The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1909-11-29
Urges Continuation Of Policy
Of Prosecuting violators
Of Land Laws
CLASSIFICATION Of PUBLIC
lAn0S An IMPORTANT NATTER
The Government Rather Than the
Settler Should Decide Whether the
Land Is Most Valuable for Agrlcul.
tural or Mineral Purposes.

Washington, Nov. 29-The annual
report to the president of Hon. Rich
ard A. Ballinger, secretary of the in
terror, has been made public and ex-
tracts from it are given below:
This report covers a portion of the
time under the administration of my
predecessor, Mr.. Garfield, who, by his
earnest and disinterested services,
contributed greatly to the advance
ment Of the department in organiza-
tion and efficiency Of the administra-
tiOn
Public Lands
The proper use and disposition Of
the public lands have been questions
INVOLVING no little legislative as we'll
as administrative difficulty from the
beginning Of their history. They were.
during the earliest administrations,
treated as a national asset for the
liquidation of the public debt and as a
source of reward for our soldiers and
sailors. Not until the discovery of
gold on the Pacific slope did the policy
change for one of exploitation by
which our citizens were encouraged to
develop the mineral and agricultural
resources of the public domain on con-
dltion Of receiving limited areas at a
nominal cost. For similar reasons,
railway and wagon road grants we're
liberally donated by congress in order
to add facilities for the opening up Of
these almost inaccessible regions.
The railway grants generally were
limited to nonmineral lands, except
such as contained coal and iron, which
latter minerals were taken to be es-
Eential for railway construction and
operation. New states were, when
admitted, literally endowed with pub
lie lands for school and other pur-
poses, 30 that, out of public domain
in 1860 OF 1,065, ,911 ,28S acres (Alaska
then not belonging to the United
States), we now have only about
731, 1,354,081 acres, confined largely to
the mountain ranges and the arid and
semdarid plains, except lands within
some of the Indian reservations and
the 368,035,975 acres of undisposed Of
land in Alaska.
All of tAe principal land statutse
were enacted over twenty-five years
ago; the homestead act, the pre-
emption and the timber culture act,
the coal land and the mining acts, for
the aid of the Industrious prospector,
were among the earlier acts Of this
nature.
The liberal and rapid disposition Of
the public lands under these statutes
and the lax methods of administration
which for long time prevailed nat
urally provoked the feeling that the
public domain was legitimate prey for
the unscrupulous and that it was no
crime to violate or circumvent the land
laws, 1t is to be regretted that we, as
nation, were so tardy to realize the
Importance of preventing so large a
measure of our natural resources pass
Ing into the hands of land pirates and
SPECTATORS. with no view to develop
ment looking to the national welfare.
It may be safely said that millions of
acres Of timber AMI other lands have
been unlawfully obtained, and 1t is
also true that actions to recover such
lands have in most instances long
since been barred by the statute of
limitations. The principal awaken
Ing to our wasteful course came un-
der your predecessors administration.
The bold and vigorous prosecutions
of land frauds through Secretaries
Hitchcock and Garfield have restored
salutary respect for the law and
the public mind has rapidly grasped
the Importance of safeguarding the
further disposition of our natural re-
sources in the public lands in the in
terest of the public good as against
private greed. Notwithstanding this.
1t is necessary to continue with the
utmost vigOr, through all available
sources, the securing of Information
Of violations of the public land laws
and to follow such violations with
rigid prosecutions.
In this present policy of conserving
the natural resources Of the public do
main, while development. is the key
note, the best thought of the day is
not that development shall be by na-
nonal agencies, but that wise utiliza-
lion shall be secured through private
enterprise under national supervision
and control. Therefore, IL material
progress Is to be made In securing the
best use of our remaining public
lands, congress must be called upon
to enact remedial legislation.
Classification of Public Lands
In order that intelligent administra-
tion shall be applied In the disposition
Of the public lande, it is essential that
they be classified into various clearly
defined divisions according to their
principal value or use. They have
generally been classified in legisla-
ton as agricultural, mineral, desert,
timber and coal lands, and 1t is only
In recent years that the interior de-
partment, through the geological SUR
vey, has undertaken to make this