Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1905-01-18
leu LAND
SELECTIONS


his incumbency, said, "past blum
cannot be cured, but it is to be
|alI I'D that states, like individuals, may
vi and learn" Had the last admin
|IO. tion given heed to these words and
ing over the records of the past
la-ofted by the experience of others,
land matters would not be again
|iS' such deplorable condition.
|ad M W. Davenport, in his report to
Governor for 1895 and 1896 gave
following account of the lieu land
Asactions which know the public
lis, again find interesting and instruct
and, by its reproduction here, will
EQb better enabled to understand the
d: ent predicament in which the state
|A' d itself. He said:
p W should be remembered that the Of
se Of state land agent was created
0 the method of selecting lieu lands
/ hanged by the last legislature; and
|u' the superseded method was pro-
|s.|iiieh the next legislature must deal,
|pa IA if possible rectify, it is very nee
|. #nry that plain statement should
a made, showing their extent and the
p ntionale of their origin. The law of
|eu887 required that the applicant to
|hot0rchase lieu land should state in his
Indication the sixteenth or thirty
|-aixth sections or fractional township in
lieu of which the land is to be taken;
q other words, he could not buy any
leu land until he had found basis for
h; and as no citizen of the state, ex-
ept those who were then, or had been,
Jerks in the state land department,
md had access to its records, could
NOW of such things, the proper and
hly place to obtain the desired infor-
nation was at the state Ian doffice and
IF its clerk, who was a sworn officer
lnder pay and bonds to faithfully per-
IN5rm the duties of his Office. The law
|fupf 1887 did not specifically make it
sthe duty of the clerk to furnish an ap-
plicant with such information as would
Unable him to select basis for the land
8e wished to purchase, but the state
board could have made it his duty, in
entire accordance with law and with
treat benefit to the state and its peo-
BE.
The state board, however, did not
|Rerceive its opportunity in this respect
md so the finding of basis for lieu land
PQelections became, from the first, a
sueiness for experts who found favor
i Ieith the clerk of the state board.
r The charges for furnishing an ap-
d Meant with basis were quite heavy,
kopsidering the service rendered, rang
|nk from 81 to $2.75 per acre, and the
lSen land business became, in the Ian
kuage of its benefciaries, quite lucrat-
e
For several years after the passage
81 the law, land speculation in the
West Coast States was at its highest,
and especially there was a strife to
Dhtain possession of the fine timber
fAnds of Oregon. They could be OBJ
taihed under United States law by
paying $3.50 an acre, but the price of
the same land bought of the State was
only half that sum, and each purchas-
/ 81 was permitted to take a half section
Sand allowed deferred payment of half
she price. Such advantages constitut-
|tbd d very considerable inducement to
bay of the State and basis was there
| fore in great demand.
IT is well to state that the term base
n basis, means those parts of the six
ecnth and thirty-six sections in each
nEnship which have been otherwise
huDropriated under United States law,
End for which the State is permitted
|shy the general government to take
|fnnd in lieu. Under the donation,
|iNpnestead, and pre-emption laws, set
Iefrs, before the survey, were allowed
It6 take school sections, and nearly all
|ftAe school sections in the Willamette,
hpqua, and Rogue River valleys,
Esfe taken in this way and lands Sc
faeted in lieu of them, before the pass
re of the act of 1887. The State
.ahd Office, as at present organized,
jFtb created by an act of the legisla-
fnfe in 1878, when the Secretary of
tie ceased to be the keeper of its
lords; and an officer, known in law
the "'Clerk of the Board of Commits
hers for the Sale of School and Uni
Isity Lands, was made the practi-
So head of the State Land Office.
fhere was never an Office created,
F probably never will be, all the du-
of which could be minutely de-
Fabed by the statute creating it. The