfall do not
serve agriculture. They are at the best but
watering places for cattle. They have nc
permanent volume They dryup in summer
and mostly disappear. Their moisture to
the adjacent soil from percolation i speedily
lost I'm not one instance can they be- put I,
the -canty use made of the Nile by the farm
crs OF Egypt. The fact exists, and il car
never Toe altered. that all over the immense
region bounded as We have said between
the limo ol tine Sierra Nevllls and the lootl
meridian and bet wccn Canada and McSico
the "home-t"nd If our land laws l. impo-
e'hlc, and the intent aud purpose Of tn,
Presumption and Homestead laws are mad'
nlil and void hv n paramount law %
Nd'hl' IT, lI' Iiltln~, SIS. ana NHllFN'
OF this region are valuable 'ur The production
of cattle. They are true grazing ground'
and sheep range. But not upon one hun
dred and sixty acres can stock range anC
feed. The success ~ the business IL stock
raising requires Il practically unlinito,
range The Homestead law is death t. it
For np sensible man will embark in the bust
moss uuloss hr can command it, conditions
by ownership, and avoid the troubles an'
losses in-oparahle from common use an,
conflicting claims.
While those two laws stand refusing it'll
10 more than one hundred and sixty acres
the great body of this vast territory mus
remain unoccupied. and the continent b.
divided by a wide desert Only the land
near to springs and along snow-fc'
streams will be sold and used. All othe
lands equally rich, hut that can Toe irrigatc,
only articially, and all the cattlo-rang'
Lands will be neglected. Aud these cunprl-,
nearly the whole of the region which W.
have described by boundary.
We Reply To Nine. Blavatsky.