The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1885-05-28

Commissioner SPARKS 1xpiains the Scope
Of the Late Order euspending Final 40
ton on Land Entries.

Of the Late Order euSpeuding Final 40
tion ON Land Entries.
Washington Special;-The order issued by
the commissioner Of the general land office.
dated April 8, declaring that final .cticn hpoh
all entries Of The public land, except private
cash entries and such scrip locations as are not
dependent upon settlement aud cultivation,
should hereafter be suspended in Colorado, Da-
kota, Idaho, Utah, Washington Territory. New
Mexico, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada and
small paft of Kansas Nebraska and Minnesota,
and also declaring that final action should be
suspended unQn all timber entries throughout
the country, has caused great controversy in
the territories named and decided opposition
from the agents and attorneys at Washington
and elsewhere, who are engaged in the bust
ness of securing patents for claimants.
1t is claimed that the order in ques-
ton ia paralyzing land business in oil
settlers who wish to prove up on their claims
SO that they can borrow money to 20 on with
tho Improvement of their lands. Commissioner
Sparks said recently, when asked for his
opinion upon this point:
That order was intended to cover what term
infested districts have written number Of
letters to people who are complaining about it.
and / want it thoroughly understood that there
is no disposition on my part to do honest set
tiers an injury. 1t Is only the knaves and
J.
tiers from persons living. in these districts who
approve of the order. They say that IN many
regions not enc entry in fifty is bona fide; that
1t Is bhsinSss practice to do false swearing to
get title to land Timber entries are almost
uniformly fraudulent Now it is to catch these
people, that l have said that we should sus-
pend final action on claims. This whole office,
including the assistant commissioner, the law
clerk and the various Chiefs are in harmony as
to the necessity and wisdom of that order. We
talked it all over and thought of various means
to be employed for the end desired One was
to close the local land Offices; but in that event
settlers arriving in the district would find
themselves unable to locate. That plan would
not work. Then it was suggested that we
close the land Office here, but that would be
obviously unadyisable. So thefe was nothing
for me to do except to say that would not ask
the secretary of the interior nor the president
to approve and sign patents when l believed
that fully one-half of them were fraudulent. In
this way l believe l have saved the public
domain,
FULLY MILLION ACRES
of land since April 8. The charge has been
made that the order was political and geograph-
lcal in its character, that the south was ex--
cepted. There are but four states in the sotth
where the United States has land offices-Flor-
Ida, Alabama, Louisiana and Arkansas Texas
owns her own lands. l fancy there is some
fraud in Florida In due time l will reach that
1t cannot be said that the south is excepted be-
cause Secretary Lamaris asouthern man. The
south was excepted because the bulk of fraud is
not in the South. There is five times as much
territory in the North that is not included in
all of Minnesota, Nebraska and Kansas are not
included, and in two of these states-Michigan
and Wisconsin, know there is fraud that 1Fe
ought to look after. TWAS not the intention to
PROSTATE the land business all over the country.
Nothing of the kind has been done. What we
tu iS TO fha
from going into, the hands of ranchmen and
spectators. The bona fide settler can borrow
just as much money on his certificate of entry
or his duplicate papers as he can upon the pat
emit All the first-class loan and trust COM
panies of the East desire to know is that the
borrower should be bona tide settler and that
he will be entitled to patent. 1t is the knave
who wants his patent rushed through in twenty
four hours. You will find that to-day in ILL
nois forty out of every one hundred entrymen
In this Office, and the settlers were satisfied to
have simply the duplicates But you will find
that the Louisina backbone patents we're taken
Cut of this office promptly, just as you will find
patents have been taken in all cases where
there is fraud.
ENCOURAGING THE SETTLERS.
WhenI am satisfied that there is good faith
on the part of the settler, there will be no diff
ficulty in his getting patent I shall satisfy
myself by means of special agents and detec-
tives whom l can thoroughly trust and upon
them 1 shall put such checks and counter de-
lection as will make it absolutely certain that
no false swearing or fraud can secure a pat
tent I see that the fight is begun upon me
from the land Office lawyers here and all
over the west and that the newspapers large
~ interested in the whole subject of land
Office business have opened fire upon me;
but 1 have determined to stand by the order.
Meanwhile, bona fde settlers all over the west
kl,o.x %11.r 1frfo
and go on with their Improvements. The land
is theirs just as much during the five years
which tine law requires them to stay upon it as
it ever can be, and if they are worthy people
there will be no difficulty in their borrowing if
they need to do so. cam OF see that, in order
to relieve these people of some anxiety, 1
should allow thieves and rascals to take NIL
lions of the public domain by false swearing.