St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-12-05
PUBLIC LAND SHARKS
Shown Up by Commissioner Sparks OF the
General Land Office in His
Annual Report.
Fraud and Open Evasion Of the Land
Laws the Rule Rather Than
the Exception.
Manner in Which Cattle Ranges and
Valuable Timber Tracts Are
Falsely Procured.
Land Grant Forfeitures and the De-
partment's Poncy--T1mber
TrespaSs.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4.-The annual re-
port of the commissioner OF the genera
land Office for the year ending June 81 has
been made public. The operations OF the
Office during this period were chiefly under
the previous administration, the Democratic
commissioner having assumed office Oh
March 26. This short time, however. was
sufficient, says the commissioner, to show
him that reforms were imperative and thai
stthe magnificent estate of the nation in its
public lands had been to wide extent
wasted under defective and lmprOvident
laws and through laxity of public admin,
istration astonishing in business sense, II
not culpable in reckleSSnesS of official
responsibility. He found that the land de
partment had been very largely conducted
to the advantage of speculation and monop-
oily rather than to the public interest, and
he was satisfied that thousands Of acres OF
public land had been annually patented
without foundation in law OF equity. Inc
commissioner then submits indlsputable
evidence in support OF these statements.
The total
DISPOSAL OF PUBLIC LANDS
during the year amounted TO nearly
tW6UtN-OHC llllllOlI A1OA1i hAiASLA w eaH
received little over eight and half mill
Ions of dollars. The homestead entries
amounted TO 7,415, $50. IS acres and the tim
Der culture entries TO 4,755, 005.57 acres.
The number OF agricultural patents issued
was 80, 172, an increase over the preceding
year OF p, $50. Eighteen railroad patents
and one wagon road patent, embracing
l154, 1912 acres were issued. Great
looseness and irregularity has existed in the
surveying service, and the evidence tends
10 prove that combination existed for con-
rolling surveys to its profit, and work has
been paid for that was never performed.
The act of March 3, 1879, making deposits
for surveys negotiable opened up the public
ands to new and indefinite schemes OF
Ipoilation, and it has been eagerly taken adj
vantage of, reaching total in five years OF
nearly six millions of dollars. The land
office was bound to be mere Instrumental
fty in the hands of surveying rings" The
commissioner has accordingly revoked lille
gal surveying contracts and refused to APP
prove irregular accounts, but in order to ac-
complish the greatest good it is recon-
mended that the act mentioned be repealed.
The matter of fraudnlently obtaining land
Is instanced by the commissioner as follows:
HOW IT IS DONE.
''Prospectors employed by lumber firms
and corporations seek OUT and report the
most valuable timber tracts in California.
Oregon, Washington Territory or else
where; settlers applications are manufac-
tured as a basis for survey; contracts are
entered into and pushed through the gen.
eral land office in hot haste; skeleton sur
vey is made and full field-notes improviSed
for plating: the final acts of approval and
nffinio1iu avnQnjfQH. Qntry
papers, made perfect in form by competent
attorneys. are filed in bulk, and the manip-
ulators enter into possession of the land
and exploit its timber, which is shipped to
foreign ports or sold to our own citizens at
the market price OF timber cut from
private lands, or. as the case may
be, the lands are retained for the advance
of price which is to come from forest mo-
nopoly. This has been the course of pro-
ceeding heretofore. In single case re-
ported by special agents in California it was
discovered that an English firm had OBJ
tanned 10000 acres of the choicest red
wood lands in the state, worth perhaps an
average of 500 per acre, while the cost of
procuring surveys and fraudulent entries
did not probably exceed $500 per quarter
section, or at the rate of So per acre.
In the same manner extensive coal de-
posts in Western territory are acquired in
mass through expedited surveys, followed
by fraudulent presumption and committed
homestead entries" The same method is
followed with regard to cattle ranges.
No good can come of the rushing of sur
veys and it is recommended that the amount
appropriated for general surveying purposes
be reduced. 1t is also suggested that a
penalty of fine and imprisonment be i'm
nnca6 for foICa Tho offica fnn
has been very prodigal in granting claims
to land made on the declaration that the
land was procured from the Spanish or
Mexican governments before the territory
was acquired by the United States. There
is reason to believe that large number of
THESE CLAIMS ARE FICTITIOUS.
One instance is given where an original
claim of one square league in New Mexico
has become magnifed to 100 square
leagues. The Maxwell grant, is then re-
ferred to. it being shown that 1,700, 900
acres were patented when only SO, 600 acres
were claimable. Pitiful appeals of settlers
to be protected from fraudulent surveys, the
commissioner says, have hitherto been
pigeon-holed, and numerous instances are
given. The department has never had any
adequate supervision over surveyors gen.
eral whose reports were accepted on their
face and i'll consequence much injustice has
occurred. No claims should be con-
firmed on the reports of these officers
without thorough Investigation, and while
all righful claims should be confirmed as
speedily as possible, baselesS ones should be
rejected without hesitation. Congress, it
is suggested, is the safest tribunal for pass
ing upon doubtful claims. and it is recon-
mended that claims not presented within
one year be barred forever.
The irregularity with which railroads, in
the Northwest and elsewhere. have OBJ
tanned the withdrawal OF lands from settle
ment by the
FILING OF SUPPOSITIoUS MAPS
is then adverted to and strongly condemned
Railroads have also had lands patented to
them before they had earned the land An
example, he declares is the Winona & ST.
Peter road, where the land approved will
not fall short of 800, 900 acres in excess of
the grant. Other instances are also given,
There has also been great abuse in the in
demnity selections by railroads whereby a
preSumptive right is acquired by them to
the land thus selected, to the great injury
of the actual settler. In all cases of con-
test, whether with actual settlers or the
government, the railroads seems to have
been especially and unjuStly favored A
list of roads is then given, to which grants
have been made, and which have not been
completed in the time prescribed. Among
them are portions of the St. Paul. Mime
apolis Il Manitoba, Southern Minnesota
Hastings d Dakota, st. Paul & Sioux City
and Northern Pacific. The grants along
such portions of these roads as were not
completed within the time specified, the
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