Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1904-03-25
TO SELL FORESTS
SENATE COMMITTEE AGREE ON RE.
PEAL OF TIMBER ACT.
Highest Bidder VIII Have Privilege of
Cutting iOn Trees-Funds VIII Be
Used for Irrig alton Work-Wooded
Tracts Can No Longer Be Entered
Under Homestead Communication Law.

Washington, March 18.-By unani-
nous vote, the senate committee on
public lands today favorably reported
a compromise bill intended to modify
the public land laws so as to minimize
the opportunity for fraudulent opera
tions, and to insure the settlement of
the public lands by bona fide entrymen.
This compromise is the result of a pro-
tracted and heated discussion of the
public land question, and, to a largo
extent, carries out the recommends
tions of the public land commission.
The bill agreed upon authorizes the
secretary of the interior to sell to the
highest bidder the right to cut and re-
move timber from any unappropriated,
non-mineral surveyed public lands after
first having such timber appraised and
giving due notice of such sale. The
funds derived from timber sales in the
arid and semi-arid western states are
to be placed to the credit of those
states in the fund ultimately to be ex-
pended in the construction of national
irrigation works.
The bill repeals the act permitting
the entry of timber lands, though it
does not affect the acquisition of stone
lands. 1t provides further that lands
chiefly valuable for timber shall here
after not be subject to entry under the
communication clause of the homestead
law. This last provision removes the
most Objectionable feature of the COM
mutation clause, and the one under
which the government has heretofore
been generally injured. The commit
tee did not feel justified in going furth-
er in the way of modifying the land
laws.
The unanimous report on the bill to-
day is thought to insure it's early pas
sage by the senate, and it may get
through the house this session, though
there are several members of the house
public lands committee who will OF.
pose it and attempt to prevent fav-
orable report. Nevertheless, advo-
Gates of reform in the land laws are
greatly encouraged by the action of the
committee today and regard it as
long step in the right direction.
No bill introduced in congress in sew
eral years has been pushed with more
vigor by its friends, or fought more
stubbornly by its enemies. For two
years the committee on public lands
has had the measure almost constantly
before it. Last year the committe re-
ported the bill over the head of the
chairman, Senator Hansbrough, but
he served notice that it could not be
passed, and it died with the congress.
This year all the Democratic members
of the committee except Senator Du-
bois and three Republican members,
Bard, Nelson and Dietrich, were
again against it, making majority of
one in favor of reporting the land bill.
Chairman Hansbrough declined to put
the motion for reporting the bill with
out having a chance to be heard in op-
position to the measure. He was
charged with filibustering, but re-
mained steadfast. Chairman Hans
brough talked to members of the COM
mittee individually, and gave as his
view that the bill, if passed, would up
set the land laws of the enti1e country
and turn to Canada the great stream
of immigration that was now building
up the west. He declared the home
stead law vital to the interests of the
unimproved west, and suggested to the
friends of the bill that a measure be
for the repeal of the timber
and stone act only. He won Senator
Nelson to the same view, and the bill
was introduced by Senator Quarles and
by the committee.