Omaha daily bee., 1903-01-03
A. c. Reed .........i5s 19 1865 l29 1886 79s
n. D.. Reed ........l72 las IN Isl l2 $50
'otais ..........is2 496 l7s $50 400 2,lOl
OLD SOLDIER ON LEASING
Takes Decided stand Against tho
C~Rttlemen's View of the
Proposition.

10 " hAAN 4 AAhEA q hNA - ~ eANha
jury Of the United States in session in
the federal building (having a recess for
a few days at presently which it is gen.
orally understood is taking evidence m
these alleged fraudulent homestead entries
by certain negroes and soldiers widows,
also the cattlemen's fencing in of govern
ment lands, with n view to say whether
in its judgment heterogeneous OF the law
have been made, and IL so bring in true
bills of Indictment against them, the very
interested p~arties-the fence builders-have
not had the patience to wait and see what
the grand jury had to say on the subject,
but are doing everything possible to make
the world believe they are being very
much maligned, and that in compelling
them to pull down their fences, fencing in
large tracts of land which do not belong
to them, a very unjust thing will be done.
l guess the bulk of us know their little
game. The gentlemen of the grand Jury,
you may rest assured, read the newspapers,
and are not likely to skip anything bearing
on the question. The proper thing to have
done would have been to have waited for
the grand jury's verdict without any at
tempt from the outside TO bias it's judg-
ment either one way or the other. would
have preferred this. but don't see why.
now that the public is being treated-in
my tudgment-to some extent a one-sided
view Of the position it should not also
have a view from another side.
From newspaper reports and otherwise
1t is well known the grand jury has, with
the assistance of the district attorney.
called for evidence from the cattlemen, the
soldiers widows. the local land officials.
Colonel Mosby and Mr.. Lesser the special
and ex-special land Office agents from
Washington), and think the public in
terest is safe in the hands of the twenty
three good men and true forming the grand
jury which is probing the matter to the
bottom.
will not attempt to go into the whole
thing from the beginning to where IL is
now although much tempted to have my
views brought out as we'll as others. but
VIII content myself with simply referring
very shortly to one or two things. An at
tempt has been made to throw discredit on
Colonel Mosby, but without harm to him. I
guess. He is the accredited servant of the
government and it is we'll understood held
In high esteem for his sterling honesty, in
tegrity and fearlessness. and it is well
known his reports are held In high respect
by such men as the president and others
VINO will "hew TO the line, let the chips fall
where they may" He knows what he is
about, and these men referred to know the
lay OF things perhaps as well as he does.
1t is well known Colonel Mosby would pre-
FER that instead of congress being asked TO
carry through an act to lease these grass
lands in large stretches miles and miles in
length and breadth for the benefit of the
cattle kings to have a measure making It
lawful to allow homesteaders to acquire a
certain number Of sections to a moderate
nmnInf opA tho -
tai to establish homes in the state and
strengthen not only the state in which they
live, but the whole nation. The extent of
land for each homestead could be easily
fixed by surveys made by competent men
with reference to, quality of LAND. water
supply, etc, The scarcity Of water is much
exaggerated, and for a purpose, besides a
great deal OF this grazing land will ulti-
mately become irrigated land and be more
valuable than much of that now looked
upon as being our best agricultural land.
This progression is going on all over the
world. To carry out what the cattlemen
want in the way of leases is to hinder the
growth of the country both in wealth and
population, and should be strenuously op-
posed.
One other point: In your last Sundays
issue you represent c.. ]. Greene. the cat
tlemen's agent, as saying: There are laws
governing the entry OF land by the widows
and orphans of soldiers. As we understand
the laws they give these parties the right
to make entries and to secure patents with
out the entryman residing upon the lands
entered ard that from the time they make
entry until they come to make final proof
they have the right to deal with the land
as they see fit" He further says: THE
department places another construction
upon the law" l am not surprised the
department doesl The wonder to me Is
that any man of any intelligence would
construe the law as he does. The law
reads as plain as day that a soldier must
go on his homestead the same as any other
homesteader, but is allowed to count o1
from the time Of settlement the time in the
service, but never more than four years,
making 1t compulsory that he must live on
the land one year previous to proving up.
1t does allow his widow. II he has never
settled on the land previous to his de-
cease, the right TO prove up without ever
living on the land-a wise provision In
such a case, for seeing they had never
gone onto the and previous to his decease,
It might prove a hardship for her to go on
then to make Il hers. The law makes no
! provision, however, forsa soldiers widow
whose husband had not filed for a home
stead to file in her own name and never
reside on the land, but the very opposite.
II says she can file and under the same
conditions that her deceased husband was
under had he filed for a homestead. II Mr..
Greene can show me the law where It
reads as he says It does. he would very
much oblige, AN OLD SOLDIER.