Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1885-12-11
LAND STEALS.


Land Commissioner Sparks, in his
annual report to the secretary of the
interior, has given out a document that
will cause widespread alarm over the
west, for he claims TO have discovered
rOltenneSs in every branch of! the land
Office; that steals almost without limit
have been permitted in the past, and
that large proportion Of the claims
entered by pre-emPtOrs and homestead
ers have been entered contrary To law.
After an Introduction i'm which he refers
TO tie fact that he has had but few
months experience, the commissioner
says:
/ found that the magnificent estate
Of the nation in its public lands had
been TO wide extent wasted under de-
fective and improyident laws and
through laXity of public administra-
ton astonishing in business sense If
not culpable ia reckleSsneSs of official
responsibility.
The widespread belief of the people
of this country that the land depart
ment has been Very largely conducted
to the advantage Of speculation and
monopoly, private and corporate, rather
than in the public interest, have found
supported by developments III every
branch OF the service. 1t seems that
the prevailing idea running through
this Office and those subordinate TO 1T
was that the government had no dis
tinctiVe rights to be considered and no
special interests To protect; hence, as
between the government and spoilers OF
the public domain, the government
usually had the worst of it. l am sat
/ isfied that thousands of claims without
I foundation in law or equity, involving
millions Of acres of public land, have
! been annually passed 10 patent upon
the single proposition that nobody but
the government had any adverse
| interest.
The commissioner then, without
gloves, handles the question of loseness
in surveying the public domain, show
/ ing that millions of acres have been in
correctly surveyed in the. west, Col
Orado, Oregon, Wyoming, California
and New Mexico being the principal
places noted. Besides, he says:
Surveys have been extended during
the last five years far beyond the needs
] Va NSANiAAAANO bNNhPtAAAOti VI NliC DULL
Nearly the whole of the territory of
| Wyoming and large portions of Mon
tana have been surveyed under the
depOsitsystem. and the lands Oil the
streams fradulently taken up under the
desert land act, to the exclusion OF
future settlers desiring homes in those
territories. Nearly all of Colorado, the
choicest cattle raising portions of New
Mexico, the accessible timber lands OF
California, largely the forests of Wash.
ington Territory, and the principal part
of the pine lands of Minnesota are
already surveyed, and in all the western
land states and territories, the surveys
have anticipated actual population fol
years to come. To enable the pressing
tide of western immigration to secure
homes upon the public domain it is nee
cessary, not that further surveys SHOULD
be fastened, but that the hundreds o.
millions of acres of public lands nov
unlawfully appropriated should b,
wrested from Illegal control. i find M
occasion, other than that of facilitatin!
speculation, for any immediate extern
sion Of the public surveys. The amour
of annual appropriations for the genera
surveying service may, inmy judgment
he reduced with advantage to the pub
, lie interests. and | have reduced esti
mates for such appropriation. | an
also convinced that it never has bee
necessary to pay augmented rates"
Taking Up the question of railroa
land grants, Mr.. Sparks reviews til
acts permitting such absorption of tn
public domain, and declares that whel
errors have been made they have al
: been made in favor Of the corporations
The commissioner details his inveSti
department, during which the mos
barefaced frauds were uneaTthed. III
declares that during the year twenty
eight special agents were employed t
investigate fraudulent entries, and say
that it is notorious that pre-emptiol
and committed homestead entries wer
almost invariably sold. He then de
scribes the methods of procedure il
such eases, men known as cowboys
being most frequently used i'll sucl
work. He continues:
Settlers who have appeared as wit
nesSes Tor the government against en-
tries fraudulently covering up agricul
tural lands near their homes. have haC
their crops destroyed and others have
been warned 10 leave by regulators
employed by the prOcurers of the fraud
ulent entries. High financial and pro
feSSional influences have been brOugh
To bear to discredit agents honest enough
To do their duty and for the purpose o
causing denominations and rehearsal
to he made or conducted under NOR
plant auspices. Ii, after all the mach
nations, hindrances, evasiOnS and de
lays that can he resorted to for ObStruct
ing or defeating the reproduction, at
formal hearing, of facts originally dis
covered by the personal examination
of special agent and testimony takeI
by him under oath, including the testi
mony of entrymen, if they could b,
found, decision is ultimately rendere'
against the entry, the assignee take
: technical appeals TO this Office and t,
the secretary. and two or three year
are consumed in trying to cancel TIN
most palpable fraudulent and wors
classes of cOllusive. procured and per
jured entries, even those made in name
well known to be fictitious.
The commissioner closes this subjec
by recommending the passage of Law
, to permit the commissioner to appoin
an agent to take testimony under oat
T and report to the commissioner who's
2 decision is to be made final.
5 Turning next to the -emption sys
C TEN, Mr.. Sparks narrates the early hi:
!. tory of this method of disposing of III
! public domain and its obvious intent a
v provided by the laws and statutes an