The record-union., 1896-10-31
THE s'EXAMINER'' is ENLIGHT.
ENED.

The San Francisco Examiner" ap-
pears to be published now exclu-
sively for the reading of Thomas
B. Reed Of Maine. Speaker of
the House of Representatives The
Examiner appears to be conscious of
having no other auditor 1t is address
ing Mr.. Reed on the funding bill. 1t is
instructing Mr.. Reed on the mineral
lands bill It is abusing Mr.. Reed for
his lack of familiarity with the wishes
and demands of the Examiner" 1t is
cajoling Mr.. Reed in hope that he will
be brought over to its views. 1t is ad-
monish1ng Mr.. Reed lest some one
should give him information. It Is
coaching Mr. Reed for future legisla-
tive triumphs
The Examiner having thus under
taken to fully equip one of the leading
statesmen of the nation with it's own
view of things and to map out for him
a future career, we take the liberty Of
addressing to its understanding-if it
may be said to have an understanding
a few statements concerning the min
eral lands bill. Even in view of our
knowledge of the intrepid mendacity Of
our San Francisco contemporary, we do
not think 1t will have the temerity to
deny the truth Of the statements we are
about to present
The bills for the classification of min
eral lands known as the mineral lands
bills were conceived and concoctcd by
the land grant railroads. The one relat-
ing to the Northern Pacific broke the
deadlock Of issuing patents, which had
been obstructed by the slow method Of
mineral classification. The Northern
Pacific Railroad Company, up to June
acres of land. The rules of practice de-
vised by the Commissioner of the Cen
eral Land Office were slow and unsatis-
factory, and the entire expense was
borne by the railroad companies. The
Idaho-Montana Act, as 1t is called, or
the mineral land bill relating to the
Northern Pacific, provided for the ap-
pointment of Commissioners for each
District Land Office. vested with au-
thority to classify the lands into sep
arate categories as agricultural and
mineral, and it is a matter of no small
significance that these gentlemen were
able to examine and determine the
character Of the land from such exam
nations and classify the lands into min
eral and agricultural categories at the
rate of 1000 acres per hour.
We trust the Examiner" will make
Mr.. Reed conscious Of the high anti
railroad merit of the Idaho Montana
Act, which was the framework of the
mineral land bin relating to the classi-
hcation of mineral lands in California.
A still more astonishing result was OBJ
tanned in the following year In the way
of patenting lands to the Northern Pa
cific. From June 80, '95, to June 80,
'96. about 100000 acres of land had
been patented to the Northern Pacific.
whereas less than q million had been
patented in many preceding years. Dur
ing the same year in which the Land
Department gave to the Northern Pa
cific 6,S33. 900 acres the Central Pa
oifio received patents to 231 900 acres
Some mining attorneys In San Fran
cisco, who In their legal attachments
fully illustrate the truth of the adage,
"A little learning is a dangerous thing, %
conceived the idea Of having the pro-
visions of the Idaho Montana Act ex-
tended to California Whether honestly
or dishonesty, they presented the
measure to the public in the guise Of an
antd-railroad measure. But the bill in
troduced by Mr.. Johnson in the first in
stance was bill agreed to between the
Law Department OF the Central Pacific
Railroad Company and the Legislative
Committee Of the State Miners Associa-