The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1908-03-11
WEDNESDAY, MARCH II, 1908.
FOR LARGER HOMESTEADS.

It is quite probable that a law pro-
viding for larger homesteads will be
enacted by the present congress. A
dispatch from Washington says west
ern sen ators and representatives have
agreed upon a bill which is designed
to meet conditions in Montana and
other semi.arid states, and efforts will
be made to secure its passage this
session.
The provisions of the proposed new
law are saidito apply to non-irrigable
and non.timbered public lands, and
do not give 1.-THE right of additional
homestead entry to settlers who have
already received patents to their lands.
1t is provided that the unit of the en-.
larged homestead shall be 320 acres,
the friends lof the measure believing
that. under the ''dry farming system
Of cropping the land once in two
years, b e,.settler needs a homestead
Of that size.
There appears to be opposition to
the enlarged homestead plan, even
among Montana residents, but its ad-
vocates present convincing facts to
demonstrate'the necessity of encour-
aging settlementNupon the lands to
which the provisionsCof the proposed
law will apply. In reporting a bill
of this nature from the senate COM.
mittee, Senator DixonImade,this state.
ment of the. stu alton:
At the present time there remains in
the state Of Montana, outside of for.
est reserv% atoms, Indian reservations,
military reservations and lands with
drawn under the reclamation act, 49,
799, 5l4 acres Of public lands upon
which no settlement has yet been made.
For more than.twenty years this ter.
ritory has been traversed by two great
tr Observation-Disclosures of railroad from
east to lwest, besides many shorter
lines of railroad (which penetr ate the
country iniall directions, giving full
opportunity for the settlement of these
lands, and yet after all of these years,
under the present limited area of
homestead entry IS applied to these
semi.arid lands, hardly one per cent.
OF them Ihave been passed to patent
under all Of the land laws now in ex-
istence.
In all the state of Montana during
the year 1907. there we're only 1904
final homestead entries. With abund-
ant opportunity for settlement and en-.
try only l,264 persons during the past
year awaited themselves of the oppor.
tunity OF making homestead entries in
that state, which state alone covers
an area of country larger than all OF
the New England states, New York,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland
and Delaware. These figures show
conclusively that the lands in that
portion Of the aridiwest that are pos.
sible of successful occupancy under
the present limited area of the home.
stead law are rapidly becoming ex.
hausted, and unless q more liberal
policy is inaugurated by the govern.
ment neutrality-suspicious. will seek lands
elsewhere, Ewhere the conditions are
more favorable for successfully be-
coming home builders.
From the report of the commissioner
OF the general land Office for 1907 we
find that during the fiscal year ending
June 80. 1907, the total area OF public
lands upon which final entry was made
in Montana, Iboth as homesteads and
desert entries, was as follows:
No. Acres.
Homesteads .........l,264 1856, 100
Desert entries. ...... 755 $780, $40
Total ...........2,Ol9 3l5, :3O9
This whole acreage is not equal to
one-twentieth of:the area OF the aver.