Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1885-05-02
New York San.

new lOfk SAu.
II Commissioner Sparks has any mo-
ten Of reform in government. beyond
the retention. careful coddling and
promotion Of people in Office for the
reason that they are in office. he will
fnd plenty Of work before him IN bis
new round OF duties.
Fraud and waste in the adminiatra-
ton Of. pablo affairs have nowhere been
more conspicuous and gross than in the
land system. So vast hare been tine
spoliations Of the public domain, and
90 bold the evasions or opeta defiance Of
the homestead aud pre- einption laws,
that some az least Of these wrongs must
obviously have been effected through
the o0nnivanee or the active completely
of Government officials. Ii was not
enough that during the thirty years
from 1850 to 1890 grants of 154.067 SIS
aeres of the public domain we're made
for railroad purposes, bat In addition
maay millions Of acres have bean stolen
by powerful corporations through vio-
lation OF the statutes. Commissioners
Sparks predecessor pointed out that
lands worth from SIS 10 500 per acre
have been sold for les than 81. Some
years ago great tract was pFe-empted
a. desert land, whereupon the owner OF
the adjoining ground sent 10 the Int
rior Department an ironicai comment
on the supposed unproduetiveness Of
the land 20 pre-empted. in the shape Of
sweet potato weighing seventeen
pounds, grown On his own coil of pre-
cissly the same character. Timber
lands, too, have been grssped by foreign
companies ia defiance Of the laws, and
have then been rapidly stripped Of their
trees, to the detriment VI the surround
log region. The prospective result OF the
many and various land frauds and land
grabbings was thus rel forth by Com
missioaer Mcfarland:
a. The time IL near at hand when there
will be no public lands TO invite settle
ment or afford oitixsns Of she country
an Opportunity 10 secure cheap homes.
Meanwhile vast stretches Of nnculti-
yAted lands are evsrywhsre observable,
title 10 which has been acquired By
svasians Of iaw. The numerous meth
oda Of disposal nov existing and the
lAxity OF precautionary provisions
sagainsf misrepresentation are resulting
in waste Of the pataie domain, with
oui The compensation attendant upon
small awuerships for actual settlement
II ID beyond question that millions Of
acres have been illegally fenced by eat
de companies. while fraudulent entries
have been constantly increasing. We
dad In Commissioned Mel ariand's last
annual repurt q list Of ESQ fraudulent
entries In Dakota that have been invss-
tigsted daring the previous twelve
months, SOS in Colorado. l39 in Califor
MIA, s29 in New Mexice, 81 in Mime
sta, 100 IN WASHINGTON Territory, la
In Nebraska, ls9 In Kansas, and - %
sith othar States ind Territories. A
land agent IN New Mexico computes
| that 20 per cant. % he entries there
are frandnlens, and an agent n Dskota
assigns like character 70 three oat 81
evsry fe1F entries there. The Genera
Land Office investigates snch ffando
lent entries ae are complained of 81
settlers OF others who have access 10 tn
required Information.
ku,h are some OF the existing fact
under which Commissioners sparks taksl
charge of tie Land OfSse. Apparensl,
for many years there must have beeI
both inadsquAey in the laws and made
qnaes IN their ecxeuuEion TO produc'
sush reszlta In &Sme instances u 40
gears unqusstionak4e that REGISTERS an
rece5vers have bean corrupt. Commis
sionex SPARKS hae aiven indicAssens Of
purpose 70 inses<igate frands b sn1
pending routine Gotion on esrtat
elzssas OK land eufriss until inqairie
into theif chAfaesng can Be maae.
trns administrative referm should eva
heRin anywhere with turning the rascal
c1t. q g whefc GosernmeAs agents ma
apparenkig have aided In the coz1mll
nsn q wrorgs esther By neeiizeaos .
secsptina bribes for sszissAnos er .