The Holly chieftain., 1903-06-05
Sale of School Lands.

legged general or indiscrimlnate sale OF
state school lands by the State Land |
Board, Governor Peabody has issued
the following signed statement:
The majority membership of the
present board is not at all worried by |
the attacks against it during the past
week. We are acting in our judgment
for the best interests of the state, OF
which each county and every local
school district is part, and these
questions must be decided more or less
from judicial standpoint, having all
these interests in view.
1--WE have not established a policy
of selling state lands.
I'VE have recently ordered several
small lots of land sold, usually in for
ty, eighty and 160-acre tracts, where
the applicants have established homes
and for years have been the tenants of
the state. having invested all their saw
ings in Improvements on state lands,
and where to have compelled them to
follow the leasing system would have
been rank injustice. These lands will
and school district taxation far in ex-
cess of the pro rata division of the rev.
enue derived from leasing them. At the
same time, it puts the owners home
on foundation secured by a deed to
the land, and does away with the
shaky title secured by lease, under
which the improvements on state lands
| come to the market every time the
lease is renewed, because of the fact
that any person is at liberty to enter a
bid for the land Our action secures
for these purchasers and their families
permanent residence in our state,
which their improvement of the land
sold shows they were striving to win.
"A few counties are overloaded with
| state lands. The continued rental of
these lands, if the narrow policy of not
selling anything was adopted, would
retard the development and progress of
their school districts as well as the
| counties themselves
The land board which Immediately
preceded us appears to have held the
| same views 1t sold in 1902 $3.50
acres of state lands, and in most in
stances the sales appear to have been
ordered by unanimous vote of the
board. The average price was about
IS per acre. The records show that in
addition to the above the board unani-
mously voted to order a sale of 1,760
acres in Otero county on September IL,
1902, at which time it appears to have
established policy of requiring the
| very limited period of residence on the
| land to six years.
"The present land board has unani-
mously ordered the sale of about 1900
| acres to the Mormon settlement in
Conejos county the land being situated
largely in the alkali belt, at an average
of Sc per acre; about 500 acres in 9TH
er parts of the state, several reservoir
cites, and has unanimously rejected ap-
plications for sale of about 1000 acres.
''At its last meeting the Republican
majority of the board ordered several
sales to be made, one of them receiv-
ing the unanimous vote of all the mem
bers. Some of them are in Otero coun
| ty, and minimum prices were fixed at
SIS and $40 per acre. Another was to
the Sugar Land and Irrigation Com
pany This company was allowed to
purchase one-half of a section for the
erection of beet sugar factory and
| trackage in Adams county. In addition
to paying IS per acre for the land, they
!
irrigating other state lands to the
value of $l2 900, and which will easily
make the balance of the section sell for
$3.50 per acre.
perhaps this is injurious to the
school fund If it is we want also to be
blamed for bringing the state land Of
flee up to date in its work. We found
chaos when we took office. To-day it is
in order, working smoothly. and the
work is not tagging behind in any de-
partment.
I'VE are constantly increasing the
acreage rented.
I'VE are making uniform raises in
rentals of from twenty-five to fifty per
cent. Where the old board was salts
fed to receive 20 cents an acre for
farming lands we are securing in no
case less than 80 cents, and in some
cases as high as IS cents per acre
Prices now will average about 40
cents.
I'VE found $94 900 due the state on
old certificates OF purchase which
could have been collected by former
boards had their interest been as keen
in school fund matters as it is at this
time. We will collect large part OF
this money, but in a number of in
stances the lands will revert to the
state.
I'VE found the office full of disputes
and contests that have hung fire for
years. and probably should be censured
for bringing about settlement of the
controversy between the North and
,I;ldla Park cattlpnpn wherphv the