The Ordway new era., 1905-12-15
LAND AND TIMBER
SECRETARY OF INTERIOR SAYS
THEY ARE BEING WASTED.
ARID LAND RECLAMATION
Would Retire superannuated Clerks
Increased Land SaIes-lar0e Dis
6ursemen nts for Pensions.

the secretary of the interior says:
MANY branches OF the service have
suffered by renson of the growing In
capacity OF some of the clerical force.
| for which there Is no adequate rem
cdy without doing injustice In many
cases. July !, 1908, the number Of en-
ployes of the department in Washing
ton aggregated 4.16G. OF which number
75S wero between so and So years OF
age, and $40 were GO years and over.
Some provision should be made to
meet existing conditions, and this can
be effected by the massage OF law
providing for tho retirement from duty
under suitable conditions of aged gov
ernment employees.
'"The vigorous manner in which tres.
pass upon the public timber and uniaw-
full Enclosures OF the public domain are
being investigated and the offenders
punished is creating healthy public
sentiment in the localities involved and
throughout the country that the law
must be complied with.
Great progress has been made In
the administration Of the act of June
12. 1909 (32 Stat. L.. 3Ss). known as the
reclamation act. Twelve projects ar"
now under process of construction. and
a number Of others have been approved
with view to future construction.
"One OF the most conspicuous facts
that has been developed by the So
called land fraud and Investigations Is
that the timber and stone act, the des-
ert land act. and Communication clause
of the homestead law are the conven.
lent handmaidcns of crime: that they
have afforded the most effective means
for the conspirators with which We
have had to deal to fraudulently trans.
fer the title OF the public do
main from the government to them
selves. and unless they are repealed or
materially modified or amended sub.
s,antially rs heretofore repeatedly rec
commended In my annual reports and,
by the public lands commission, they
Will continue TO constitute the most
dangerous menace TO the integrity OF
the public domain.
THE policy. to which attention was
invited In the last annual report. OF re-
auiring able.bodied Indians to labor for
their own support, and of withholding
rations from all but the sick and indi.
gent, has been strictly adhered to and
is becoming more and more popular
with the mass OF Indian adults, since
they realize that II provides direct and
pecuniary benefits to all who
will avail themselves OF the opportu.
mites offered for selfhelp.
The operations under the reclamn.
ton act have stimulated development
of the West in many lines and have
aroused private enterprise to take up
similar work. Experience has shown
that there are many localities where.
owing to the complications of vested
rights and partial development of the
such private enterprise can
conduct the work OF reclamation to bet
ter advantage than can the govern
ment. On the other hand, there are
many localities where. because of in
terstatc problems or the magnitude OF
the work. only national agencies can
bring about the best development. The
work OF the government Is being con
Quoted In harmony with all such en-.
terprises. whether under private, cor
porate or state control. There is. how
ever, n type of so-callcd private enter
prise which Is not merely seeking le-
gitimate investment. but is endeavor-
ing to fasten upon the country a water
and land monopoly with the view OF
building up u tenantry population sim
liar to that existing in the older coun-
tries Of the world.
There were disposed OF during the
fiscal year ended June 80. 1905. public
lands aggregating 17.056.622.27 acrea
classified as follows: Cash sales, L.
GAG. .651.57: miscellaneous entries. en-.
bracing homesteads. land warrants.
scrip locations. state selections. swamp
lands. railroad and wagon road selec-
tions, Indian allotments. etc. 1882.
424.0l acres. and Indian lands. a..
5i6.69 acres. showing an increase OF
| 650. SCOOP ceres as compared with the
| aggregate dispOsals for the preceding
fiscal year.
The disbursements for pensions
from July 1. 1880. to June 80. 1865. were
500, ..444.23. Since 1865 the disburse-
ments for pensions were 33.224,414,.
57S.75. and for cost OF maintenance and
expenses 9S03,219,133.7S. or n total of
$3,327 1893. .712 ,53. baking the entire cost
of the maintenance Of the pension sys.
TEN since the foundation OF the govern.
ment. $3.424.0;9.15676. This is exclu.
sivc Of the cost of the establishment
Of the various soldiers homes and OF
bounty. land warrants granted, amount
ing to nearly 6S.0O0.0OO acres.
THE present. system OF examining
applicants fore rescheu ofe rinns. p
tain, expen3nd daughters he was {
method, the her. They got home
siae contr9k and he stopped on the
,,,t"a1 ,dmmaged through every
uuCai NJ x1locovorad IN hts ,,t,r,.v