Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-17
THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
Recommendations of the Presi-
.--,j-- dent. "a.
FRAUD AIDED BY LAND LAWS
Timber and Stone Act Should Be Re-
pealed.
MORE SPECIAL AGENTS NEEDED
National Forest Reserve Valued at
Billion Dollars-Need Of Ex-
tensive improvements.
FRAUD AIDED BY LAND LAWS
doRE SPECIAL AGENTS NEEDED

The following message of President
Roosevelt on the subject of public land
laws was sent to Congress today:
To the Senate and House of Representa-
tives:
Public Land Laws
The developments Of the past year en-
phasize with increasing force the need
of vigorous and immediate action to recast
the public land laws and adapt them to the
actual situation. The timber and stone
act has demonstrated conclusively that its
effect Is to turn over the public timber
lands to great corporations. 1t has done
enormous harm, 1t Is no longer needed, and
it should be repealed.
The desert land act results so frequently
in fraud and so comparatively seldom in
making homes on the land that it demands
radical amendment. That provision which
permits assignment before patent should
be repealed and the entrymen should be
required to live for not less than two years
at home on the land before patent issues.
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 indefenSible means.
The communication clause of the homestead
act, in a majority of cases. defeats the
purpose of the homestead act itself, which
Is to facilitate settlement and create homes
In theory the communication clause should
assist the honest settler and doubtless in
some cases 1t does SO. Far more often 1t
supplies the means by which spectators
and loan and mortgage companies secure
possession of the land. Actual-not con-
structive-living at home on the land for
three years should be required before COM
mutation, 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
m SSiOp n which 7 again a f
tentiOn.
To Prevent Land Frauds.
I am gravely concerned at the extremely
! 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 respon-
sible. There is but one way by which the
fraudulent acquisition of these lands can
be definitely stopped. and therefore l have
directed the Secretary of the Interior to
allow no patent to be issued to public land
| under any law until by an examination on
the ground actual compliance with that law
has been found to exist. For this purpose
an increase of special agents in the gen.
eral 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 should be
enabled to employ enough mining experts
claims. and to undertake the supervision
and control of the use of the mineral fulse
still belonging to the United States. The
present coal law limiting the individual
entry to 100 acres puts a premium on fraud
by making it impossible to develop certain
types of coal fields and yet comply with the
law. It is a scandal to maintain laws
which sound well. but which make fraud
the key without which great natural re-
sources must remain closed. The law
should give individuals and corporations.
under proper government regulation and
control (the details Of which l shall not at
present discusS) the right to work bodies
of coal land large enough for profitable
development. My own belief is that there
should be provision for leasing coal, oil and
gas rights under proper restrictions. If
the additional force of special agents and
mining experts l recommend is provided
and well used. the result will be Aot only
to stop the land frauds. but to prevent de-
lays In patenting valid land claims. and to
conserve the Indispensable fuel resources
of the nation.
Rights Of Way and Privileges.
Many of the existing laws affecting rights
of way and privileges on public lands and
reservations are illogical and unfair. Some
work injustice by granting valuable rights
in perDetuity without return. Others fail
to protect the grantee in his possession of
permanent improvements made at large ex
the holders Of rights and privileges on the
public lands, and to the people whom the
latter serve / urge the revision and re-en-
actment of these laws in one comprehen-
siye act, providing that the regulations and
the charge now in force in many cases
may be extended to all, to the end that I'M
regulated or menopOlistic control of great
natural resources may not be acquired or
misused for private ends.
Private Holdings in National Forests.
The boundaries of the national forest re-
serves unavoidably include certain valuable
timber lands not owned by the government
Important among them are the land grants
Of various railroads. For more than two
years negotiations with the land grant rail-
roads have been in progress looking to-
ward an arrangement by which the forest
on railroad lands within national forest
reserve may be preserved by the removal
of the present crop of timber under rules
prescribed by the forest service, and Its
perpetuation may be assured by the trans
fer of the land to the government without
cost. The advantage of such an arrange
ment to the government lies in the &C
QUESTION of lands whose protection Is nee
essary to the general welfare. The ad-
vantage to the railroads is found in the
proposal to allow them to consolidate their
holdings of timber within forest reserves
by exchange after deciding their lands to
the government. and thus to cut within
of alternate sections, although the amount
of timber in each case would be the same
1t Is possible that legislation will be re-
CURED to authorize this or similar ar
rangement with the railroads and other
owners If so. recommend that 1t be en-
acted
Working Capital for National Forests.
The money value of the national forests
now reserved for the use and benefit of
the people exceeds considerably the sum
of one thousand millions of dollars The
stumpage value of the standing timber ap-
proaches seven hundred million dollars, and,
together with the range and timber lands,
the water for irrigation and power, and the
subsidiary reaches an amount equal to that
of the national property now under the i'm
mediate control of the army and navy to-
gether But this vast domain Is withheld
from serving the nation as freely and fully
as it might by the lack of capital to de-
velop it. The yearly running expenses are
sufficiently met by the annual appropria-
ton and the proceeds of the forests. I'm
der the care of the forest service the lat
ter are increasing at the rate Of more than
half a million dollars a year: the estimates
of appropriation for the present year is less
than for last year. and it is confidently ex-
pected that by 1910 the forest service will
be entirely self-supporting. In the mean