Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1908-03-06


GOT the WORST OF II
How Northern Minnesota
Was Bunkoed in Its
Lands
The newspapers of the Twin Cities,
in reporting the state editorial conven.
sion, gave no report Of the. most
valuable paper read there. possibly of
reasons obvious to anyone who reads
the paper. It was by A. L. Hamilton,
the able editor of the Aitkin Re.
publican and was on The County
Newspaper in Politics." But most of
the paper was devoted to a clear
explanation of how the northern part
of the state had been treated,
especially with reference to it's LANDS.
Valuable parts Of the address are as
ION March IL, 1850. Congress passed
a law by the terms Of which all the
government swamp lands WITHIN the
borders Of the state Of Minnesota
should be turned over to the state,
subject to the disposal of the
legislature thereof, provided. however,
that the proceeds of said land,
whether from sala or direct a%ppropria-
zion in kind, shall be applied ex.
clusively, as far as niece ssary, to the
purpose of reclsi ming said lands, by
means OF levees aud drains.
"The grant in the first place
amounted to 1880. 900 acres. aud
after entering int, thu solemn COM.
pact with the government to observe
its provisions and carry out its terms,
the leRislatura proceeded to violate
it. Nearly 5000. 900 acres of the
grant were given to substitute rail
roads, some of which appear to have
been organic I'd expressly for the
purpose Of participating in tho graft,
and a considerable portion of the
balance was turned into the state
sch7ol fund. The government surveys
from time to time added more swamp
land to tbs grant, and it was found
necessary TO devise a new scheme to
Qobble it up and keep it away from the
neople for whose benefit it was
intended. as in 1881 the legislature
snbmitted to the people Of the state
an amendment to the constitution
nroyiding that the swamp land should
ha aonaiiy divided between the state
school fund and the fund for the
annport of the charitable and educa-
tionl institutions of the state; and the
amendment was adopted.
.s1s haa been stated, after the greed
of the railroads had been satisfied, the
balance Of this great grant was given
to the state school fund aud the
charitable and educational institutions
III fhe state, and as there vas much
timber on many of the subdivisions.
tho legislature proceeded to impose
dradtio. penalties to be melted out or
anVsvho would offer to steal 1T. Thus
we.hsye the spectacle of the Legislature
illustrating aud appropriatinE the
herftdke of the northern part OF the
state and then ~ensconcing, itself
within q barricade of legislation fol
n~rotection in tho enjoyment of the
spoils it saved after the loot of the
railroads was complete.
II do not wish TO be understood az
condoniug the offense OF the timber
thief. but two wrongs do not make 9
riaht. The southern part OF the state
has dominated the Legislature ever
since the organization OF the state,
and to the members from that part OF
the state must be laid the respor sibili
~ of the passage of all important
legislation. Much of the legislation
enacted has been s1bversive of oul
interests. For I%nstance, the state
policy in disposing of its lands. The
government makes no reservation OF its
timber when the swamp land was
given to the state for purposes OF
drainage, and one would think that
after wrongfully appropriating this
land the state should be liberal to
purchasers aud give them a chance to
live; but getting away with this
gigantic swamp land sTag has
apparently made the state all the
more greedy. We To- lind that in
the state auditors Advertisements OF
SAILS of state timber every good log,
ev,ry piece of wood that will make q
tie, pole, post or stick of cord wood OF
pulpwocd, must be sold and the money
turned into the treasury. And when
1t appeared q few years ago that there
might be iron on ONE state lands, the
legislature promptly passed a Law
reservipg the mineral on all state
slantd9s:saThus, when~a~m man bids In a
piece of state land now he finds when
he gets his contract he only has the
RIGHT to tickle the top Of the round.
He may not possess ANYTHING that
lies under the surface and there Is
nothing above ground he can sell to
keep Instantly living while process OF
clearing is going on.
The swamp land grant, including
the three million acres given the
railroads.. now amounts to s. 500, 00O
acres, not counting the 1S6, 900 acres
in the Indian reservations, the claim
for which was established a few
months ago by State Auditor Iverson.
This land was all given the state for
its own reclamation, yet WREN We 20
down to the capital and ask for
appropriations for internal improve.
ments, the legislature hides behind the
ample folds OF the constitution and