The Glenwood post., 1906-12-22
ORDER MODIFIED
WITHDRAWAL OF LANDS FROM
ENTRY LESS STRINGENT.
WANTS LAND LAWS CHANGED
President Urges Repeal Of Timber and
Stone Act-AIso Changes in or Re
peal of Desert Land Act and Com
mutation Clause of Homestead
Law

peal of Desert Land Act and Com
mutation Clause of Homestead
Law.
Washington.-Th President Mon
day issued an order to the Interior De-
partment to modify its order with
drawing from all forms Of entry large
areas of public lands in the West re-
ported by the Geological Survey to be
underlaid with coal, so that in future
entries upon these lands may be made
nader all forms of entry excepting as
coal land filings.
ViliEance will be exercised in ac-
cepting proofs to determine whether
lands sought to be acquired are more
valuable for coal or other mineral de-
posits than for agriculture
Declaring that the public domain is
fast being gobbled by great corpora
tions and spectators under existing
laws. the President on Monday sent a
message to Congress urging the repeal
of the timber and stone act, repeal or
revision of the desert land act and rad
ical revision, if not repeal, of the COM
mutation clause of the homestead act.
The Presidents message on the sub
ject of the public lands as read to Con
gress, follows:
THE developments of the past year
emphasize with increasing force the
need of vigorous and immediate action
to Iecast the public land laws and
adapt them to the actual situation. The
timber and stone act ha, demonstrated
conclusively that its effect is to turn
over the public timber lands to great
cnrnnrotinnc II has Innn
harm, it is no longer needed, and It
should be repealed.
THE desert land act results so fire.
| quently in fraud and so comparatively
seldom in making homes on the land
that it demands radical amendment
| That provision which permits assign
| ment before patent should be repealed
| and the entryman should be required
to live for not less than two years at
home on the land before patent isrjues.
| Otherwise the desert land law will con
| tinue to assist spectators and Other
| large holders to get control of land and
water on the public domain by indefen-
| sible means.
The Communication clause OF tho
! homestead act serves, in a majority OF
| cases, to defeat the purpose OF the
homestead act itself, which is to facili-
| theory the communication clause should
| assist the honest settler, and doubtless
| in some cases it does so. Far more
often it supplies the means by which
| spectators and loan and mortgage
| companies secure possession of the
| land. Actual-not constructive-living
at home on the land for three years
should be required before commuta-
ton. unless it should appear wiser to
| repeal the Communication clause alto
gether.
"These matters are more fully dis
cussed in the report of the public lands
commission, to which ! again call your
| attention.
Il am gravely concerned at the e1-
tremely unsatisfactory condition OF the
public land laws and at the prevalence
of fraud under their present provisions.
For much of this fraud the present
laws are chiefly responsible. There is
but one way by which the fraudulent
acquisition of these lands can be def
ntelv stopped, and therefore ! have di-
rected the secretary of the interior to
allow no patent to be issued to public
lands under any law until by an exam
ination on the ground actual compli-
ance with that law has been found to
exist.
| For this purpose an increase OF spe-
cidl agents in the general land office Is
| urgently required; unless it is given.
| bona fide would-be settlers will be put
to grave inconvenience, or else the
| fraud will in large part go on. Further,
the secretary of the interior shonld be
enabled to employ enough mining e1-
perts to examine the validity OF all
mineral lan0 claims and to undertake
| the supervision and control Of the use
OF the mineral fuels still belonging to
| the United States. The present coal
law, limiting the individual entry TO
| 100 acres, puts a premium on fraud by
making 1t impossible to develop certain
types of coal fields and yet comply with
| The law 1t is a scandal to maintain
| laws which sound well, but which make
| fraud the key without which great nat
ural resources must remain closed The
| law should give individuals and corpor-
| ations under proper government regu-
| lation and control (the details Of which
| shall not at present discussj, the
right to work bodies of coal land large
enough for profitable development Ny
own belief is that there should be pro-
| vision for leasing coal. oil and gas
| rights under proper restrictions. II
| the additional force of special agents
and mining experts l recommend Ia
provided and well used, the result will
be not only to stop the land frauds, bun
I to prevent delays in patenting land
claims, and to conserve the indispea-
sable fuel resources of the nation"