The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1880-03-30
THE PEOPLES IIERITAGh.
Recommendations Made by b AeubltC
Land COmmissiOa. ~ Hs

For the last eight months tile public lands
commission, which was organized under the
act of March 3, 1878, has been busily engaged
In the performances of its duties. During the
summer and autumn the members of the
commission visited most of the western states
and territories, including Colorado, and
gathered the various subjects committed TO it
for investigation and recommendation by act
of congress- - ! fFfE%
Since December 1 the members of the com
mission have been in session in Washington,
busy in digesting the testimony taken and in
preparing their report. The commission has
submitted a preliminary report to congress &C
companied by the draft Of a bill to unity and
amend the present laws relating to the survey
and sale of public lands.
REORGANIZATION OF LAND OFFICE.
The commission has reported in favor of a
reorganization of the general land office and q
material increase in the official and clerical
force, both of which are at present inadequate
to perform the necessary duties imposed upon
them. Another recon- inendation covers a
provision for regulating appeals in contested
cases. 1t is probable, too, that important
changes will be made in regard to the meth
DDS of survey and the officers employed to
survey the public lands.
Among changes recommended are provisions
that swamp lands and pasturage land may
hereafter be surveyed and patented by town.
ships, that better provisions shall be made for
making the boundaries of surveyed tracts, that
the system of letting public surveys by contract
be discontinued, and that all surveys and
boundaries between states and territories shall
be hereafter made under direction of the coast
and geologic survey. The commission recon-
mends that the Office of receiver at each local
land office be abolished. There are now about
ninety-tive of these officers. If this recon-
mendation be carried out it will save a great
deal of expense.
Tn commissioners recommend a division
of public lands into five general classes, ara
bic, irriGabie, pasturage, timber and mineral.
Some Of the most important recommended
tons ofthe commission relate to the manner
of disposing of the various classes of public
lands.
ARABLE AND IRRIGABLE LANDS.
The commission has recommended the re-
peal of the pre-emption law, OH the general
ground that its chief use now is to increase
the size of individual holding of public land,
a result which it is known the members Of
the commission consider at best of doubtful
value. Having made this recommendation,
they will probably supplement it by another
to the effect that hereafter arabic public lands
shall be disposed of underline homestead law.
The provision of the tlmber-culture act is
preserved, but the benefits restricted to those
persons who may be actually engaged in per-
tecting titles to other entries under the'home-
stead law, or who have gained such titles, and
continue to reside OH their homestead. The
present laws regarding town site locations are
not to be disturbed.
The commission recommend that no limit
be placed upon the amounts of irrigable land
which any one person may buy. cit has
been found in practice that the amount Of
capital needed to irrigate land successfully is
SO large that individual settlers cannot under
take the enterprise. Among the
dations on this subject is that the land shall
be sold at twenty-five cts. per acre, one-fifth to-
be paid dow and the balance at the end of
three years, and that no patent to such lane
shall be issued until it is shown that a speci-
fed sum per cre-say $2-has been eXpend-
ed Oh its reclamation.
PAsTURAGE LANDS.
Lands classed as pasturage will comprise
untimbered and nOn-mineral lands not IRA
BILE or capable of irrigation. They embrace q
large proportion of the areas Of many Of the
Western States and territories. Respecting
the disposal OF these lands some highly i'm
portant changes are recommended. As to the
quantity Of land which one person may buy,
the commission recommended that it be not
limited, for the reason that at least four square
-, W -tcSo NAS VI CoSAl iSi1o VA pC
required to equal in value 100 acres of arabic
land.
In the bill the price of these pasturage lands
is graduated as follows: All lands sold prior
to January |, 1856, to be at the rate of ST .25
an acre. All lands sold from the latter date
to January l, 1890, to be at the rate of 81 an
acre. After the date last mentioned all lands
remaining to be held and sold at ~seventy-tive
cents an acre. At the expiration of every
three years after January l, 1890, the price o,
the lands remaining unsold to be reduced
twelve and one-half cents per acre until q
minimum price of twelve and one-haif cents
is reached, when ho further reduction shall
be made.
There is q recommendation to the eflec'
that pasturage lands shall be open to home
stead settlement, no one entry to comprise
more than 1850 acres. On filing such ar
entry the settler is required to pay a hNee
sum, Say 500.
HOMESTEAD COLONIES.
1t Il is quite probable, from intimatiens tina,
have been dropped from time to time b,
members of the commission, that they will
push their general recommendation in fayol
of homestead colonies. "One of the hlndran.
ces of homestead settlement in the sparsel,
peopled regions of the West, under the pres,
ent law, is the lack OF society and school and
church privileges. This will be found a fal
greater obstacle if the size of each homestead
is made sixteen times as great as now, ant
that will be the case if pasturage homesteads
Of 1850 acres are granted" The commission
therefore recommend that where a colony OF
twenty or more families desire To enter home
steads, either on the arabic or irrigablc or the
pasture lands of the United States, they shall
be permitted to do so, and that they may lay
out a village as near as may be to the centel
of the tract OF land entered, and live therein