Western cyclone., 1886-05-27
!, IONS or ACRES OF PUBLIC LANDS.

rr;H be Restored to the Government IF
l''"' proper Legislation Is Carried out.
washington special: The public lands
on,mittee OF the present house has done
.ncb good in the way OF reform Of gross
"a danger GUS abuses Of the land system.
.oonoress passes bills it has prepared and
.,orted. the country will have reason to
.;o,ce over long-lasting abuses remedied.
re committee has reported for the action
:. +be house a considerable number Of
oo..res. Among these are:
T;rst-Bills repeating the pre-emption.
..ahor culture and desert land acts. These
j the laws under shelter Of which great
- of the enormous land frauds have
Ioor carried on. Some Of these laws we're
sorried on at the instigation Of land grab
% All Of them have been found in prac-
10 TO encourage and protect systematic
,nolation OF the public domain to so vast
u extent that at this moment only about
n 200 900 acres Of arabic lands remain
~ homesteads for the people, though, for
+nnately. if this congress does it's duty, not
as than 15O,O00,00O more will be recov-
cred.
second-The committee has reported a
,nmber Of the bills fixing the individual
rights Of settlers.
Third-It has reported and has ready for
oction a number Of land grant forfeiture
hills by which vast area of public lands
iii he Justly recovered for the benefit Of
he neope. and held, if bad laws are re-
nealed. for actual settlement on such terms
a will guard them against land grabbing.
Fourth-One OF these forfeiture bills has
already passed the house and is in the
hands OF the senate public lands COM
nittee where it has laid for several months.
This bill declares the forfeiture Of 8,OOO,-
boo acres Of land in the heart Of the south
rn states These lands were granted
hirty years ago, in 1856. Not one OF the
roads for which the land was granted has
eyer been built. On not one OF them has
wen a mile Of track ever been laid. On
bnly one Of them-the Gulf and Ship Island
has a spade ever been struck into the
round and that was for mere speculative
purposes two or three years ago, in an
bndeavor to keep the grant alive wANn
had long ago justly lapsed Yet these
5000 600 Of fertile acres in the heart Of the
Southern states have been held since 1856,
for thirty years, through war and peace,
sacred against the occupation OF farmers
and for the benefit of extinct or specula-
tive corporations. Surely it is high time to
restore these millions OF acres to the public
domain and to the use and occupation Of
the people. The names OF the corporations
or whose benefit these funds have been so
long held are:
The Gulf & Ship Island railroad.
The Tuscaloosa & Mobile railroad.
The Mobile & New Orleans railroad.
The Elyton & Baird's Bluff railroad.
The Memphis & Charleston railroad.
The Savannah & Albany railroad.
The New Orl ans & State Line railroad.
The Iron Mountain OF Arkansas railroad.
Filthy other forfeiture bills will be re-
covered for the public domain land grants
notearned and justly forfeitable as follows:
The Atlantic Il Pacific railroad, %, ,871,-
300 acres-this corporation having earned
hnd got 6,000,0 900 acres outside Of this.
The Ontonagon & Brule River railroad,
100000 acres.
The Southern Pacific, in all $4,000, 1000
acres
The Houghton, Marquette & Ontonagon
railroad. 294, 400 acres
The Mobile & Girard railroad, 100000
hcres
The Wisconsin Central railroad, 4O6, $50
hcres.
The California g. Oregon railroad, 2. 500,-
600 acres.
The Oregon & California railroad, 2. 500,-
GOO acres.
The Northern Pacific railroad, 36,OOO,-
900 acres.
This does not clear the docket. More re-
mains but these forfeiture bills have been
perfected and reported to the house. That
more remains any one can easily see in the
report Of Land Commissioner Sparks, but
this list shows strikingly how wasteful and
careless have been the grants OF lands to
corporations, and how negligent has been
The interior department for many years in
not holding the corporations to the fulfill
ment OF their contracts.