The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-09-17

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Inc national irrigation act has awak-
TIeu a new interest in the public domain.
1IllI recent years our habitable govern
Iueht lands not including Alaska. were
20 extensive that we could scarcely look
forward TO the time when farmers and
setliers could not establish homes upon
them. We now find that the public lands
are being absorbed with q rapidity never
equaled In our cOuutry's history. and
,ii'tL only a small part of these lands is
becoming property of the actual settlers.
one who carefully considers the opera
ton Of our hand laws is led to inquire II
we are not parting with the pubic do
main In manner altogether too lavish.
ana against the best interests of the peO-
pie or the United States. In six Years
enolng june 30 last. S5.0O0000 acres Of pub
nc LANDS were dispOs o. of and nearly
one-hait Of this vast area was taken dur
ing the last two years. This rapidlv i'm
cfeaslng absorption of the nations choic-
est lands has be8l chiefly in the ir*erest
Of men seeking TO own and control lands
in large bodies. who seldom have use
Tor the plow. As the population Of the
GllIeu states, now Sl'QJ00J9. viii scarce
~ be less than 130.000O00 twenty-five
years hence. ] would ask where in a
very snort time. can hOmeseckers from
among these millions Of people find lands
IN the United States upon which TO set
Tie, II the nation continues to turn the
puDnc domain over to men who are con-
trolling lands by the tens OF thousands OF
acres acres and who never make homes upon
Obsolete Laws.
IF the desert land act and the commu-
tatlon provisions of the homestead act
ana the timber and stone act are con-
Lnued IN force, before the close Of the
present decade the federal government
VIII own no more lands suited for set
Iement, and no more timber land out
slue OF ITS reservations. from the inter
national boundary on the north to Mex
leo on the south and the great national
work or retaining and settling our arid
amos VIII come to an end. In my own
state an immense body of her richest
IahGs was taken from the public domain
curing the last three years. These lands
nave Deen appropriated by home build
erS only 10 limited extent, as every in
Ielugent citizen Of Montana well knows
but have been acquired by men not inter
eSJed IN the settlement Of that state and
Dy spectators who appreciate the fact
may rlcn lands at present without irri-
hotioH ldciuueS VIII soon become very
valuable In the Great Falls land dis
trlcl, which is one Of seven I'm the state
oil Montana. 1000 desert entries were
made during the eleven months ending
June so. 1893. Had these land entries been
made by men coming into Montana to
esJaDllSn hOneS upon its rich mountain
slopes and along its irrigabIe valleys II
would have indicated most gratffving
state growth. but they were made almost
wholly in the interest of persons who
W. VIII never make homes upon them.
ht Sc conditions i'm the state where I
reside may be somewhat different from
those OF other far west states but I am
satisfied that the methods Of acquiring
land. and the objects for which land is
OBTAINED, are practically the same
throughout the arid and semi-arid states
ana tnat' many entcrprisnE men in an
we lar west states are governed by a
common desire to obtain large tracts Of
land from the government regardless Of
the best interests Of the nation.
We're Never Needed.
This work Of securing lands by per
sons who VIII not make homes upon them
or cultivate them viii go on from year
10 year in rapidly increasing ratio if
our preSe n system of land laws is con-
unued, until the last Of the public domain
has passed beyond the control Of the gov
eminent The desert land act and the
communication clause of the homestead
act were never demanded by actual set
tiers, but were enacted through special
efforts of spectators in real estate and
by individuals and companies seeking TO
own and control large bodies of land for
grazing purposes. These acts have re-
suited in the commission Of almost un-
limited frauds, and. in my opinion, ereat &
or wrongs TO people Of the nation are
before IN our countrys history. In GER
tain localities good has doubtless result
ed from the desert land act and from the
right 10 commute homestead claims but 9
the evils which have followed the exer-
else OF these measures have always far
outwelghed the good. one Of the many
OBJECTIONS 90 the desert land act is that /
II does not compel residence on the land /
thus making it easy for the Spectator /
10 employ men and women to take up
lands In mis- interest. ANY doubt that the
desert land law facilitates requirement
OF land from the nation I'm large bodies /
by individuals and cemnanies is dispeIled !
by the clause adopted March 3, 1891, max
ing it lawful for a person. after entry 3
10 assign his desert claim to another per
son. II viii be readily seen how difficult !
u must be for the goFeTnment. endeavOT-
ing TO detect frand TO determine II an /
agreement to cell the desert land claim /.
was made by the entryman before filing I.
Facts Brought Out.
Since the enactment of the desert land /
law, immense bodies of land have been I
taken up and patented, upon which large 4
crops or hay and grain are annually