Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1904-04-13
Especial to Evening Teller.)

tlclpaIt III the numerous meetings O1
the house committees on public lands
and irrigation. He has taken an active
stand in opposition to the repeal of the
present land laws, and yesterday car
ried the matter to the floor of the
house where he delivered an address
against the proposed repeal He said
in part:
ut is demanded by some that the
timber and stone law be repealed. A
bill has already passed the senate and
is pending before the committee on
p 'hlic lands, looking to that end The
main argument against the law is
charges of fraud. and yet the public
lands commission, w. A. Richards,
Hon. F. II. Newell. and Hon. Clifford
Pinchot, appointed by President Roose-
welt last October for the purpose of in
quiring into the workings of these and
Z. 1904, while advising the repeal Of
the stone and timber acts as a policy.
yet brush away the charges of fraud
when they say: "A great number of
such entries Climber and stone act)
were recently suspended. but the most
rigid investigation failed to show that
any considerable portion of them had
been made in violation Of the law. and
the suspensions were removed.
1T appears that the individual en-
tryman may use his right and. by care
full work, obtain a quarter section that
is worth. If fortune favors him, from
800 to $500 more than it cost him.
/ don't. Some few have been more
fortunate and / am glad of it. l only
wish that every citizen Of my state
had Jared as well.
But if you repeal this law then
what? Why, you turn the land over
without competition, to the holder of
scrip. In the name of policy which
seeks to limit ownership Of immense
tracts of land by individual concerns,
you make it possible for these very
concerns. untrammeled and without
competition, to place their scrip upon
the land and acquire it's ownership in
large blocks. And the people must
stand off and be denied any part or
right. because someone has said they
are guilty Of fraud.
IT these laws can not be admins
tered with the present departmental
force. let us provide for this defect.
But for fanlt that is not the peo-
pies; for a fraud that now and then
may occur, let us not repeal our laws
that have built up our country and
made the states of the middle west
great and prosperous.
ut is also urged that the commuta-
ton clause Of the homestead law should
be repealed Fraud. fraud, fraud. that
is the charge. But where? They do not
say. BY whom? They do not tell, only
many people in many places commit
fraud. Again. I say, their charges
should be more explicit. If fraud ex-
lists in the great magnitude it is alleged
certainly it can be found.
Not more than one out of every
sires the privilege of the communication
clause. One settler commutes because
he wants to borrow a little miney to
improve his place. Another settler
commutes In order that his family may
live in some nearby town and his chill
dren attend a better school than the
one that home affords Still another
commutes. maybe, the uncertainty OF
life makes him DESTROYS OF giving his
family home that is really theirs. OF
because threat II sickness makes II
necessary that he or his family move
away to another country with anothe,
climate. The communication clause Is
not generally invoked but when it is
it is for the most part in the interest
of the home builder the settler. whose
rights shuld he preserved. 1t is good
law and 1t shiuld not be repealed.
Much has been said in regard to
the repeal of the desert land act. and a
bill has been considered by the COM
mittee on irrigation for days. looking
to that end The principal reason ad-
vanced is fraud and vet the public
lands commission saws just the oppo-
site, ard that by careful administration
all fra"d NAV be avoided The pro-
visions of the law are such that
whether or not they have been com
piled with may be easily ascertain
It is safeguarded by reason of its hard
provisions beyond any other land law
and there is no law anywhere upin our
statute books. under which fraud can
iccur with go great difficulty Today in
all this great arid region where this
law alone applies. only about one
fourth or one-fifth of all the entries
that are made are followed up by final
proof. and why? Because of the ardu-
GUS requirements of the law. That is
the reason why.
Repeal this law and you check home
building Just that much In all the arid
states where this law applies. Retain
1t upon your statute books and you re-
tain the means whereby another farm
may be opened up: another orchard
planted; another field plowed, another
UapAno ~rcur