Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1891-03-27
THE LAND GRANTS.
A Noted Eastern journal on the InJus-
tice that New Mexico Has SO Long
Endured.

Says the New York Sun: The act
passed at the recent session of congress
establishing a private land court for the
settlement Of Mexican claims in the west
ern states and territories is designed 10
effect the discharge of long neglected
public duty. 1t is duty also of three
fold obligation; toward the neighboring
republic, toward individual claimants and
toward the states and territories in which
the lands lie. Much the largest part OF
them are in New Mexico.
Under the treaty OF 1S4S our govern
grants which had already been made to
private persons in the territory ceded at
that time by Mexico. Several years later
congress took steps to carry out this
stipulation by directing the withdrawal
from entry of all lands subject to such
claims, in order that the titles might
be duly examined and disposed of by
congress. Well meant as this legisla-
ton was, it proved most injudicious
in its actual working, for the reason that
congress had undertaken task which it
was unable to perform properly. There
were more than 200 such claims in New
Mexico alone, involving many millions of
acres, and to the present time congress
has only acted upon forty-fve of them, or
about one in every four. Even those
were taken up long ago, while during the
last thirty years only eight such grants
have been confirmed, and during the last
twenty years only one. The difficulty
arose not only from the preoccupation of
congress with multitude of other mat
ters, but from the peculiar character of
these claims, which often involved
knowledge of foreign law, the examina-
ton of ancient manuscripts, and the con-
slderaton Of old Spanish customs and
warrants for settlement. Besides the
evidences as to what amounted to con-
cession, there MAJ have been vague, to-
biographical descriptions to contend with.
1t can easily be understood, therefore,
that the investigation of these claims was
really not proper subject for congress to
take up, nor could it even be successfully
dealt with by committees. More than
thirty years ago the house committee OH
private land claims, in recommending the
confirmation OF fourteen Mexican grants,
a part of which was the first ever acted
upon, frankly admitted that it could not
do justice to them, its language being as
follows:
"This examination has been confined
entirely to what seemed to be the prin-
cIpal papers in each case, having no time
to scrutinize the evidence and the appli-
cation us made by the surveyor-general
of the Spanish and Mexican laws and
usages to each of them in detail. Nor
will it ever be in the power, hereafter, of
any committee of this house to make such
an examination as will be entirely satis-
factory should these claims be allowed to
accumulate before congress-"
Yet with this confession OF report in
favor of certain grants without the ability
to Judge of them properly, only about one
fourth OF the whole number in that region
alone have been confirmed, although the
stipulation with Mexico was made more
than forty years ago. Besides the claims
in New Mexico and Arizona, there are
others in Colorado, Nevada, Wyoming
and Utah. There were also many in
California, but congress long ago wisely
provided land commission for that
state.
That in addition to the failure to fulfil
the public obligation toward Mexico an
injustice has been done to individual
claimants and their heirs by this procra-
stination is very evident, since they are
unable to give good title to such of their
lands as they may wish to sell. But,
besides this, the territories are injured,
since great bodies Of land are withdrawn
from entry until final decision can be
rendered upon them. In New Mexico
alone the amount Of land thus tied up is
6,643, 1888 acres, and presumably adjacent
tracts are also affected by this uncertainty
of title.
So great was the injury resulting from
this protracted neglect to adjust land IT,
Ties that former secretary Of the Inter
ior some what impatiently declared that
"the right or wrong of particular cases
has become thing almost OF comparative
indifference in view of the overwhelming
and menacing wrong of their not being
decided at ALL" But that was not the
true way Of looking at the question. The