The Red Cloud chief., 1903-10-09

while the report Of the preceding year
-,r,Ns practically the same figures
40, 600, 600 acres of public land, in
found numbers, passed in'o private
ovrcrship within two years.
I'm those who are only partly in.
( "ucd say, Wei, what Of itP There
ace still five hundred million acres left
it, The arid states and territories; forty
mnl ION aci es is not such a great pro-
portion of this vast area" The train
=, mat the greater part OF the remain.
irg public domain is composed Of ire
r,,imable and honorable land-moun-
'ains, rugged hills, gulches and gorges
viii h are now aOd always will be
worthless for agiiculture; they can
never be used.for anything but grazing
The forty mi lion acres in question
were not taken from such territory;
filings for them were made upon the
comparatively small remaining areas
of plain aud valley lands, capable of
irrigation under government stor 'ge of
floOd waters and OF sustaining a great
population il settled upon in small
tracts OF eighty or one hundred and
sixty acres each-an ample amount to
sustain II man and his family, provided
he has a good water supply.
Under the desert land act, which is
supposed to contemplate the reclama.
ton of the land, immense areas Of land
throughout the western states and terri.
tories have been patented which are
now lying idle in the hands Of specu
lators and livestock concerns; as
Governor Morrison of Idaho stated,
this law has succeeded in tying up" u
great deal of Idaho's best land.
Under the Communication clause OF
the homestead act much the same result
has obtained. A man is able to com
mute and get title to his 100 acres after
building a shack costing a few dollars
and residing upon his claim a fe Y times
during a period of fourteen months,
besides possibly making a few cheap
improvements IN case he thinks it
is ne ,essary. The name Homestead"
is a misnomer, when the communication
clause Is applied TO the law.
Under the timber and stone act the
mos. notorious frauds are being daily
contaminated. In the great timber
regions Of Washington and Oregon, by
far the best timber region in the United
States, land Is being purchased from
the government by dummies and specu.
lators at $3.50 an acre. "Save the
Forests and Store the Floods" 10 huge
joke 70 the timber spectators.
Now the proposition 10 to repeal
these three laws. 1t will be necessary
to have some additional legislation re-
garding the sale Of timber. 4 strong
point made BY the opponents Of the
repeal Of these laws 10 that such action
would cut Of the contributions to the
irrigation fund, which is derived from
the sale Of public lands. Under a
proper timber law the government in
come from timber sales would be far
greater than at present and in any
event the above is a preposterOus
reason to advance, because il these
laws are left intact, and the absorption
Of the public domain under them con.
tinues As at present, there will soon be
no government land left for reclamation
under the irrigation act.
The strength TO insure the repeal OF
these laws must come from the east
The fight in the irrigation congress, the
opposition which can DO expected in
certain sections OF the west, and in
order to cur the public domain from
speculation and to keep il intact against
the time when it shall be needed by the
settler, eastern sentiment must become
aroused to the situation. Western OPP
position and eastern apathy are thu
stumbling blocks.
D The western men who look for tn,
Z true development Of their country
along homemaking lines ask the cas-
r to come to their support of this ques
, tion-to save the land for the actua
. settler.
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