Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1905-01-21

of mineral character, and of necessity
the selections by the state Of lieu
lands based upon them had to be can
celed.
Additional to this, and complicating
the difficulties immeasurably, the state
authorities were in the habit of selling
the lands as fast as selected on the
strength Of the aforenamed ex parte
afidavits, and when the cancellations
came the purchasers, though holding
deeds from the state, were deprived
Of both money and land. The extent
to which the said affidavits were fe-
| ticious or fraudulent can be approx
mately known from the fact that the
states claim to over $4,000 acres of
land so purchased has been set aside
by the general government.
1t is not necessary to infer from
such an outcome that the person work
ing up the mineral basis was trying
to defraud the state or individuals,
for with the best intent .and manage.
ment the inevitable tendency of the
method of procedure adopted or al
lowed by the state board was to pro.
duce just such complications as now
perplex the state land officers. 1t was
the extreme of recklessness to sell
lands to which the state had no shad.
ow of title, and for which there was
very slight evidence that the state
could obtain title in the manner pro
posed. Indeed, there was extraordi-
nary indueement for the mineral basis
manipulation to omit the steps neces-
sary to establish valid title to the
land sold. Everything depended upon
the basis. If that was not proven to
be mineral the sale was void as to the
purchaser of the lieu land. The base
hunter merely procured an affidavit
that certain school sections, maybe
hundreds of miles away, were mineral
in character; this was called furnish.
ing basis for lieu land selections.
Upon such himsy foundation as
this the governor, as land selector for
the state, and totally ignorant of the
facts, signed the list, which was trans
mitted to the local land office, where
it was formally accepted without in
quiry, of course, as it was no part of
land business to disprove the affidavits
ington. When the local land officers
accepted the list, then the lieu land
purchaser paid the money, according
to his contract with the base hunter,
who took his pay in full, and the re-
mainder was turned over to the state,
The state officers executed deed if
the purchaser paid in full, or a GER
tifcate of sale in case of deferred pay
ment. The base hunter, though paid
in full, was under no bonds or legal
obligations whatever to go on and ad-
iudicate upon the basis he had fur
nished, but, without the adjudication
to the satisfaction of the commission.
er of the general land office, the So
called basis was no better foundation
for a lieu land sale than if it had been
located in the moon. Granting that
he should go forward in the success
i've steps of adjudication, viz: obtain
an order from the local land officers of
the district in which the alleged miner
al basis is located, appointing a time
and place and referee before whom
the testimony should be taken, publish
the notice of such appointment, furnish
the witnesses and the attorney to
question them, take down the testi
mony in writing, forward it to the To-
cal land officers, obtain from them q
verdict, favorable if possible, and aft
erwards Judgment by the commits
sioner of the general land office; if he
goes through all this with an earnest
honest purpose to earn the money he
has received and to vindicate the gooC
name of the state, the chances are tive
to one that it would fail in some i'm
portant particular, and as conse
quence the purchaser would lose hi
land and be obliged to call upon thu
state to refund the money. This il
about the kind of success attending