Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1879-04-12
PATENT.


Movement.
EDrroK SENTINEL: On the 4th day OF
April, 1879, Judge Henry Rives made APP
plication ut the Land Office at Eureka for
a patent for 227 acres Of land in trust for
the inhabitants Of that town. A law Of
Congress and a statute Of the State Of Ne
vsda Compiled Laws. vol .. page 14D
authorizes such an application, and that
the corporate authorities" may also enter
land upou which any fnincofporatcd tow
10 situate for the same purpose, viz: to
enable steti inhabitants to procure the
Government title TO their respective lots in
such town. I do not here intend 70 even
attempt to impeach the legality Of the
application Of Judge Rives or his bona
fde right in making suchsppiicstion. But IL
seems to me that it was doffe without ma
ture reflection, and that the citizens should
have some kind Of a right to say whether
they wanted q patent Of the United States
to their lands or not, and whether they
desire to be saddled with an additional ex-
pense OF the survey, Land Office fees,
fees for streets assessed to each lot, reason
able compensation FOR executing and &C.
knowledging deeds not exceeding So for
first lot and 81 for each additional lot,
for counsel fees, money expended in the
acquisition Of the title and the adufinistra-
ton Of the trust, including reasonable
charges for time and services Of the Dis
trict Judge while employed in such trust,
not exceeding the sun Of 81 for each lot,
and, above all, for County Recorders fees
for recording deeds. The law above
quoted provides in terms for all those ex-
penditures, with the exception of County
Recorders fees, which are provided for
under the general Law. 1t is estimated
that within the 227 acres, as surveyed and
shown by the map filed with the applica-
ton Of Judge Rives. that it will take at
least two thousand deeds to cover
the entire tract US laid out in lots
and subdivisions upon our Town maps.
Many think it will take a great many more.
As I estimate it, each deed, by the time all
the expenses ~chargeable are ounted up,
will average, County Recorders fees and
all. 81 SO a deed. or at least SIS 5000 to
the whole town, including grave
yards. We find, upon examining the pa
pers at the Land Office, that the moving
spirits in this matter are Mr.. y. G. Levy
and VIM. Steichelman, his deputy, who
swear to the requisite affidavit as to the
number Of the inhabitants within the linn
its OF the town. 1t is natural, therefore,
to suppose that Mr.. Levy, being the party
who is most interested, that he is the party
who has employed Mr.. T. ]. Read to make
the survey, and who has brought the mat
tor to the notice Of the Judge and prompted
him to make application. The Judge has no
practical interest in the application, and
therefore when I speak Of the date Of the
application. l have no reference to the
Judge. but it does seem a little curious
that the application should be made just
before the probable incorporation OF the
town, when the petition for that purpose
was pending before the Board of County
Commissioners, and it was well known that
the town was to be incorporated. 1t looks
to me as if it was done by the parties most
interested to forestall any action Of the
citizens and Of the corporate authorities.
I think that with our hard times, and after
the payment OF out city and county taxes
and town taxes, the inhabitants OF the
town Of Eureka will have enough to pay
for the year 1879, without paying
Mr.. Levy or anybody else for
deeds to lands, the possession Of
which has boon for SO long a time secure
under the laws Of u State, and which
will always be secure il those who have
no interest in u property except to make
money out of it will let us alone. For one,
no matter what the expense may be, or
how proper the application may be, / think
it is an utterly useless thing; that it sub
serves no good purpose.
l think that Judge Rives ought to with
draw his application. and that il tho citi-
zens are anxious and desire such q title to
their property. that they shonld by petition
require the Commissioners to make such
an application. As to the expense that has
already been incurred, it will be provided
for by the ''citizens'' rather than be COM
PEELED to pay for what they don't want or
need. C. G. HUBBARD.
Eureka, April IL, 1879.