Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1907-01-05
MAY BE FIXED.
Western Land Tile Troubles Received a
Check.

ftre3 decision ~ the Kansas supreme
court, which PLAYED such havoc with
I'D titles in western Kansas. VIII be
p tally nuliified if an opinion from
e attorney generals office. given to-
d =. is sustained.
thousands of acres of land in
Thomas county and other western
Kansas counties would be saved to in
nacent purchasers. by this opinion
A,arles @. Quick, county clerk of
f'ifomas counfy. who came to Topeka
+" get the railing on the point which
re had discovered, said:
'sIt is great thing for the honest
settlers in my county / shall go home
aud tell them 10 stand pat when the
gangs of land-gra bling .cersi ficate
sharks get after them If the sharks
want.to take the case to tine supreme
curt, l am confident we can beat
them. 1t affects hundreds of quarter
sections in nay county. L am only
sorry that il does not cover the en-
tire first three years of our county
history. | Hoped that my point
would be construed to take in all the
old land certi ticates."
The opinion is that land sales made
in western Kansas counties within
three years after the organization of
those counties are void. This puts
damper on the Vaccinations of CO.
terie of western Kansas land-grab-
bers who have been buving up old
land certificates from original pur-
chasers, for the purpose of ''queering''
the title of present holders to the
land, and forcing the present holders
to either buy their own farms, or sur
render possession.
The ruling applies to many western
Kansas counties besides Thomas. and
will nullify, in many instances, the
decision of the supreme court con-
corning the illegal forfeiture notices.
Mr.. Quick came to Topeka in per-
son to consult A. Gibson, the state
land clerk, and with the attorney
general He explained the situation
in his county as follows:
1.-The county was organized in 1885.
The legislature in 1886 passed a law
providing that no public land should
be sold in any county within three
years after its organization. Never
theless, in spite of that enactment,
the officers OF Thomas county went
ahead and sold vast quantities of
Thomas county land. 1t was in a
prosperous time, and --estern Kansas
filled up rapidly. arly all of the
best land in the county was taken up
in 1885, 1886, 1887 and the first part of
1888. Then came the hard times, and
practically all of these old original
purchasers were unable to hold to
their land. They moved away, and
gave up their land, failing to keep up
the payments of principal and inter
est. In due course the forfeiture no.
tices were made out by the sheriff in
a manner supposed to be perfectly
legal, but which the supreme court
has since held to be illegal. After
the supposed legal forfeltures were
made, the land was gradually taken
up by new settlers, and these are the
people who are now occupying the
land
when the supreme court ruled
that all the old forfeiture notices
were illegal, it left the old original
ldud CCI u UCS dS CtOuQ Ou OuC
title. The holder of these old certlfi-
Gates could step in at any time, pay
up the principal and interest due,
and take the land.
'sNow we claim that the law of
1888, prohibiting counties from SELF
ing public land within three years
after their organization, operates to
make null and void all of the original
land certificates issued during the
years 1885, 1886, 1887 and part of 1888,
in Thomas county, thus shutting off
nearly all of the old land certificates
which now constitute a cloud on the
title of great deal of our land, and
furnish an opportunity for the 'certi-
ficate sharks to squeeze our citizens"
The matter was presented to Assist
ant Attorney John Dawson by Coun-
ty Clerk Quick, and Mr.. Dawson gave
the opinion.
Thomas county as separate coun-
ty, was organized in 1885. 1t was not
until February II, 1886, that the legis-
lature passed the law prohibiting
counties from selling public land
within three years after their organ
ization. Therefore Mr.. Dawson holds