The semi-weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1890-1891, 1890-08-30
SETTLERS LIMITED TO 800 ACRES.
The House Imposed That Proviso
Rather Than
Agree.
The House Retains Some Remnants
Of PowelI's Scheme.

read in the senate today. The paragraph
in regard to reservoir sites (Which segre-
gates and reserves from entry all sites
heretofore made or hereafter to be made)
war criticized by Sanders, who thanked
the senate conferees, (ironcally,) for hav-
ing sacrificed the interests of the people
of Montana to the Unsuitable NAV of the
house,
Senator Allison defended the action of
the senate conferees and explained the
extreme difficulty which they had Ell
countered in dealing with the subject.
He reviewed, briefly, the history of the
navigation survey and spoke of the hos
tility which the first appropriation of
100000 for the purpose had met from
every member of the senate committee
on appropriations. TIE appropriation
had been made in the sundry civil appro-
priation bill in 1883, and the house had
added to the item legislation which
caused the whole mischief, that is the
item reserving from settlement lands
within the arid region. In view of
that fact he was amazed at finding the
senate now charged by The house with
i%nterpolating legislation IN order to re-
dress the great injustice and wrong that
had been done by the house in 1883,
when it forced on the sundry civil bill
the important legislation depriving the
people of the right and privilege Of occu-
pying the public lands in nearly one
third of the country. He avowed it as
having been the intention OF the senate
conferees to have the whole irrigation
scheme wiped out Of existence as lar as
possible, not to have a vestige of it left.
But they had been onfronted by people
who insisted that the survey should go
on and should become part of the set
tied and permanent policy of the govern
ment. He begged the senators who
thought the senate conferees had fallen
short of their duty IN that regard to re-
member that the senate conferees had
been confronted with a determination to
preserve, protect and continue that sur
vey. The result had been the pro-
vision now proposed to be inserted IN
the sundry civil bill. That provision
was not what he woald have wished it to
be. 1t was not what the senate confer
ees wished, but it was the best selection
that they could secure 1t was simply
that the reservoir sites located or selected
under the appropriations heretofore
made, should be reserved, but he believ-
ed it to be the duty of the secretary of
the interior to see 10 it that they should
not cover Gas n of them was stated n
the report to cover) 33s square miles.
The site was at the head waters of Mis-
the idea OF a division of the water of that
river nearly n thousand miles. Was
there a (Allison added) a sane man who
believed that such a division would be
made within the next century?
The enare conferees, Allison added,
had made plain and substantial progress
in the direction of accomplishing that
which the people of the new states so
much desired, and which was, he be
lieved. so necessary to the growth and
improvement of the country. They had
yielded to the proposition made by the
house conferees to allow only 800 acres
to be taken by any one person under all
the land laws of the United States. The
senate conferees had entered on that do
main reluctantly; but they had been OBJ
liged to enter on it in order to secure an
agreement. He thought the senate COM
mittee Oh public lands should take up
the question of the public lands and deal
with it irrespective of that proposition.
Senator Reagan defended the past &C
ton of congress and of the director of
the irrigation survey of reserving reser
voir sites from settlement and said that,
If l.. had not been for that reservation
these lands would have been seized upon
by Spectators and syndicates to the
serious injury of settlers.
Senator Teller ridiculed the solicitude
expressed by Senator Reagan for the
people of that arid region, and said it
would have been more touching If that
senator had not talked for two hours yes
terday In favor of delivering over the in
terests of the miners OF that region into
the hands of the American lead trust.
When those people sought a champion
on the floor of the senate they would
hardly select the senator from Texas.
After some further debate the confer
ence report was agreed to and the tariff
bill was again taken up,
THE LEAD DUTYUPHELD,
Senator Plumb's Amendment Comes to
Naught.