The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-10-06
STEAL ARID LANDS
DESERT LAND ACT AN AID TO
FRAUD AND M0NOP-
OILY
PERJURY AT A PREMIUM
Enormous Ranches Built Up by Hir-
ing NTenoto Use Their
Rights as Git
liens.

HELENA, Mont, Oct. 5.-(Speclal.)-
t4Thes desert land act is the most 1nlqut-
tous piece of legislation ever placed upon
the statute books" said a prominent
Western senator recently. without any
perceptible increase in our farming popu-
1ation during the fiscal year. ending June
80, over 100000 acres of Montana's choice
Z farm lands were paid for and receiver
receipts issued 1t is fair to assume that
at least as many more acress were taken
up during. the same period that have not
been paid for. How long, let me ask,
can this work of acquiring land largely
for the benefit of companies and corpor
ations continue before our rich arid do
main will pass beyond the reach of set.
tiers and home builders? In view of ma
tional aid in the reclainfn 6 of our arid
lands, the first step should be the imme-
rdiate repeal of some of our present land
laws and the preservation Of public
domain for actual settlers. If this can-
not be done, federal aid will only be a.
dream. 1t can never be a reality, for
the nationowin not appropriate money,
except it be in the interest of actual
settlement. When the desert land act
is repealed and the issuing of scrip is
stopped, as it should have been long
ago, and the public lands are held for
nome builders, then, and not until then
will we have laid the foundation for the
upbuilding of agriculture and for an in
dustrial growth never surpassed in any
country.
Eve can readily understand why capt.
7talists in Chicago, Boston and New York.
men in nowise identified with the up
bu444lng offthe Western states, who have.
invested money in cattle, sheep, water
fronts and favored places commanding
yIYi(1 .r14,o
upon all measures that tend to settle
ment and growth, but it is not easy to
understand how men living in the West
.ern states and taking pride in their
achievements should be Indifferent to
these subjects. With what propriety
can: we ask the federal government to
expend millions of dollars in the con-
Structions of reservoirs and irrigating can
ais after all the lands tributary to them
have been appropriated by a few men
and few companies: In ninety cases
out of a hundred the provisions of the
desert land act have not been complied
with In securing title. In fact. the pro
visions ofsathe law have been fagrantIy
violated and title has been secured by
the rankest perjury ;~aE res
The senator but expressed the general
view of those who have investigated the
workings of the desert land ,aw. THE
law originated in 1885, when a big cattle
company IN California desiring to secure
tiue@to large tract of land secured the
lpa ssage .cby congress Of ran aet whereby.
II was able to accomplish its purpose by
a pretense of reclamation of government
DOMAIN. The process was so easy that
the demand for a similar law became
general, and in 1877 the desert land act
practically as it now stands. was placed
Upon the statute book Siflcess187 there.
have been 36,s51 original desert filings
under this elawlsin the arid states. covers
ing 9,14Q,5H acres OF public land. or all
these filings made but l0,9I2t have BEEN
proved up on and title conveyed by the
government, these final proofs covering
2,6I4,692 acres During each year there
are between $500 and 5000 desert filings
made and between 500 and 600 final proofs.
accomplished, and it is conservative tn
estimate that fully So per cent of thes
final proofs made on desert lands are en-
tirely fraudulent. sfses
AS the law now stands any citizen OF.
the United States can take up 32O acres
OF arid land by making a. deposit at the.
time of filing of rs cents per acre and
paying 81 aIldacre more when title passes
from the government. The law requires
that before securing title the settlers
shall prove the ownership of sutticient
water toirrigate this entire tract of land;
shall prove that he has expended at least
u per acre per year in improving the
land, and that he has actually irrigated
within three years from the time of
fling every legal subdivision of his claim.
The proof of irrigation is the actual own
iership of water. the construction OF the