The Corvallis times. (Corvallis, Or.) 1888-1909, 1903-02-28
PREVENTED STEAL.
VETO BY GOVERNOR CHAMBER
LAIN SAVES OREGON THOUs-, ..
ANDS.
And Thwarts Plans of Land Ring
Bill Struggled Through, In
nocent Looking, but Cost
1y-Bills Signed and
Filed-Other News,

Salem, Feb. Ex-Governor Cham
berlain today stepped in between
the state and the lieu land ring by
yetoing senate bill 204. While the
language of the bill was innocent
looking enough, it appears that a
strict construction of it would re-
quire the state to give away thous-
ands of acres of lieu land base to
make good the failures of base hun
ters to succeed in proving the min
eral character of school land. This
bill intended to do what The Ore
gonian has been protesting against
for years-to "set up' lieu lands
that have fallen down by using for.
est reserve base for that purpose.
The provision which would permit
this to be done was placed in the
bill by amendment AS score of
bills are amended in the last two
weeks of session, no one noticed
the clacse that had slipped in.
In returning ths bill to the sen.
ate, Governor Chamberlain says:
"The billas originally introduced
was viz ual re-ena ctment of the
law as it II at present, with the ad-
.litional featu E that it provided the
state laud as:et5 with deputy at a
salary Of &l200 per annum. That
bill should have been enacted into
a law-Fil St, because there is
question as to whether or not the
law creating the state land agent
was repealed in 1901, and, second,
because iu order to properly dis.
charge his duties and provide and
keep set of records which will en-
Tighten the public, it is necessary
that he be provided with compe-
tent deputy. The committee to
whom that bill was referred, how
ever, offered a substitute which
meets with my hearty disapproval,
for the reason that it provides that
when any selection of indemnity
lands has been or may be rejected,
it eball be the duty of the state land
agent to at once properly select said
lands aud take all necessary steps
to perfect the title of the state to
the same (Which means the title Of
the purchaser from the state). In
other words it would require the
state land agent to use base which
now belongs to the state, or which
the state may acquire hereafter, to
make good title to lands attempted
to be selected during any former
administration, when base was
worth much less than now, whenev-
er the base for any reason has been
disapproved.
sit is impossible to say how
much such a course would cost the
people Of the State of Oregon. It
has not yet been ascertained how
many thousand acres of land have
been selected on base which either
has been or will be disapproved by
the General Land Office Depart
ment of the United States. To COM
pei the state at this day, at an en-
ormous expense to itself, to furnish
new base to make good selections
when those who furnished it origi-
ually were in a position to know
the infirmity Of the title they were
procuring from the state. would
work manifest injury to the best
interests of the whole people. Ifl
the Legislature intends to make
good all the selections which have
been made on base which has been
or is liable to be dissapproved, It'll
should be done by an act plain and
unequievocal in it's terms, 80 that |
the taxpayers of the state may know
beyond a question of a doubt just
how much it is to cost the state.
Under the proposed law it is impos-
for any one to say with any degree
of certainty whether the proposed
enactment if it became law, would
cost 100000 or $5oo.ooo."
As has been many times expert
enced, the 'sbase' hunters have used |
invalid base for the selection of
lieu lands. They sell their infor-
nation regarding the base at from
rs to $1.5o per acre. If the base
is finally disapproved, the title of
the lieu land fails, and the man
who paid good money to the base
hunters is out. The purchaser of
lieu lands and the base hunters
want the state to use good forest
reserve base to set up the fallen
selection. The state is under neither
MORAL nor legal obligations to do
this, but has done it to the loss of
thousands Of dollars to the school
fund.
Salem, Or, Feb 24-Governor
Chamberlain today vetoed house
n 81 % - .a;no h1,a calnrx nf the