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.
vantage of Both the Homestead
and Prescription Laws.


and Presumption Laws.
Washington, November Commits
sloner 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 presumption law. Since the passage
OF the presumption 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 a maximum
estate of
4oO ACRES TO EACH SETTLER.
It has been customary to take up pre-emp-
| ton and tree claim" at once, and after the
| lapse OF the shortest necessary interval to
mortgage the former for CROUCH to pay the
Government price of it; when, having Sc
| cured title, the settler Vas 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. It
leaves the settler still the right to secure
either presumption or homestead in addi-
ton to his stree claim" and as far as the
ruling itself goes, it leaves hint the right to
secure presumption claim in the usual way
and then secure a homestead By living upon
the land five years; but the latter right Cen
eneral Sparks does not concede.S It has been
stated that he has made a rulingsto 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
the way of demand for formal ruling on
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 a method of obtaining 160
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 Exemption 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be repealed, it would have the effect ,of re-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 pre-emption, standing together and in
terpreted as they have heretofore been,
OFFER TEMPTATION TO FRAUD
and place a 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" as 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 few months. Should the ruling in
Dictated as probable, never be made, tn at |
already made prohibiting the Communication of |
homestead claims by persons who have pre-
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
a claim is a test of good faith to which only
actual farmers who desire land for their own
cultivation will care to submit.