Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-01-07
Condensed General News.


Lad CpnArnisaionsr Sparks thinks he
NS2 nOt ~ exIIed. In an Interview he said:
XnsShN nFNmidonk n not nAtinfted with my
II m@mmr6sment III tho hand once then 7 am
Nuch faietmkan. have not sssn him for
eOtae time. ~ he has been busy ahont other
thtn@. bat I know he Il plaAsed With the
yIths OGlcs = bsing run. The state.
FSk.srapsAh a. made them
\ m~anaIaetnrsd out of whole cloth.
Th1 secretary Of the Interior has
meveS overfulcd 4 derision made by me-,
although he has sometimes suggested
I changes. Complaints against me aud the
mana 1ment 81 thu land Office come from
| people who are Interested in land frauds
and Jobs. The complaints In the West
emanats from editors who are interested
and from lawyers who hays TO GET along
somehow. We have q great many from
tAere. These stories are, ! believe, the
work Of people whose interests have been
cMected by my methods In running the
land office, and / know that n Of the ar
tirles printed in . Western journal WA
written upon the Office paper Of big firm
here.
Comm issioner Sparks In view OF the al
most universal comment as to his policy,
has felt constrained to Issue a new series
Of regulations Tor registers, receivers. and
spcciaI agsntsci the laud Office, which have
iuatheen promulgated. They mediiy in many
tInpOrtAnt particulars his recent sweeping
orders. They provide that homestead or
presumption claimants, who have made
bona edo settlements upon pub
lie lands, and who are living
upon, cultivating and improving the same
IN accordance with Law, with the intention
OF acquiring title thereto. shall be permit
ted to cut and remove from the portion to
be cleared for cultivation as much timber
a. is actually necessary for that purpose.
or Tor building fences or other Improve
unents on the lands entered. In clearing
for cultivation, should there be a surplus
Of timber the entryman may dispose Of
such snrplus; but IL 10 not allowable 70 do
nude the land Of its timber for the purpose
Of sale or speculation before this title has
oesn conveyed TO him by patent.
APsnsicn Decision Explained.
The pension bureau isin receipt Of thou
sands IL letters from al parts of tho coun.
try indicating the existence OF . Widespread
erroneons Impression that the recent
Of the supreme court IN the case
Of Mrs. Hattie A. Burnett Va. The United
States would bring at,oat aissses5 a total
Ia the rates OF pensions allowed to
wiaovs Of soldiers Of the late war. The ,
which was rendered by Justice
Harlan, on the contrary sustains the
practice OF the pension office. MIRA. Bur
nett's husband. Gen. Ward II Burnett, was
u pepsion OF S7Z per montn by a
act OF congress on account OF his
helpless condition, duo to wounds
received during the Mexican war, The
widow Was alloweda pension Of $50. in ac-
nordance with the provisions of the general
She, howevei, appealed to the court
claims. claiming the same amount per
that her husband had received, and
the court in its decision used this language:
The widow becomes entitled to a pension
lansi wnp cniitis6 20, Dut Mt tine rate ne
vas founded upon what ia the pension law
. technically called total disability
fns ISgrss ot disability by which HE pen.
don was rated makes no differences with
he widows right. After death all degrees
Il disability are considered by Law as oits
Ind tho same, to wit. total disability
lnd the rate oil pension given to that grade
the rate OF pension for the widow.
Tho pensions to living soldiers are granted
lccordiLg to their respective ~incapability
perform manual labor. When the disa-
Ii total, $40 q month il given ms nm
~quiyalent. A pension OF $40 a month,
he supposed equivalent for total disa.
,ility, = IL granted the widow.
The decision OF this United States su.
court, which has been so much mis-
simply. as before stated, nj
the judgment OF the court Of claims,
nd the long established practice OF the
'ension bureau has thereby received the
anction Of this highest tribunal in the
and.