The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1906-12-21
CONGRESS MUST REVISE
THE PUBLIC LAND LAWS.
So Much Fraud Perpetrated,
Says President, That Radi-
cal Amendment is Neces-
coru

Says President, That Radl-
cal Amendment is Neces-
sary.
To the Senate AID llonSe of Rep
resentati,
The developments of the past
year emphasize with increasing
force the need of vigorous and i'm
mediate action tn rrraSt the pub
lie land laws aud adapt them 10
the actual situation. The timber
aud stone act mas demonstrated
cOncluSitrly thar its effect is to
turn over the public thinner lands
to great corp rationS. Ii has done
enormous harm, it il no longer
needed. aud it should be repealed.
The desert land act results so
frequently in fiaud and so com.
parati\rly seldom in making
homes on the land that in de
mandS radical amendment. That
provision which permits assign.
ment bpf' re patent should be re-
pealed and the entrymau should
he required to live for not less
than two years at home on the
land before patent issues. Other
wise lie desert law will continue
to assist spectators and other
large holders to get control of
land and water on the public do
main by indrtrnSible means.
CLAUSE IN LAW DEFEATS ACTS
PURPOSE.
The communication clause of the
homestead act serves, in "a major
lty OF cases, to defeat the purpose
of the homestead act itself, which
is TO facilitate settlement and ere
ate homes
In theory the communication
clause should assist the honest
>ettl'rand doubtless in some cases
it does so. Far more often it sup
plies the means by which specula-
tors and loan aud mortgage com.
panleS secure possession Of the
land. Actual-nOt constructive
living at home on the land for
three years should be required he
fore communication. unless il should
appear wiser TO repeal he cOmmu
tatlOn clause altogether.
am gravely concerned at the
extremely unsatisfactory condi
tion 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.
ONE WAY TO STOP IT.
There is but one way by which
the fraudulent acquisition of these
lands can be definitely stopped.
and therefore have directed the
Secretary OF the Interior to allow
no patent to he issued to public
land under any law until uA an
examination on the ground actual
compliance with thai law has been
found to exist. For this purpose
an Ill rease of special agents in
the General Land Office is urgent
~ required. Unless il is given.
bona fide would be settlers will he
put to grave Inconvenience. or
else the fraud will in large parl
60 on.
Further, the Secretary of the
Interior should be enabled to EN-
ploy enough mining experts 10 ex-
anime the validity of all mineral
land claims, aud to undertake he
supervision and control of he use
of the mineral fuels still belonging
to the United States.
THE COAL LANDS LAW.
The present coal law limiting
the individual enlry to 100 acres
puts a premium on fraud 10y max
ing it impossible to develop Ger
tain types of coal fields and vet
comply with the law.
1t is "a scandal to maintain laws
which sound well but which make
fraud the key without which great
natural resources must remain
closed. The law should give IN.
dlvlduals aud corporations, under
proper Government regulation aud
control (the details of which |
snail not at present discusS), the
right to work bodies of coal lands
large enough for profitable devel
opment. My own belief is that
there should be provision for leas-
ing coal, oil and gas rights under
proper restrictions.
If the additional force of special
agents and mining experts | rec
Ommend is provided aud we'll used
the result will he not only to stop
the land frauds. but to prevent
delays i'll patenting valid land
claims and to conserve the indis
pensable fuel resources of the ma
ton.
RIGHTS OF WAY AND PRIVILEGES
MANY of the existing laws af-