Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1895-01-18
convenience. This abuse should be

corrected by stringent regulations.
Rigorous provisions to prevent the
sequestration Of personal prop, rty, a
large proportion of which eludos taxa
ton, should be,adopted.
A large part of the ten per cent.
liquor license tax due the State is lost
for want Of regulations essential to its
collection.
The emergency clause should be
omitted from the revenue act. 1t is
an open question whether some of the
provisions of revenue law hastily
put into operation will not prove
retroactive. Certain delinquent rev.
enues barely escaped forfeiture under
a clause of the, present act, and it
would be wise to defer operation of
the revised revenue laws, perhaps to
the limit OF year, to afford opportu-
nifty for the proper study and compre-
hension of them.
To enforce collections 30 per cent.
interest and per cent. penalty
were imposed on delinquents. Exist
ing embarrassments had not been
foreseen. Remedial legislation in this
particular is demanded. AS Inability
to pay, caused by circumstances over
which the citizen has no control, en-
titles him to statutory relief, remis-
sion OF penalty and reduction of in
terest would be simple justice.
GRANTED LANDS.
The securement by the State of the
622 600 acres of land granted under
the enabling act for the establishment
and maintenance OF public institutions
has been slow, difficult and altogether
unsatisfactory. Four years ago pro-
visions were made for cruisers whose
compensation consists OF fees, one-half
of which are paid after filing selections,
and the remainder upon approval OF
filings by the Secretary Of the Interior.
Under IA concession prescribed in the
sundry civil bill. sixty days preference
right for filing had been allowed the
State. Such was the usually prolonged
period between application for the
survey of a township and its compile.
ton, when the sixty days provision
for State selection and filing became
operative, that settlers actual or col
lusive excluded the State from the
most desirable tracts.
Inasmuch as the interests of the
State were general rather than particu-
lar, its protests against the fraud,
conspiracy and bad faith of which it
was made the victim, were unavailing.
Confronted by abundant evidence OF
losses certain to result from over
valuations made by cruisers eager to
profit from the fees for selection, and
conscious of the antagonistic and far
reaching influence exercised by the
timber purchasing syndicates where
the rights or privileges OF The State
were concerned, the Board OF State
Land Commissioners and the Execu-
tive Department, after consultation,
assumed an advanced position toward
the federal government in An appeal
Tor special legislation on the subject
of granted lands. In affirming the
doctrine of the equality of the State
and citizen, and in requesting i'm
partiality OF treatment within the
law, it was demonstrated that for
want of proper legislation, in con-
formity with the endowment provis-
ions of the enabling act, the settler
was favored as against the State, by
existing settlement laws. Overwhelm-
ing proofs and amplified arguments in
support of this position were forward
ed to the Land Department. through
our Representatives in Congress.
Eventually the General Land Office
adopted the view of the State admin
istration, and, supported by the Secre-
tary OF the Interior, submitted an ex.
haustive and appropriate amendment
for the sundry civil bill, which was
adopted by the Fifty-third Congress
without resistance. Now, the State,
on application Of the Governor, may
have townships surveyed 1T will with
guaranteed reimbursement OF costs
from the federal government. This
initiative step precludes settlement in
the designated township until the
State has obtained the preferable
lands therein. Practically the State
has gained the right, without ulti-
mate expenditure for survey, to ere.
ate temporarily reservation OF the
superior townships remaining unsur-
veyed, from which it may segregate,
in full satisfaction of the grants con.
tanned in the enabling act, the best
arabic and timber sections.
Subjoined is 3 statement OF the
acreage flied upon in the local land
| offices, the acreage approved by the
Secretary of the Interior, and the val
ues as estimated in the cruisers re-
ports. Obviously it had been the GUS
tom to make the apportionments As
lands were accepted for filing with
view to sustaining an average of Sc
lected acreage for the enumerated
grants. The present Board of State
Land Commissioners changed the
method Of apportionment. The Sc
lectiOns approved by the Secretary
OF the Interior and accepted and ap-
portioned by the former Land Com.
mission, show a wide differentiation,
as between the grants, of average
value per acre; while comparison of
the average values of the apportion-
ment by the present board bespeaks
the adoption of a policy looking to.
ward final proximate equalization of
the average values OF the several
grants.
The estimated average value per
acre OF the total number of acres filed
upon is $l0.10, while the average value
of the selections approved by the Sec.
retary of the Interior is $9.4l. The
latter lands were the first selected.
The old board accepted 304,71S.93
acres of selections valued at ~ ,93S ,O42,
an average value OF $9O6. 1t will be
seen that the average acre value has
been raised $l04, by the new board,
as the result of vigilance and that op-
portunity to follow closely the cruis-
ing work which was not enjoyed by
the old board on account OF their other
exacting duties as State officers. If
the present average value is preserved,
and there is every reason to believe it
will be increased under the privilege
OF township reservation now afforded
the State, from One-half to three
quarters of million enhancement
OF revenue from the granted lands is
assured. 1t will be observed, too, that
the average values are undergoing
such modification as should bring
them to a parity. While the maxi
mum difference OF average in the se-
lections approved by the Secretary is
. 81. SO an acre, it is reduced to $40 in