Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1890-06-04

y provide for the settlement Of private Ian
r claims In certain States and Territories
:. These sections relate to what may
called the" small holdings" Of land
his Territory, OF which the number
great, probably exceeding five thousano
1, and therefore affecting large portion
our population. The amendments tn,
We proposed in section IL were to strik
ont in lines and the words 'residin
: thereon IA his home. and the p -ovisi,n i
lines 80, 36 and 81 miting 20 lfirmatic
to one tract. The reason for these amen,
nents will beObious when the conditio
of these small holdings and the nistor
nf their acquisitions is tated differing q
they are in respects very materially fror
farming tracts in other darts of tn
country.
FIRST The cut vation in New Mexico
mostly by irriga ion, and IS conseq entl
confined, as a rule, tn strips Of and alon
the rivers and limited in width to til
! distance between the irrilating ditch q
aceqnia and the river itself. Colonial
ton was usualy made by a number G
families coming at the same time into u
unoccnli led valley, and taking possession
of the land either under grant, or by ex
pressed authority of the local al,'alh-
or by arrangement among themselves
In either case land was apportone,
among the heads of families; each on
rereving certain width ofriver frontage
We will suppose f'r in>tanre that a val
ley, 5 900 varas IN lenth (some what les
than three miles,, was Colonled by fit,
families: If they received equal portions
each would have q frontage width OF three
hundred varas running back to the foot
hills which are the natural lines of tn,
aceqnia. But for purposes of protection
against the Indians, usually built at &
central point forming village or plaza
You will observe, therefore, that while
these little farms have been actually occ.
| hpied and used in many cases for hun
| dreds of years, yet in numerous instances
the owner has not resided on the farm,
but in the central village short distance
from it, This will show the propriety
think of striking out The words residing
thereon as his home" rs that Language
would exclude from benefits of the act
vast number of bona tide owners and
occupants who, through their ancestors,
have held such farms or generation
SECOND. As generations have succeeded
each other, these farms have been sub
divided between the heirs OF the original
owners. This subdivision is almost al
ways made by dividing the width, becau-
se piece OF land, TO have value in all
irrigated country, must extend from the
aceQuia to the river. So, supposng that
the original owner of a tract 800 varas in
width left six heirs, each would become
the possessor of a strip 80 varas in width
and if one of these heirs in turn left five
children, each of them would receive a
strip only ten varas in width. By this
means many OF the present holdings have
become exceedingly narrow, and have re-
Gently seen deed Of one only four and
half varas W feet wide, while about
that the owner Of one Of these little strips
marries the owner OF another similar strip
and that they have one child as heir. He
would naturally own both pieces and
uonld occupy and cultivate them although
they might be mile apart. That is the
cases. The tota! area OF ali tne pirucs
so owned by one person probably would
not exceed or 10 acres, but they are
separate one from another, and the Ian
glage of the bill which limits confirma-
rion to one tract would cut off the owner
from a part of that to which he has an
absolute right. This explains the pro-
prlety of striking out the provisions in
lines 3j, 81 and 81.
As to section IL, we ask that it may be
woried in similar manner to section
I ~ Iol bn fnt. =
above made you will see the impropriety
of patenting to az individual owning one
of these small holdings the whole legal
subdivision of ~ to l60 acres in viii oh Ills
holding is situated, fIr tue probability is
that land on both sides OF his strip Is
owned by other parties who have the same
rights in their land that he has in his.
What is wanted is simply to perfect the
titles of those WHO have thus owned and
occupied land for u long series of years.
may add that in my opinion no pa
tent is necessary for this purpose. The
titles hch our people have to these
tracts are precisely OF the eame nature as
the ordinary titles to lani in New York
or New England. They can be traced
back q sufficient distance to make them
good against all the world. and they are
absolutely good as against any individ.
uals. The only difficulty regarding
them is because they are continually me-
naced by the United States. On the otli'
,ial maps they appear to be Govern
ment land, and an unprncipled person
can make an entry consequently in the
proper land office directly OH top of q
farm and residence which have been
held and occupied for hundreds OF years
and through half dozen generations.
Such condition of things is palDably
unjust and unworthy Of the American
Government That which is required, in
my judgement, with regard to these small
holdings is that United States surveyors
should delneate them on the official plats
in the manner provided in section l6 of the
bill in question, so that they would be
distinctly segregated from the public do
main, and that the United States would
thus renounce all claim to their ownership
II this is done there will be no difficulty as
to the titles as between individuals.
beg in conclusion to impress upor
: the Committee the vast Importance of al
immediate settlement OF land titles of al
kinds in this territory. So long as there il
uncertainty in this regard We can no
expect large increase of settlers upor
our lands or the expenditure of considera
BILE sums in their improvement. Res
pectful yours.
! L. BRADFORD PRINCE.
, Governor of New Mexico