The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1884-01-04
DAKOTA LAND-GRABBlNG.
Views and Suggestions of Ex-Congressmar
Wiiiiams. Now Register nj the Water
town. Dat. Land Office

- ~ AF8As s<3htNh Ah1G
The action OF the government in appointing
special agents. says q New York Tribune cor
respondent from Waterfowl, Oak. is having
the effect o, terrifying the grabbers. The dis
tr1ct land officers are themselves almost pow
eriess. FIX parte afidavits in proof are sub.
mitted, and In the nature OF things accepted
It is here that the work of the special age nj
begins. In any doubtful or suspicious case his
~gervices are required for investigation, and
~irregularity works forfeiture, aud perjury en-
tails prosecution, when the law is effectivel
administered
Upon this whole subject the views of the
Hon. Q. g. Williams, representative in con-
gress from Wisconsin. and now register or the
She United States land Office At this place. may
be interesting. Being asked whether he be-
lieved that y large amount of fraud had been
perpetrated upon the government in the entry
OF lands in his district ne replied:
"Yes, and no. In the sense OF literal com
pliance with law, a large number of entries
would not stand the test. Take, for instance,
the question or continual residence on home
steadg and presumption claims. If the claimant
is required to live continuously for six months
on his claim, and not leave it more than the
esta blishel farmer would leave his homestead,
D very small proportion OF claimants, even oil
those make oath to continuous residence, com
ply with the law. Many unquestionablv do.
But the question, as well as the situation, Is a
mixed one, depending largely on good faith
ana the reasonable endeavor OF the settler.
IL is easy to say that q man shall live on 3
claim six months, or five years, as the easc
may be; bat the literal fulflment OF the
requirement is quite another matter. Many
honest settlers are poor. A large prop rtion
OF them are young men from twenty-five to
thirty years of age, and unmarried. They
have accumulated means enough to get to
Dakota. They enter . piece OF land, break
FIVE or ton acres, or hire it broke, build a claim
cabin l0xl2, aud dig q well; and then their
maass arc exhausted. Large numbers of these
have no teams. They cannot work the
raw prairies with their hands, aud
30 they seek work elsewhere, living on their
claims all they can, and eventua lily making
them their actual homes. la ali such cases,
where the existence OF good faith is estab
lished, / think the policy Of the government
should be, and is, to favor the claimants.
They are just the persons la whose interest
the law was passed. But the great d ficulty Is
In determining who are the bona fide settlers.
or course the amount and value OF improve
monts afford some test; but the man of means
who scarcely ever aces his claim can put on
more improvements in thirty days than tue
sIrnggling settler can in six months or five
years.
ssIn the last congress l voted for the repeal
OF the present law; but / am now not so sure
u lll6 6OuhAlSDoo VA Nb0b RSAAFJ a hbN w.
American method, il not maxim of Legislation
is: If a law does not OPP ,rats exactly to suit
you, repeal ii, annihilate II ntt srly. Hence, you
want everything absolutely perfect, and as a
consequence have nothing at all. Ey 'ry posi-
Bile guarantee should be thrown around both
the pre-emption aud homestead laws; AMI, if
it was possible, some better method OF testing
final proof should be adopted han the ex parte
afidavits presented at the local offices.
''Yet what can the interior department, the
land commissioner or the local Offices doy We
here in Mat-rtown are dIsposing of final proofs
1t the rate OF twenty q day. To investigate
would be equivalent to dis osing of that num-
Der of S1aali law suits. But we can do nothing
Of the kind. All we can do is to examine the
face OF the papers. The policy OF sending ont
special agents to go upon the land, If nsces-
sary, is a move in the right direction. Yet n
sooner does the department attempt to syste-
matizs the force and make IL effective than the
,ry of economy is raised, and the work OF ex-
posing fraud and protecting the government is
crippled
should be emit led, [ don't think that 4S0 acres
Is any too much for q bona tide settler. In a
,ountry where capitalists and spectators &C
1Gire ten, twenty or fifty thousand acres in a
body, / do not regard it a bad policy to help
The INQUEST settler to the pos session of 300,
ADO, or even O acres o. which to ffortify and
battle against these largs ~estat5s. for in my
OPINION luis l6TTlAOIN - 0GSbLliOD W hGiu bLc
largest landed estates IN North America.
'sWith respect 10 the timber culture laws, !
think, that if co Igress had set up forty days aud
forty nights TO frame a law which should utterly
defeat Itself, they could not more porfec ly
have. ACCOMPLISHED that result than has been
done by these laws. The practical result is
that th re are no trees II has become a COM
mon saying that you might IS we'll look for a
settler ia q claim shaDty as for trees on q tree
claim. While this is ali unjust reflection on ths
hardy settler, il is an absolute definition so far
AS tree claims go. Trees are the exception
bs. under this law. The chic
defect is embodied in the single word
REIMBURSEMENT 1t works in this wise: You
take a tree claim The law requires you to
break five acres the first year. cultivate that
the eecond, and break five acres more. Til,
third year you must plant the hrst i've acres
to trees. And here is where the difficulty
arises. II you are living in New York o.
Wisconsin, aud do not wish to plant the trees,
Tie law allows you b 'relinqulsh,' which
amounts to selling Your claim. You relinquis
ID the government, bnt IL realty for, my bene
III, / payi. e Won 500 or y l,0UV, as the Case
may be. Imske a new entsyson tie land aud
commence just where you. did lam require
to b. leak FIVE acres the first year, and so on
When l /, ach the third year l must pant treef
or re4ih quish, and so / re. inqaish 10 some one
else. He commences whers l did, AMI so il
may pass on forever, and the government gets
no trees.
Nov this law | would amend IN Two particFS
lars. Under the law thsre cal DO bas one tree
claim of 100 acres Ia each section, and THIS
one when rellnquisned may ba changed TO .
honest al, LEAVING the section without any
tree claim. i Won provide once a tree cla n
is always q tree claim, ! would allow ia.
c.aima It to a sign his claims aud IMPROVE
men,s at any time foe just That he couBl go
for them; andI would allow tue assignee to dc
the sam aud 30 ON, but always Lolliag tn
claim suhiectlo forfeitrne to the government
for faiiuce t. plant and. On tiyAte the trsss al
! The end OF eight years | would call time
Uuder the law thus amend d no Only wout,
the trees bs grawsng at the end Of eight years
| but ia less than three years these pralrics