Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1904-06-17
A SMOOTH SCHEME
WHEREBY RAILROADS WORK
OFF POOR LAND

OFF POOR LAND
And Get the Best for What Has Cost Them
Nothing - They Work Through an Act In
tended to Benefit the homesteader - The
Forest Preserve Affords the Opportunity to
! Unload and Stretch OF the Law Intended
Solely to Benefit the Settler Enables the
Selection Of First Quality Lieu Lands.
Chicago American,
Some time in the future the inhabi-
tants Of the United States are going
to take an intelligent interest in poll
tics. They will have their representa-
tives decently paid to look after their
interests, they will know what they
are doing and what their money is
spent for.
An amazing list OF robberies through
the government will be unearthed
when the beople find the time and the
intelligence to look after their own
affairs.
Have you ever heard, for instance,
OF the bill to provide for the admins
tration of the forest preserves?
You know that . homesteader-a
man who had taken up small allot.
ment Of government land under Ger.
tain restrictions-was allowed, in case
his homestead was absorbed by . gov.
ernment preserve, to take up lands
elsewhere. In other words, if the gov.
eminent put him out of his particular
piece of land, he could take his pick
of other government lands to make up
for it.
There was a very fine chance to rob
the government and the people, if
only the railroads could arrange one
little detail of law.
They did manage it.
The law was changed so that rail.
road, dispossessed of certain real estate
by the government for forest preserve
purposes, could take its pick of other
government land.
The rest was easy.
The railroads, as you know, have in
in various ways, chiefly dishonest, ac-
quired q total of thousands upon
thousands of square miles of govern
ment land. Some of this is very poor
land-including the tops of mountains
in the Rockies and q great deal OF
worthless, unproductive territory.
The law, however, was made to say
that if the government took any rail-
road lands the railroads could select,
acre for acre, out OF the government
reserves in exchange.
Thereupon the railroads managed
to have their utterly worthless land
included in the government forest pre-
serves. They turned over to the ma.
tion enormous and utterly worthless
territories.
In exchange they took from the di.
minishing public lands vast tracts of
splendid timber land. worth twenty
dollars or more an acre.
That is one little plan for robbing
the people through the government.
First, an honest looking law is pre-.
pared to protect the poor homesteader.
If the government takes his land, OF
course it is only fair to give him his
pick Of government land in return.
The next step is to make this same
rule apply to the railroads.
The third step, easily managed with
the aid OF little bribe money or the
promise of stock exchange profits, is
to have the government take the rail.
roads worthless lands, that they might
get the finest government land in ex-
change.
When the people Of the country get
over the habit OF looking only at
their little, individual money. making
schemes, when they realize that rob-
berry of the government really means
robbery of the individual citizen, they
will find many very interesting proofs
of the ingenuity displayed by the cor
porations in their thieving transac-
tions for years past.