, 1901-12-20
FRIDAY. DECEMBER 20, 1901
VERY MUCH OVERDRAWN.

pers weekly i ~dlscusslon or the lana
laws n their administration which
Is OF great interest to the people of
the arid S He AYERS that the
present laws are an entire misfit and,
Win the exception OF the homestead
act. should be at once repealed. He
would stop all communication proofs and
equire residence and cultivation for
a period of at least five years. The
homestead law should also contain a
provision, says Mr.. Whelpley, allow
Ing q settler upon arid land three years
9race before he need establish his res
idence upon his claim, providing he
utilizes that time in putting water on
his land Or preparing for such recla-
nation. He should then be required
to reside five years before getting a
patent, the same as if no period pre-
liminary to the residence required had
been allowed.
Mr.. Whelpley believes the govern
ment should not sell another foot of
the public domain lad that no person
should be allowed to acquire title in
any n whatsoever save only in
the manner indicated. 1t is pointed
out that the three years of grace
would permit intending settlers in the
asid region to select their future
homes where the benefits OF project
ed irrigation enterprises could be Sc
cured in SUFFICIENT time to make .,c-
tual residence a desirable nd runta-
bic move.
1t sounds very nice, but in the prac-
teal administration of such a law. the
door would be opened to greater
frauds than Mr.. Whelpley has yet
dreamed of. and he seems to have con-
tured up many in his imaginative
brain. Those three years of grace
wouid be just the thing for the big
concerns and would give them much
wider latitude than the present law.
For three years, at least, they could
bold lands through those willing to
be purchased without being disturb
ed.
In speaking Of the administration
of the homestead law. the writer says:
Since the passage of the homestead
act In 1862 there have been about
1,o46,0O0 original homestead fl,
ings, covering about 1870. OOO. 900
acres During this same per-
iod the government has issued
$4,000 patents Of homestead claims,
covering about Sc, O0O, 900 acres. It is
evident therefore that about fifty per
cent Of those who make original home
stead filings carry the process through
to completion and receive title.
THE remarkable increase in the
number Of homestead filings at such
q time as this only means that fraud
10 becoming more common. and appar-
emily easier to accomplish. The men
who control the big cattle and sheep
ranges realize more keenly each year
the encroachment Of settlers upon
their ranges. To check this
settlement and protect their ranges
from being curtailed they find
It necessary to secure some sha-
dow Of title to land controlling the wa
ter Il meadow. The presumption,
umber-culture. and private sale of land
by the government having been done
away with. there are but two or three
ways In which the monopoly can be
upheld, and 1t may be said in all con-
servatism that the homestead law,
with Its communication claus is for
this reason now doing more real dam
8 to the prospects of the western
states than It does good.
THE principal use of the homestead
act as 1t stands today is for the fraud
ulent requirement Of cattle and sheep
ranges and the building up OF big land.
holdings by corporations or individuals
who are protecting themselves against
the gradual contraction OF the free
range.
1T seems incredible that men can
be hired SO easily to commit prejury.
each and every homesteader who
up a claim with the Idea OF sell
Ing 1t to a company, or VINO IL
up to accommodate his employer, who
wants TO range MS sheep or cattle TO
the EXCLUSION Oh others' per3ures MIN