The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-03-07
Congress Passes an Act Stopping
Land Grab.
Saves Two and One-Half Million
Acres Of Timber.
PROHIBITS EXCHANGE.
Railroads Have Been Getting
Valuable Timber Land
In Exchange for Worthless
Mountain Lands.

Washington, March 1.-Two and
half million acres of timber land will
be saved to the government by the
operation of a short act to which
President Roosevelt affixed his sig
nature during the last moments of
the 58th congress. The act prohibits
the selection of timber lands in ex-
change for lands which have been in
Guided within forest reserves.
1t was in 1897 that the lieu law
was enacted. It had no restrictions,
simply emitting persons holding lands
in forest reserves to make selections
elsewhere in exchange for their forest
reserve lands. In 1900. these lieu Sc
lections were limited to surveyed
lands. Since the passage of these
acts nearly two million acres of forest
reserve lands have been exchanged for
other lands and almost universally
has the exchange been made for tim
bered lands outside of forest reserves.
Nearly half of this land so exchanged
is owned by the land grant railways.
A report to congress from the COM
missioner of the general land office
places the amount of lands still held
by these roads in forest reserves at
two and a half million acres and the
provision in the act in question, that
hereafter lieu selections must be made
from untimbered lands, is calculated
to save just that much timbered land
which is outside of forest reserves.
The action of congress upon the
recommendation of President Roose-
velt stops land grab graft of the
Santa Fe railroad.
On January IS the State Journal
printed an exclusive news item in re-
gard to these transactions. In 1897 con-
gress passed act creating the San
Francisco Mountains Forest reserve,
granting owners of land in the San
Francisco mountain the privilege of Sc
lecting any other unoccupied surveyed
lands in lieu thereof.
The San Francisco mountains parallel
the Santa Fe railroad in Arizona, and
possessor of large holdings in the
mountains through the act granting
large tracts to the railroad when it was
built westward.
erted strenuous efforts to push the work
of completing the exchanges as rapidly
as possible. A paper in Las Vegas, New
Mexico, was selected to be used in pub
fishing the legal notices of the exchange
of the land. The paper was enlarged
during the time the legal notices were
being printed in order that the notices
could be printed as required by law as
rapidly as possible.
Within the last few weeks the publ
cation of the notices was summarily
stopped
reduced to its normal size
On January Is the State Journal
printed the following:
THE Santa F'e railroad is exchanging
thousands of acres of land with the
United States government in New Mex
leo and Arizona. For vast quantities of
land which lie in the San Francisco
mountains, and which is of no practical
value for any known purpose, the rail-
road is getting an equal amount of land
in the valleys and on the plains which
may be used to good advantage at some
future time if the country ever comes
under irrigation.
The exchange of the land is being
made under the direction of Howell
Jones of Topeka, land commissioner of
the Santa Fe, and the greatest secrecy
possible has been maintained.
when the Atlantic and Pacific rail-
road or the Santa Fe Pacific railway
was built through New Mexico and Ar
iona to the Pacific coast, it was the re-
cipient of extraordinarily large land
grants from congress. 1t was a Gus
tomary proceeding, but evidently IN
view of the fact that the land in that |
section was not considered to be of
much value the grant made up in guam |
THY what it lacked in quality. 1t is said
that the grant included every alternate
section for miles and miles on either
side of the right of way.
much of this land lies in the noun |
tains and on the mountain Sides On |
that account it never will prove to be |
of any value for agricultural purposes.
In June 1897, congress enacted bill |
which permitted all land owners in that !
district to surrender their holdings TO
the government for the purpose of
placing the land in what was known by |
the act of congress as the San Fran |
cisco Mountains Forest Reserve.
when the Santa Fe railroad acquir- |
ed the pioneer railway which was built |
through that section, it naturally fol- |
lowed that the Santa Fe became the |
possessor of all the land embraced In
the aforementioned land grant.
whether the Santa Fe railroad, or
interests friendly to the santa Re, Sc
cured the passage of the bill IN con-
gress creating the San Francisco Noun I
tains Forest Reserve, may not be sta
ted at this time, but in view or the 4
fact that the Santa Fe railroad seems /
to be the greatest and only large ben
eficiary of the act. it looks as though
the Santa Fe may have been instru-
mental in inducing congress to create
the forest reserve
Provision was made in the Dill creating /
the forest reserve, that all hotqers OF Iana
could make selection of any other unoccu-
pied public lands in lieu of that surrender
ed in the mountains
by the terms of this provision the San
ia Fe is rapidly becoming the possessor OF
thousands of acres of land in that locality
which is situated in the valleys and plans
instead of on the mountain Sides Inc eN-
change is being made acre for acre, and
will no doubt result in profit to the santa
Fe of an enormous sum me government
is spending big sums for the development
of plans for irrigation in that section and
while the land is of no practical value
now, the time will no DOUBT soon come
when it will be supplying the needs OF a
large number of people The santa Fe
railroad has already begun in conjunction
with Interests said to be connected with
Standard Oil, to encourage experiments IN
irrigating land for agricultural purposes
I'm exchanging this land the act OF con-
gress REQUIRES that so days notice shall
be made by the party seeking to ex-