Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-11-23
COM. SPARKS LAST RULING.
No single settler to be Allowed Ad.
vnbtage of Both the Homestead
ana Presumption Laws.

WARRINGTON, November 23.- Commits
sioner Sparks has recently made ruling
which is probably destined to have an i'm
portant influence upon the course of trans
actions in public lands. He has decided in
substance that communication of homestead
is in effect and law the turning of entry
into presumption, and, as such, illegal when
the claimant has previously had the benefit
of the emption law Since the passage
of the pre- -emption law, it has been almost
a universal practice for settlers to secure
claims under both that and the presumption
law, in addition to which they have usually
taken the benefit of the timber culture law,
thus aggregating under the laws maximum
estate of
4S0 ACRES TO EACH SETTLER.
1t has been customary to take up n pre-emp-
ton and tree claim" at once, and after the
lapse of the shortest necessary interval, to
mortgage the former for enough to pay the
Government price of it; when, having Sc
curedtltle, the settler was at liberty to move
away and take the benefit of the homestead
law.
The ruling of the Commissioner is calcu-
lated to put an end to this practice. 1t
leaves the settler still the right to secure
either n presumption or homestead in add
ton to his tree claim" and as far as the
ruling itself goes, it leaves him the right to
secure presumption claim in the usual way
and then secure homestead by living upon
the land five years; but the latter right Gen.
eneral Sparks does not concede. 1t has been
stated that he has made ruling to the effect
that no person is entitled to the benefits of
BOTH PRE-EMPTIoN AND HOMESTEAD LAWS
This is incorrect, no such ruling having been
made. There is reason to believe, however
that when the question comes before him in
/, e 4 4 r..
the subject, he will hold that in passing the
homestead law Congress intended only to
give chance to settlers of limited means
by affOrding them n method of obtaining 100
acres of land without other outlay than the
payment of the customary fees in place of
purchasing under the presumption law. Such
ruling, he says, would be in concurrence with
the views which have inspired the movement
in Congress to repeal the presumption law
outright and should the timber culture law
be repealed, it would have the effect of re-
stricting the area obtainable by single
claimant to one-quarter section. General
Sparks holds that the two laws, homestead
and presumption, standing together and in
terpreted as they have heretofore been,
OFFER A TEMPTATION TO FRAUD
and place premium upon it, The hope of
securing second claim is held out by one
law as an inducement to make settlement
and improvements upon the first claim of
the most temporary character, simply de-
signed to make false show of good faith
and to ''swear by" rs Immediately after
final proof or communication, as the case may
be, they are to be abandoned and another
residence established upon claim number
two. General Sparks holds that if Congress
designed to give the same settlers
THE BENEFIT OF BOTH LAWS,
1t would have imposed upon him require
ments to establish temporary home in one
place only to be abandoned for another
within a few months. Should the ruling in
Dictated as probable, never be made, tn at
already made prohibiting the Communication of
viously been pre- .emptors, will still, he be-
lieves, have an important result in prevent
ing, to considerable extent, speculation in
claims. Obligations to live five years upon
claim is n test of good faith to which only
actual farmers who desire land for their own
cultivation will care to submit.