Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-10-05

stances no attempt 10 made to water the
land at all, the principal effort being ex-
pended in the securing Of witnesses who
VIII swear to statement of alleged facts
required by the land once before patent
issues To ease the conscience Of some Of
these witnesses men have been known to
take pail of water and in their presence
pour 1t upon the land SO the statement
can be made that they have seen water
running upon the claim. The building Of
ditches sworn to In the final proof gener-
ally means the blowing OF single burrows
across each forty acres. so as TO comply
with the law In regard to each legal sub
division, forty being the smallest tract
land.
Tiny Stream Makes Claim.
In other well-known and now populous
valleys Of Colorado. Wyoming, Montana.
New Mexico, Arizona and, in fact, in all
the arid states, enough water to irrigate
forty acres has been used to obtain title to
thousands Of acres. Each claim has been
proved upon by the use of this tiny stream.
the stream being diverted from one claim
to another in succession. as demanded by
the witnesses who were to swear as to the
reclamation of the land 1t may be stated
without exaggeration that nearly all of
the large land holdings or ranches IN the
arid west have been built up by fraudulent
use OF the land laws. and notably by the
fraudulent use of the desert land act In
the first few years of its operation each
claimant was allowed $40 acres and under
this law great valleys and plains were alb
sorbed on block by individuals and corpo-
rations, who employed people to use their
desert land rights, all for the benefit OF the
single establishment. The amount of land
which can be taken under the desert land
law has since been reduced to $40 acres
but the same method is still being pursued
In monopoiizing the ranges and fraudu-
lently acquiring title to the public domain.
ho tnt,lA
states is not increasing In nearly the ratio
with which the government is disposing of
its estate, thus showing that the big live
stock companies are extending their opera
lions In the land business, process which
will result In time in the entire absorption
of land which is now looked upon as avail
able for settlement by an increasing popu-
lation.
selves of these possibilities are of high
standing, and who would Indignantly re-
sent the idea that they were dishonest in
any particular. 1t has become the custom
for man who desired to secure a lot of
land to let 1t be understood that such land
was worth so much per acre to him as soon
as title could be conveyed The result of
such an announcement Is to bring in lot
OF irresponsible people. who file upon the
tract which the rancher desires to secure,
borrow from him the money to prove up,
and after title is completed convey the
land for small consideration above the
land holding The existence of land laws
which can be evaded by form of perjury
apparently regarded as legitimate has a
generally deteriorating effect upon the pub
lie morals. 1t has come to such a pass that
few men seem to hesitate to strain their
conScfences to cover government land
transaction. This perjury is open, avowed
and notorious. When the land office at
temptS to investigate a claim to title before
title Is allowed to pass the investigation
does not seem to produce any real results.
For apparently any number of witnesses
can be secured who will swear to an unlim-
tied number of falsehoods when a govern
ment land transaction Is to be made.
Special Laws Required.
If the desert land act was resulting in the
building up of homes upon the arid domain
of the United States q certain element of
fraud might be overlooked in view Of
greater benefits derived. But the law as it
stands today is simply an agency for the
monopoly of the country by powerful in
dustrial and political combinations and
should be removed from the statute books
without delay. Not only should this be
should be enacted whereby all land now
held under the desert act should be in
spected as to the possibilities of making
final proof and the good intentions of those
who are holding it, with the view of re-
storing the same to the public domain in
case these are found defective.
To take the place of the desert act ii is
possible to so amend the homestead law,
which is now inapplicable to desert lands,
SO that there would be a possibility of
homesteader securing title to desert lands
in connection with his homestead by honest
reclamation. The purpose of the govern
ment is to hold the public lands for the
actual settler. To make a country of homes
and not of great land holdings has been
the real spirit and intention of all land
legislation. tremendous stride toward
correcting existing errors could be made
by repeating the desert land act and enact
ing in its place a desert land privilege to
be secured only by bona fide homestead
settlers. Congress will be asked this win
ter to consider this matter at length and
in detail, and those who are working Sc
riously and honestly for the DEVELOPMENT
OF the western states are hoping for intelli-
gent and honest legislation in the premises.
j. d. WHELPLEY.