The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1905-03-21
ON IRRIGATION, FORESTRY AND
LAND LAW REFORMS.
SOME GOOD ACCOMPLISHED
Repeal of the Forest Reserve Lieu
Selection Law a Long Step in
Right Direction.

NASSD NOAAON WV NAOAAS SAAAh'
in the forestry and irrigation cause?
Did it do anything OF Importance in
either, or ON the public land question?
Nothing in any sense spectacular, but
yet several things OF very considera,
Bile Importance, and, furthermore, it
refused to do several very pad things
which were strongly urged upon it.
Alter long struggle of years the
law was passed consolidating all of the
forestry work of the government into
one bureau in the department of agri.
culture; this in place of having it split
UP among some five various branches
Al u.Herent departments. This gives
over 60,000,000 acres of forest reserve
into the care of the forestry bureau
of the department OF agriculture, with
adequate authority to fairly protect the
forests, allow fer the cutting and sale
OF ripe timber, and with power to ar
rest tresspassers, etc.
Supporting the Reclamation Service.
Several small bills desired by the
reclamation service to more fully carry
out the irrigation law were considered
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 sea-
son, to go back into the reclamation
fund.-" instead of into the treasury,
thus keeping the fund intact and oper-
ating as an incentive to the engineers
to take care ,of their property and real
ize the most out of it.
The really great legislation of the
season, however, was the repeal OF
the forest reserve lieu selection law,
thus preventing the location in the
future of all forest reserve scrip, So
called, i. e., repeating the right of a
man or corporation owning land
within a forest reserve to relinquish
it to the government and select lin
lieu thereof any other unreserved
nom mineral public land.
First Long Step in Land Law Reform.
This is a great step forward in land
law reform and does away with one OF
the most notorious and scandalous
forins of fraud and graft under the fed
eral land laws. Under this law enor-
nous losses have been put upon the
government, the right to select these
lieu lands having been transferable
and resulting in the REIMBURSEMENT
during the past few years OF several
million acres of comparatively worth
less railrcad grant ond other lands in.
cluded within forest reserves, and the
selection in their place of equal areas
of the finest timber lands in the north
| west.
Outrageous Frands Perpetrated.
Denuded slopes not worth SO cents
an acre, or bare mountain sides, ac-
quired under other land laws at NOM
| inal figure simply for the purpose OF
exchange, have been relinquished and
| lieu selections made, worth, according
to the highest official and expert au-
thorities, $50 and even 500 an acre
| BY these transactions the country has
| lost in the last few years tens OF mil
| lions of dollars. By the action OF con-
gress this form of graft is now at an
end.
The repal of this lieu land law is the
| first recognition by congress OF the
wise recommendations of the presi-
dent and his public land commission.
There are three other specific reform
recommendations of the president and
the commission and these will be for
congress to act upon at its next ses-
sion.
Square Mile Homestead Bill Defeated.
Another point, however, wherein
congress followed the recommends
tions of the commission was in the
refusal OF the senate to enact 640-acre
homestead laws for Colorado and
South Dakota, although the house did
its best to secure this squaresmile
homestead legislation, In defiance oi
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 Spe