Arizona weekly enterprise., 1888-02-25
ARIZONA WEEKLY ENTERPRISE.
FLORENCE, FEBRUARY 25, 1888
The New Land Law.

The committee on pubic lands ot the House has practically settled upon bill which it will offer to the House ill lieu of the present land laws. They have made some changes in the bill as re- ported by the subcommittee. Tho bill has been reduced in size slightly, but some amendments suggested by several members Cf the committee and already printed have been adopted. Thus Tn section 6, which provides for the removal of timber where purchased from pubic Ian ds, the time of removal is still limited to six years, but provision has been added which guarantees to the purchaser
 that timber and the right of removal, while subject to the directions of the secretary of the interior, shall be dee med personal property for all purposes. In proviso to the same act, however, a | clause Is inserted as follows: "But no l person, company or corporation shall pur
 chase or hold in any State or Territory greater quantity of such timber than the | amount of timber on four sections of
 land" In section a provision is also inserted cutting out the clause fixing the minimum value of the timber on any land at S10 per acre. This change is made in deference to the advice of the secretary of the interior. In section II,
 which provides that all lands reserved for military or other special purposes and all isolated and detached portions of the public domain, shall be disposed of under the provisions of the general law specially applicable thereto, the bill is changed to
 read: ''That all insulated and discon- nected tracts or parcels of public domain less than 160 acres may be ordered sold at private or public sale for not less than S12 25 per acre by the secretary of the interior, when in his judgment it shall be proper to do so. All lands reserved for military or other special purposes shall be disposed of under the provisions of the law specially applicable thereto.
 Section 12, providing that lands unfit for cultivation without irrigation or destitute of timber of commercial value, shall be classified as desert lands, has been so changed that it reads: "That except mineral lands and reserved lands, all lands unfit for cultivation" etc.
 Section 13, which amends the act for the sale of desert lands, is made generally applicable to all States and Territories. Upon the suggestion of the secretary of the interior the law in reference to desert lands is changed so as to make the limit ill which person may begin his work of irrigation three years instead of five. The payment required therefor is fixed at 20 cents per acre, to be paid when the de- claration is filed. The following pro- vision is added, also: "But no patent shall be issued for such land unless with in one year after the expiration of the said three years. The person making such entry, or in case of his death, his widow or heirs or devises; or, in case of widow making such entry, then her heirs or devises shall prove by two house. holders that he, she or they have resided on the same for the term of three years immediately succeeding the time of mak- ing the entry, and that he, she or they have actually by irrigation raised upon one-eighth of an acre of land agricultural products of commercial value, and makes affidavit that no part of such land has been alienated except as provided ill st ction 22S8, and that he, she or they, will bear true allegiance to the govern ment of the United States, then such he, she or they, if at that time citizens or the United States, shall be entitled to pat ent as in other cases provided by law" The provision in relation to the desert land IS also amended by the following proviso: That any actual settler on any t act of tie desert land under the provision hereof, may mortgage not ex
 ceeding one-half of his claim to procure means for the reclamation thereof as aforesaid; but that the said mortga. @ shall be subject to the reserved rights of the United States as defined in this act and shall be dependent in particulars, S o far as the United States are concerned, | upon the performance of the acts requir- ed to be performed by said settlers Sec tion Is adopts McKenna's amendment. providing that when homestead settle s have entered less than 160 acres of lai they may enter " her ad ditional lying col tiguous to the original entry, which | shall not, with the land originally en- tered, exceed in the aggregate 160 acres, or if he so elect he may surrender til C | land first entered for cancellation and be i allowed to enter land under the home stead law the same as if the surrendered | entry had not been made. Residence and cultivation or such settlers upon lands first entered shall be considered as residence and cultivation for the same length of time upon the additional ol new, or if the settler has made final proof and obtained title to less thar 160 acres of land under the homestead law and has prior to the passage of tha
 act in good faith sold or conveyed the same to them, he or she may enter SC much of any other public lands as wher added to the quantity previously acquir
 ed and sold shall not exceed 160 acres.
 An additional section is added to the bil
 providing that a strip of land of tn
 width of two rods on each side of tn
 section lines on public lands shall b
 opened as public highways in any count,
 or parish by the proper local authoritie
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