Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1900-01-11
ANOTHER LEASE BILL.
The Measure introduced By Congressman
Mondell, of Wyoming.

The text of the land-leasing bill intro
duced several days ago by Mr.. Mondell
of Wyoming is as follows:
Section /. That to aid the public land
states and territories in the reclama-
ton of the desert lands therein, and to
preserve the native grasses and enable
settlers and occupants to lease limited
tracts Of grazing lands, each state and
territory accepting the provisions of
this act, within two years Of the pas
sage thereof, is hereby authorized to
lease not to exceed two million acres Of
the vacant, non-mineral public lands,
not otherwise reserved, west OF the
ninety-ninth meridian of longitude west
from Greenwich, and to apply one-halt
of the rental SO received to the survey,
ing works, including storage reservoirs,
and the remaining one-half to defray
the expense of leasing, and to the sup
port Of the public schools, in such man.
ners as the legislatures of the several
states and territories may provide.
Sec. 2. All such leases shall be under
and subject to the following conditions
and limitations: The title to all lands
so leased shall remain in the United
States, as a part of the public domain,
subject to entry under any Of the laws
in force, applicable to such lands, and
subject to rights of way for any and
all purposes to which the public lands
are now subject; provided, that any
person filing on such lands pay to the
lessee for all improvements placed
thereon by him, the value of which to
be determined by agreement or arbi-
tration, under such regulations as shall
be prescribed by the secretary of the
interior. Owners and occupants of pub
lie lands, and legal settlers and entry
men under the public land laws shall
have a preference right to lease lane
contiguous to their land claims; no in
dividual or company shall be permitted
to lease more than five sections of land;
a lessee shall obtain no rights, by vir-
tue of his lease, to cut timber or wood
W Ol SuSA la1DNos llC lG0o1A&
price shall be fixed by the state or ter
ritory, but shall not be less than / cent
nor more than S cents per acre per an
mum; all leases shall be for a period of
In this act described preference shall be
given to those who have made substan-
tial improvements upon the lands
leased by them. AT least sixty days be-
tory shall cause notice thereof to be in
serted at least once a week for four
weeks in a local newspaper, and in a
newspaper published at the state or
territorial capital, which notice shall
designate the lands to be leased and
the place where applications therefor
will be received. Thirty days before the
issue Of leases notices of the approved
shall be printed at least
once a week for two weeks In the same
newspaper to permit of corrections of
description and filing Of protests by
parties aggrieved by such allotments.
Sec. 3. Any state or territory desir-
ing to avail itself of the provisions of
this act shall by law provide for an IT.
rigation or engineering department or
bureau of the state or territorial gov
eminent, for location, preparation OF
plans and estimates Of canals and res
to be constructed from the pro-
ceeds of this act, and to supervise the
distribution of waters SO made availa-
BILE for irrigation; they shall also enact
laws for making water so stored or dis
trlbuted public property, and restrict
ing the rights thereto to that of use and
attaching inseparably to the lands re-
claimed.
Sec. 4. The moneys received from
shall be deposited with the state
or territorial treasurer, and be subject
to appropriation by the state or terri
torial Legislature for the purposes here
inbefore designated; provided, that no
appropriation shall be made for irriga-
ton works until after estimates and
plans therefor have been provided by
the state or territorial Irrigation and
department or bureau, and
construction Of the same recommended.
Sec. s. Each state or territory shall
keep a separate account Of the receipts
and disbursements OF such rentals, and
furnish the secretary Of the interior
with a copy thereof when required.