The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1877-03-08

County and City Official Press.
Thursday, March 8, 1877.
AN IMPORTANT PUBLIC
LAND LAW.

In the winter Of 1915. one Of the
californis members of Congress intro
sinced a bill granting one section Of
land -6i0 acres-in Lassen ounty. OF
that State.-a portion of the desert
plain OF Nevada lying east Of the Sier-
ras--to any citizen who siiould rectal II
the same by irrigation. This bill,
known at first rs the Lssen County
Desert Lane Bill, has since that time
dragged its weary length along, and
has been amended so ~ to extend its
provisions to all the arid plain lands 10
California, Oregon, Nevada, Washing
ton. Idaho. Utah. Wyoming, Dakota.
New Mexico and Arizona. The bill
thus amended passed the House and
shortly before the adjournment came up
in the Senate.
Sargent submitted an amendment
that no person shall be permitted to
either reserve or acquire title to more
than one section Of land under the act;
agreed to.
Oglesby submitted An amendment,
providing that any person conducting
water on or to any desert land for irri-
cation shall not acquire any exclusive
rI:4it to the use of the water beyond
what shall be an absolute necessity for
irrigating the same; but water in
rivers, lakes and ether sources of water
SUPPLY. shall be held for the use Of the
public for irrigation and mining pur-
poses; agreed to.
Boutwell, submitted an amendment
providing that such desert lands shall
be surveyed before reclamation
The amendment Of Boutwell, WAS
adopted. also one requiring persons en-
tering upon land to pay % cents per
acre at the time of fling with the re-
ceiyer his declaration that he intends to
reclaim the land, and 81 per acre upon
receiving patent therefor.
Several nnimportant amendments
were agreed 10 auu tic yiii passed.
The effects of this bill will be benc-
fetal in several ways. 1t will give Gu
couragement to the more rapid settle
ment Of the great interior which used
to be labeled on the map As the Great
American Desert" Ii will be bonus
to the class Of American free-holders
who form the basis and security of { e
country's prosperity. The most that
existing land laws would give them
was 100 acres. The new law thus quad
rupling the gran. to the brave and
hardy settlers who pioneered the way
for the national advancement, is an act
Of merited justice, and Il step toward n
more equitable adjustment of the favors
of legislation. The tendency in legis-
lation. more especially in the aristo-
cratic and snobbish governments of Eu-
rope than in democratic Americ, is to
favor ell classes before the toiling TIL
lers of the soil, whose interests are the
last considered, and it is with pleasure
that We note this move toward more
righteous distribution.
The class Of lands embraced in the
act will include most Of the prairies of
the central aud eastern portions Of the
Territory. which though of the highest
fertility. require the artificial applics-
ton OF water To ensure their crops.
This matter Of irrigation in the Yakima
plains is not "A problem of insup@rable
difficulty ~ every arroyo of the noun
tains AMI hills furnishes its stream Of
living water, which may be distributed
ei1ectually over the plains at compare
lively little cost. The vast amount OF
these lands whose reclamation is thus
rendered practicable will ensure the
rapid baild,ng up of rich and prosper
Gus States in the interior between the
Rocky and Cascade Ranges.