The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-02-07
A Problem to Be Solved.

Now that the fertile prairies of the
state are all occupied, with no cessa-
ton in the pressure of increasing popu-
lation, settlement is turning to those
portions of the state that were passed
over by homeseekers as long as more
easily subdued and cultivated land was
accessible. The sections Of the state
covered with hardwood growth have
been very largely taken up, but there
remain vast tracts in the northern por-
ton whose thin soil produced growths
Of pine, forbidding to the settler both
from the nature of the soil and from
the difficulty Of clearing away the
stumps. Another serious obstacle was
the ownership Of the available pine by
lumbermen holding the timber in re-
serve for future demand. The sections
held by the state for the school and
other funds were made unmarketable
by the provision that prohibits the sale
Of the land until the pine has been sold
and removed.
With the passage Of the years changes
have come, and with them problem
for the legislature to solve. AS fast
as the pine-covered land was bought,
the assessors put the tracts on the tax
lists. AS long as the pine was uncut
the taxes were paid. but when the
land was cut over the chief interest
of the owners was realized upon and
they 'let the land go for taxes" that
u.s. they ceased paying them. The usual
proceedings for enforcement of pay
ment were taken, judgments entered
against the land. and, there being no
bidders at the tax sale-for no prudent
man would base a home upon a tax title
the state became the nominal owner.
OF such lands it now holds an immense
quantity. Each ensuing year added its
quota Of taxes and accumulated the
element of interest until the amount
due, in most instances, exceeds the
value of the land. This raises an i'm
passable bar to their settlement. It
est Of the state is to have brought I'M
der cultivation every available foot Of
its area. This tax barrier should be
removed so as to permit the occupation
of these tracts by actual settlers. For
bidding as they appear to one used to
prairie land, the experience Of Wiscon-
sin and Michigan shows that they will
be taken up and converted into farms
if access is made easy and possible.
The cool proposition of the in
terested lumbermen, that the state take
charge of their abandoned lands, plant
them in timber and hold them in trust,
is not to be thought of if settlement
is the object sought 1t should not be
thought Of in any event What the
state should do is to take steps to quiet
its title to these lands by suitable ac-
ton, similar to that provided for in
diViduals. Then they could be disposed
of without reference to the amount due
for taxes; sold as the school lands are
without the arbitrary minimum valua-
ton Of the latter but to persons max
ing settlement on them. Or the coun-
ties might be permitted to sell them to
actual settlers, dividing equally the
proceeds with the state. Certainly
something should be done to relieve the
conditions in the northern counties that
now hinder their settlement These
abandoned lands contribute nothing to
the support of local government, the
whole burden of which falls upon the
few who have gained footing on the
land, while the claims of the state for
dues and of the fee owners for title
fern an insurmountable obstacle to the
intending settler.