Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-01-19
The Free Homestead, eill.

to settlers upon lands purchased from
the Indians
AS bill came from the House. il
limited these gifts to settlers in Okla
homa alone. and the amount involved
vas only about S15.00O,0 900; but the Sen
ite committee which had charge of the
DILL found no reason for giving Okla
IONA a monopoly of the government s
Bounty, and SO extended it to all set
-lers under homestead laws upon pur-
ahased Indian lands.
The measure provides substantially
nat such settlers may have their lands
Flthout paying the price hitherto fixed
or them, or anything more than the
usual fees of local land officers. And
wherever lands have been bought of
he Indians under agreements that the
ums TO be received from settlers shall
'eloEg to them, the United States
reasury must make good to them the
mounts released under this bill
During the last eight years the gov
rnment has bought SO, Sal acres of
and from Indian tribes. In many
asses this was done with view to
utting into operation the severalty
iiO'ihNiit Jaw, dS Il DIO,ItSSiNG llit3S-
ire Of Indian civilization: for the al
Itmcnt always left surplus of lands,
nd this the government purchased.
other cases white settlers near the
asefvations pressed hard for the
! rivilege of acquiring portions of them.
nd accordingly the government made
he bargain.
In Oklahoma there We're thus pur-
'hased the Cherokee Outlet and por-
ions of the Pawnee, Tonkawo. Sac and
FOX. Iowa, Pottawatomie Cheyenne
ind Arapahoe, Kickapoo and Wichita
reservations. The total amount was
'2.264,9 sol acres. Without going into
he question of the full sums paid for
he REIMBURSEMENT of all Indian rights
those lands. the various acts of
Congress since 1889 show that the gov
ernment has paid or agreed to pay
more than $1S,000,000 for such cessions
Since it was not desired to make
money for the government out of these
purchases. but only to secure partial
reimbursement for OUTLAWS. prices We're
liked on the lands according to their
4stimated value. and at prescribed
lines settlers were allowed to go in and
Pttupy lIlt lie IlSItSl price,
Tor only a small fraction of the land.
about one-ninth, as we reckon it, was
;2.50 an acre; then came more than
3ne-half of the land at $1.50 an acre:
hen considerable portion at SIPS:
inally, more than one-fourth of the
Whole at only $1.00 an acre. The total
amount to be received from purchasing
settlers was $15,05S, ASP. Thus the gov
eminent was not TO make itself whole
or its outlay. at best, and it was GER
ain to be still further in arrears. since
much of the land would not be taken
ap for a long time.
Turning to Nebraska. Minnesota the
Oakotas, Montana, Idaho. Oregon, and
Washington. we find in the same way
hat from the Sioux, the Chippewa, the
Grow, the Nez Perez, the Colvlle, and
other Indian reservations have beer
acquired by the government, in round
numbers. about 1000. 600 acres. OF
this aggregate above one-third. OF
1,S19.0 acres. has been opened to set
tiers at only 80 cents an acre, and most
If the remainder at SIPS and $3.50 ar
acre, small fractions of excellent on
more costly land being put at $3.50 and
S3.15 an acre. The total receipts of the
United States. should the lands all be
sold at the rates fixed by law. is esti-
mated by Commissioner LamoreauX al
over $40, 600, 600 on these northern lands
and at $50, 1929 onA these and the
Oklahoma lands combined.
The argument for the pending bill is
that it involves no new principal Of
lesislation. since as long ago as 1856.
what was substantially free home
stead law was passed, and remains OF
the statute book, with some altera
tons, today. In the case of the recent
purchases of Indian lands. however
the settler enters under the homestead !
laws, and in addition has to pay for |
his land after all. In other words, new
settlers are treated worse than the |
pioneers of former years. AS to the |
estimate of loss to the government by |
the bill, ii is argued that it ought to be |
reduced by a half, as much of the land |
will never bring the price fixed for it.
On the other hand it is pointed out |
that there is no parallel between the |
old lands to which the Homestead law |
of 1862 applied and these new Indian |
lands. To say nothing Of the original |
ownership Of the United States, by re- |
OF state rights, the enor- |
nous purchase from France in 1903 cost |
only 8 SIS cents per acre; the purchase |
from Mexico, in 1S4S, outside of the |
Gadsden purchase. only AZ cents per
acre; even the purchase from Spain, |
only Ill cents per acre. A House re- |
port on this pending bill declares that |
the entire public domain up to 1880 |
bad cost A. cents per acre" OF course, |
then, there is no comparison between |
such lands and those that We're bought |
from the Indians at $3.50 an acre or
more, the authorization of these pur-
chases being obtained from Congress |
on the express assurance that the mil
lions so expended would be more than
made UP by the sale of the lands to the
settlers who urged their purchase.
And. in fact, although it is of course |
true that some land is so poor that it |
will not be taken up at the price, yet |
other lands are so valuable that for
weeks together the tracts. to be opened |
were lined with settlers eager to rush
in Some of them found they had
made a good bargain by agreeing to
pay what they did; but, naturally, they