The Goodland republic., 1907-01-04
usB IRkgIs
DE THIN NEVER WERE
VALID.
oIders OF the New Contracts
Keep Scoring Against. as fn
This Case.

This Case.
recent illegal forfeiture no
decision OF the Kansas supreme
ort. which played such havoc with
d titles IN western Kansas, wiz be
EaHy nuTiGed II an opinion from
attorney generals ONCE, given last
zur6ay. IS sustained
Thousands Of acres OF land in
EasEas county and other western
rsas counties would be saved to in
rocent purchasers BY this opinion.
@arles @. Quick. county clerk Of
homas county. who came to Topeka
- get the ruling on the point which
e Ead discovered, said:
1t IS a great thing for the honest
trlers IN my county shall 90
ome ana tell them to stand pat
Ehsn the gang OF land-grabbing Ger
liacate sharks get after them. II the
elerlxs want to take the case TO the
e-prsme court, I am confident we can
seat them 1t Affects hundreds OF
quarter sections in my county. I am
only sorry that It does not cover the
e1tize 6rst three years OF our county
hzstory- hoped that my point would
be construed to take in all the old
laHd certificates"
The opinion Is that land sales made
ii western Kansas counties within
three years after the organization OF
these counties are void This puts
camper on the Vaccinations OF a CO.
tsrie OF western Kansas Iand-grabbers
who have been buying up old land
certificates from original purchasers
Tor the purpose OF ''quieting" the title
of present holders to the land and
Forcing the present holders to either
buy their own farms, or surrender
Possession
The ruling applies to many western
Kansas counties besides Thomas, and
VIII nuilify. in many instances, the de-
cIsion OF the supreme court, concern
ing the illegal forfeiture notices
Ar Quick came to Topeka in per
son TO consult A Gibson, the state
land clerk, and with the attorney gen
eraL He explained the situation in
his county as follows:
The county was organized in 1885.
The legislature in 1886 passed law
providing that no public land should
be sold in any county within three
years after its organization. Neverthe-
less, IN spite OF that enactment, the
oncers Of Thomas county went ahead
aHd sold vast quantities Of Thomas
time, and western Kansas filed up
rapidly. Nearly all Of the best land
III the county was taken up in 1885,
1885, 1887 and the first part OF 1888.
Then came the hard times, and prac-
ticsliy all OF these old original pur-
chasers were unable to hold to their
land. They moved away, and gave uD
their land, falling to keep up the pay
ments OF principal and interest In
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 fOrfeituTes were made, the land
was gradually taken up by the 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
Taegal, it left the old original land
srtiheates as a cloud on the title. The
holder OF these old certificates could
step IN at any time, pay up the prin-
cipal and interest due and take the
land.
Now We claim that the law Of
1885 prohibiting counties from selling
public land within three years after
their organization operates to make
null and void al Of 1he original land
CSEElLiCdL6S issued QuLAlB LnG years
1885, 1885, 1887 and part OF 1888, in
Thomas county, thus shutting on
nearly ali OF the old land certificates
which now constitute cloud on the
title OF a great deal Of our land, and
furnish an opportunity for the 'certi-
hcate sharks to squeeze our citizens" ="
The matter was presented to Assist
ant Attorney John Dawson by County
Clerk Quick and Mr.. Dawson gave
the opinion.
Thomas county as a separate cOun-
~. was organized in 1885. It was not
until February u, 1886, that the leg
islar1re passed the law prohibiting
counties from selling public land with
IN three years after their organization.
Therefore Mr.. Dawson holds that GER
tiicates issued from the date Of or
ganizatfon until February u, 1886,
are still valid, provided the forfeiture
notice were illegal. This is the par
ticGlar case in Thomas county; other
counties would be affected in different
degree, according to the time Of their
organization But there is no doubt
that the ruling protects hundreds Of
Innocent purchasers from the eXIOr-
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