Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-02-04
ToLAR'S LAND BILL.
Conditions Under Which 1t Proposes to Place
the Lands on the Market.
AUSTIN, TEX, Jan. 81, 1883.

now pending before the legislature IS
DR.. Tolar's bill providing for the sale Of
the public lands. It proposes to place
these lands on the market TO actual
settlers only, and at the minimum prices
now fixed by Law. to-wit: 81 per acre
for dry, and So for watered lands, on
forty year s time, and at per cent. in
terest, one foFtieth of the principal pay
able in advance and balance deferabie
until the end Of the forty years. lt re-
quires interest to be paid annually on
the lst day of August, with an
extension of six months upon pay
ment of 10 per cent. additional
on the amount of interest due; this pro-
vision being intended TO guard the for
fixture clause against working injustice
and undue hardship in cases of accident
and unavoidable misfortune to the pur-
chaser Lands sold under this act are
TO be nen-transferable except where
actual settlement has been made and
maintained for twelve months, and i'm
proyements TO the value of $500 have
been made thereon. When these re-
quirementS have been met the land may
be transferred but even then not TO
company or corporation, either foreign
or domestic. These provisions afford
ample protection against specula-
ton in claims and F'files'' by
predatory squatters, and by ali
others not bona fide settlers.
The actual settler is allowed to pay out
and get patent, if he wishes it, after
three years of continuous settlement and
occupancy The purchaser who does not
actually settle upon the land is not al
lowed TO pay it out until he has made
permanent improvements thereon to the
value Of 90 cents per acre or $500 per
section, which is the largest amount per-,
mitted to be sold to any one person.
While this is somewhat III derogation of
the present rule requiring actual settle
ment III every case, it is not unreasona-
bly, so. But few men will make such i'm
provenents without actual settlement,
and in any event that man who has
placed several hundred dollars worth
of improvements on the land has
contributed materially to the settlement
and development Of the country rs well
as TO the school fund by virtue of his
purchase.
The purchaser who has neither settled
upon nor improved his claim must pay
interest for ten years before he is ac-
corded the privilege Of paying ont and
obtaining patent This provision, to-
amount, and to actual citizens and resi-
dents Of Texas, and the maintenance of
the present prices, afford a sufficient
guarantee against monopoly and the pur-
chase of the lands by non resident capt.
talsts for investment merely. This class
of buyers can far better afford to pur-
chase the patented alternate sections
now offered at 81 20 to 81 per
acre than to undertake fraudulent pur-
chases OF state lands under these condi-
tons and limitations. But on the other
hand the seprovisions offer an inviting OPP
pOrtunity to the small farmers of the state
who comprise three-fourths of the agri-
cultural population, to obtain homes III
the West without such stringent condi-
tons of immediate and continued settle
ment, or forfeiture, as now renders ad-
venture into these distant and untried
fields so uninviting to the poor man. TN
der this bill all classes of cur citizens de-
string homes and unable TO pay much
cash down: the mechanic, the laborer OF
every kind as well as the farmer, and
more especially, our young men of
every calling, can provide for
homes in the near future by purchasing
and keeping interest paid up until such
time as they can permanently occupy
such land.
1t is believed that this bill will do more
to promote the development of the West
than any other plan that has been pro-
posed; and yet it does not sacrifice the
interest OF the school and other funds to
attain that end by reducing the price. 1t
is the interest and duty of the state to OBJ
tain fer these funds as good q price for
the lands as can reasonably be had, con-
sisteut with the settlement and develop
ment Of her western territory. The
purchases will be made III
small quantities or tracts, and
where the first payment is but a trit1e,
and the rate of interest is low,
81 90 per acre is not high price for the
lands. The first payment on n quarter
section, or 100 acres, will be only IS 90,
ana the annual interest only SIS go.
The bill further provides that persons
who have forfeited their lands for non
payment of interest on account of drouth,
financial pressure or other good cause,
may reiustate their purchases bv paying
up all interest now in arrears. This is a
measure Of Justice and expediency as well,
ana is but an application Of the rules of
equity ordinarily applied by the
counts to stipulations of absolute
and arbitrary forfeiture. Lands not
III OculiLliu lOE ACTUAL SSlLleiDeilL
may be leased at = cents per acre. Ex-
perience has demonstrated the necessity
for reduction of the present lease
price, and this co-incides with the views
ana recommendations of these officers of
the state who have given the closest and
most careful attention to the operations
of the lease system. Millions of acres
leased at cents viii yield more revenue
than only a few thousand at a higher
price.
DR.. Tolar takes a broad view of the
land question, and hissbill has in view
first, the putting OF the public lands to
interest to the end that the different
funds to which they were dedi-
Gated may be increased and
made available; secondly, that the de-
velopment of the country may be en-
conraged by liberalization of the laws;
thirdly, that all Texans not possessing
homes may be allowed TO secure them on
terms that they can meet, and lastly that
the whole state Of Texas may be benefited
and made prosperous by a landed citizen
ship. He claims that the legislature, as
the agent of the state in its guardianship
of the school, the university and asylum
funds, for the benefit of which these