The Phoenix herald., 1879-11-14
HOW TO MAKE PROOF.
An Iowa Granger Wants to
 Make Fiaa! ProGf.
A Land Officer Tells Him How fo
 To 1t.

The following letter was sent to il e St. Paul Pioneer Press by an in dignant Iowa granger who says he don't propose to have Government officials make jun of him with i'm punity The nams of the write-- is suppressed for the sake of his family and bondsnen:
 UNITED STATES LAND OFFICE,
 = DAKOTA, Sept. 10, 13G9. JouS SMITH,--Iowa,
 DEAR SIR: Your favor of the 16th inst, inqniring whether it is neccs- sary for you to come to Dakota to make final proof on your claimis at hand.
 We infer that you once made fly ing visit 10 our Territory from your home in Iowa, and while here filed on a quarter section of government land, and now wish to know whether the unfeeling rniniOns of the law are going to require you to come all the way up here again before they will give you the final certificate of entry.
 In reply I would say that this de- ponds almost entirely upon your ca paciiy for swearing. If you rate Al. in that line, and never stop at trif1es, you can do it wit perfect loosencss- Facts arc of no consequence in such case as yours. All you want is nerve. Call to mind the bright ex- ample of late presidential candi- date in swearing away his income tax and brace up.
 The law requires you to have cer- tain improvements on your claim, and it is q good thing to have plenty of thcm-particularly on paper
 Put the improvements at a good figure. Don't disgust everybody in the office with an 1ix16 shanty and ten acres of breaking, such as the mudsills from Scandinavia and the bOg-trotters from Ireland tumble to Show them what western man can do i'll that line when he really sets about ii.
 What ,:o you say to 1J0 acres of breaking. House built of brick say 30x60, three stories high with veran- tia on three sides, cost, say $10,G00- Barn S0x2O0, stone basement. cost, S6,000- Total cost of improvements $20, coo. This is merely a hint. Now something of this kind duly verified by your own affidavit and that Of two good Iowa witnesses of equal veraci- ty with yourself, would make those sleepy clerks in Washington open their eyes and yoGr c.se would go through like Yazoo jury trial verdict in 30 minutes.
 These affidavits have to he taken before clerk of some court in this Territory, that is theoretically they do. Practically there is no trouble on that score. There arc several of them who have been in the habit of taking he affdhvits of non resident parties in distant States for tree claims, so long that they would be em barrassed to swear a man actually before the-n ia the flesh. Send your papers to one of these fellows with si0 and you will be all right.
 1nasnuch as the Government gets the full price of the land, and was never known to prosecute q pre- emptor-for any Irregularities of this kind (perjury is an obsolete word) you would probably have no trouble from Uncle Samuel.
 As for any qnalms of conscience which some tinid people might have under similar circumstances, pre- sume you would laugh at the idea, but if some or the old supcrstitions i should still hang around you and you were inclined 10 be little i sqUeamish, you would :ave only to 1 reflect that Beechcr has abolished | nell and that there is nothing what 1 'ver to prevent your following the natural bent Ofyour mate cussednesS i
 SympathiZinly yours,
 REGISTER.