The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-11-24
THE INTERIOR
DEPARTMENT
Annual Report of the Secretary
For Fiscal Year.
RECLAMATION OF ARID LAND
UNLAWFUL FENCES ON THE
PUBLIC DOMAIN.
III AsHINGToN. Nov. 2s--The report

VI AsHINGToN, Nov. 2S--The report
w of the secretary Of the interior
for the fiscal year ending Juns
50, 1902, has Just been made public. It
refers to the passage of the law for
the reclamation Of arid lands at the
last session of congress and saws:
''On the day following the passage Of
the act plans were submitted by the
director of the geological survey for
putting ii into effect, and these being
approved by me, survey parties were at
once put in the field to obtain all CT
the facts concerning the feasibility OF
various projects.
Great care is being exercised IN Sc
I Letting projects which will be Of the
greatest benefit to the country, which
VIII settle upon the land the greatest
Z. number Of people, and which viii re-
/ turn TO the treasury the cost of the
undertaking, keeping intact the fund
/ eXpediency or sentiment can be tOler-
ated. but only those of making the
working a success from a business
standpoint
Sale of Public Lands.
! The report shows that there were
/ disposed of during the fiscal year pub
lie lands aggregating Is, ASS. $3.50 acres.
an increase of 1926. 739 acres as com
pared with the aggregate dispOsals for
the preceding fiscal year.
/ The total cash receipts during the
fiscal year from various sources, in
Guiding disposal of public lands, So
( SS0,O8S-65, aggregate Sc, POI, 927.1S, an in
crease Of s., 2S9, 1858. The total area
I of the public lands is approximately
1,S09. 539. $40 acres, of which S93, $50, 478
acres are undisposed Of
Continuing, the report says: "The
avowed policy of the government to
| preserve the public domain for homes
/ for actual settlers has no more i'm
plaeable ard relentless foe than the
( class that seeks to occupy the lands
| for grazing purposes by maintaining
/ unlawful fences thereon
The fight between this class and the
| government has been going On for years
1 and resulted in the passage of the act
| of Feb. %. 1885, which provides for the
I institution of civil proceedings for the
J removal of such fences and criminal
I prosecution of the treSpasSerS, and au-
/ thorizes the president If necessary, to
call out the civil and military authOri-
ties to remove such unlawful inclOs-
ures; but notwithstanding the passage
of the act and the efforts Of this de-
partment to enforce 1t, the abuse has
( continued and the benefciaries thereof
| have grown so bold and arrogant that
/ they practically defy the efforts of the
department and the government to exc
! cute the law.
1 There is now pending before con-
gress a bill entitled, a bill to provide
for the leasing, for grazing purposes,
Of the vacant public domain, and re-
serving all rights of homestead and
mineral entry, the rentals to- be a spe-
cial fund for irrigation
should that bill become a law the
! IN, oa civ fat
territories mentioned therein, aggre-
eating an area Of 525, 100000 acres, prac-
tically all of the vacant public domain
west of the Mississippi, would be sub
ject to lease at ? cents per acre for ten
years, with a privilege of renewal for
ten years more 1t Is needless TO say
that such a bill, if enacted into law,
would place the last acre OF desirable
public land out of the reach of the
hOmeseekers and defeat the purpose Of
the government to preserve the public
domain for homes Of actual settlers
1t would also defeat the operations Of
the reclamation act and make possible
the formation of a land monopoly never
contemplated by the public land sys-
tenn, but which, on the contrary, il is
one of the purposes of that system 10
prevent"
The secretary fntimates that there
are numerous other Objectionable fea-
lures TO the DILL
Discussing other work Of the de-
partments the secretary's report says:
Forest Reservations.
New forest reservations have been
established during the year, the for
estry service extended, a better and
/ more thorough system of patrOlling the
reservations has been perfected and
the work of reforestation on the varl-
Gus reservations has been entered upon,
with satisfactory results There are
; now fifty-fOur forest reserves, embrac-
ing 81. 515.675 acres
During the last fiscal year four ex-
: listing reserves have been enlarged,
} four have been reduced and fifteen ad-
: ditional have been established.
''The adequate protection of the for
{ est reserves and the extension thereof
to other public timbered lands as oc-
} casion arises must of necessity go hand
in hand with the operations looking
toward the reclamation Of the arid
lands of the west.
Timber on the Unreserved public
lands cannot now be properly protect
| ed; existing laws relating thereto, and
especially the act of June 3, 1878, known
| as the timber and stone act II not
| repeated or radically amended, VIII re-
a suit ultimately in the complete destruc-
n ton of the timber on the UnapprOprt-
v ated and unreserved public lands. The
s situation demands the passage OF rem
n edial legislation
n I'm the Indian service regulations
5 have been adopted providing for the
|, | consideration of sealed bids for lease:
= Of Indian grazing lands. and award;
1 made to the highest responsible bidder
e thereby securing TO the Indians d JUS
t. return for the use Of the leased lands
Under the old method of permitting
the tribes to indiScriminately enter int
n I contracts for the use of their lands
4 such a result was not practicable
: ANTI-FOREIGN LAW.
# Buenos Ayres. Nov 23-The senate AM
Il chamber has raSSed a bill which author