The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1905-03-18
ne Record Of cosgrsss On IrrgstlOur
Forestry and Land Law Reform.


IN The forestry and irrigation cause?
Did it do anything Of importance in
either, or on the public land quesuooi
Nothing IN any sense spectacular, bui
yet several things of very particular
Importance, and furthermore it refused
to do several very bad things which
were strongly urged upon it.
After a long struggle Of years the
law was passed consolidating all of the
forestry work of the government into
n bureau in the Department Of Agrl.
culture; this in place of having it spliI
up among some FIVE various branches
in different departments. This gives
over 80 million acres of Forest Reserve
into the care Of the Forestry Bureau Of
the Department of Agriculture with
adequate authority to fairly protect
forests, allow for the cutting and sale
of ripe timber, and with power to
arrest trespassers, etc.
Several small bills desired by the
Reclamation Service to more fully
carry out the irrigation law we're con
sidered and readily passed by Congress,
such as the bill to allow the proceeds
from the sales of the vast amount of
partly used supplies, at the end of each
season, to go back into the ''reclama-
tion fund. " instead of into the Treas
ury, thus keeping the fund intact and
operating as an incentive to the
engineers to take care of their property
and to realize the most out Of it.
The really great legislation of the
session, however, was the repeal of
the forest reserve lieu selection law,
thus preventing the location IN the
future of all forest reserve script, So
called, j e., repeating the right Of a
man or a corporation owning land
within a forest reserve to relinquish it
to the government, and select sin lieu
thereof any other unreserved non.
mineral public land.
This Is a great step forward in land
law reform ana does away with one Of
the most notorious and ~scandslous
forms Of fraud and graft under the
federal land laws. Under this law
enormous losses have been put upon
the government, the right to select
these lieu lands having been transfer.
able and resulting in the ~relinquish-
ment during the past few years Of
seven million acres of comparatively
worthless railroad-grant aud other
lands included within forest reserves,
sUd the selection in their place of quail
areas of the finest timber land 10 the
northwest.
Denuded slopes not worth fifty
cenl an acre, or bare mountain sides,
acquired under other land laws at a
nominal figure simply for the purpose
OF exchange, bavO been relinquished
and lieu selections made, worth, &C.
eOrding to the highest official and expert
authorities, $50 and even 500 a n acre.
By these transactions the government
has lost in the last few years tens Of mill
lions OF dollars. By action of Congress
this form Of graft Is now at an end.
The repeal of this lieu land law is
the first recognition by Congress of
the wise recommendations of the Pres
ident and his Public Lands Commits
sion. There are three other specific
reform recommendations of the Pres
ldent and the Commission and these
will be for Congress to act upon at its
next session.
Another point, however, wherein
Congress followed the recommends
tons of the Commission was in the
refusal Of the Senate to enact GAO acre
homestead laws for Colorado and
South Dakota, although the House did
IT'S best to secure this square mile
homestead legislation. In defiance of
the strong adverse reports of the Com
missioner Of the General Land Office,
the Secretary Of the Interior, the
Public Lands Commission, along with
the special message Of the President to
Congress endorsing the Commissions
recommendation against these bills,
and of the strong protest of Chairman
Lacey of the House Public Lands Com
miItee, the House of Representatives
passed these measures by a vote of
nearly three to ole.
This proposed legislation was con-
sidered especially unwise just at this
time when the Department of Agricul.
ture IS every year bringing into the
possibilities of profitable cultivation
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