The St. Johns herald., 1888-11-01
COPP'S LAND REVIEW.
Annual Report of the Commission CT of the General Land Office Recommendation that the Pre- enDti0n and Timber Culture Laws should be Repealed.
wrItten for the S. sohns Herald.

Written for the St. Johns Herald
 The annual report fthe Commis sioner of the General Land office is in the hands of the printer and will be given to the public in few days.
 Like several of his predecessors in office, Mr. Stockslager recom- mends Legislation for the proven tion of frauds in relation to the ac- quirement of title to pubic lands, and expresses, in no uncertain lan- guage, the opinion that the pre- emption, timber culture, desert land, and homestead laws so far as re- lates to the communication clause, should be repealed or greatly modi- fled, and that the public domain should be devoted exclusively ta the use and benefit of persons whe in good faith desire the same for actual homes.
 An enormous array of testimony is introduced tending to show that the laws above mentioned admit of the perpetration of frauds,a ,are de- trimental to the settlement of the country, and operate to defeat the best interests of the government which demand that the lands shall be actually occupied by bona fide citizens and settlers owning their homes.
 The re peal of the pre-emption, desert land and communication clause of the homeetead laws is advocated because they afford opportunities by which interruptions spectators, with the aid of conscienceless con federates used as dummy settlers, are enabled to acquire title to vast areas of land to be held for sale at advanced prices or to be leased to families who by reason of their greed are prevented from securing homes of their own. They tend to the erection in this country of a landlord and tenant system similar to those of some European coun- tries, inconsistent with the princi- ples of our government, and to build up land aristocracy.
 The timber-cuture law is de- nouneed, not because title to land is frequently fraudulently secured under the same, but because it ope- rates to reserve the lands from settlement for period of years without any equival, mt to the gov ernment, and with but little cost to the timber-culture entryman. The entry of 160 acres costs but small sum as fee and commissions. No thing is repaired of the entryman for one year, then he must break five acres ofthe land-at trifing cost. During the next year he must cultivate the five acres already broken and break another five acres. The next year he is requir- ed to plant five acres to timber and cultivate the other five. The next he must plant the second five acres to timber.
 Thus at tsifiRg expense, the par ty may for four years exercise com plete control of a quarter section of land without violating or evad- ing the law, and sell a relinquish- ment of his entry for good round | sum, the increase in value render ing the privilege ofentering the land very valuable.
 The Registers and Receivers of nearly all Of the district land of tices, in letters to the Commission CT, concur in the opinion that the majority of public land frauds are perpetrated under the laws named.
 It is almost certain tilat the Commissioners report, with its convincing testimony, will secure at the next session of Congress, if not at this, repeal ofthe pre-emp tion and timber-culture, and al least modification of the desert land laws,
 HESRY N. CoPP.
 Deer are fast exterminated in the mountains of Oregon, and the