The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1909-02-13
Maxey With The
Big Stick. :
L'Anse Legislator out After the Scalp
Of Land Commissioner.

OF Land Commissioners.
From Lansing and through the agency
of the Detroit Journal comes the re-
port of the latest move on the part of
our estimable townsman and represent
ative Of the Iron district, John o. Max
ey.
rep. John o. Maxey, Of L'Anse, is
mixing war medicine and is going after
the scalp-lock of Land Commissioner
Huntley Russell. He wants the sale of
state tax lands stopped during the con-
sideration by the legislature Of land
legislation and if he doesn't succeed in
holding up further sales, he promises
to go off the reservation entirely and
put some one in an exceedingly awk-
ward position.
1T is downright shame the way the
land spectators are overrunning the
capitol" says Rep. Maxey. ''They
are gobbling up the best state lands,
denuding them Of their timber and
then letting them revert to the state,
practically valueless. And we are not
getting enough out of the sale of lands
to pay for the expense of handling
them. The land commissioner reports
that an appraiser has examined the
lands and fixed fair price on them.
I'll tell you how that works.
IA few months ago / bought some
cedar swamp land in the upper peninsu-
la for $28 per acre. / considered that
l was getting bargain, because l be-
lieve that the land is really worth 500
an acre as piece of timber property.
But when ! came to get my abstract, I
found that the man bought the land
from had purchased the property from
the state two years before, for $1.25 an
acre. That is a fair sample of the way
lands are disposed of. This land could
not have been fairly appraised, because
no man could take look at it and not
see that it was worth at least $25 per
acre.
''And this is going on all the time.
Spectators buy this land aronnd 81 per
acre, 60 out and cut the timber and let
the land revert to the state. They
clear from $50 to 500 per acre in the
transaction. And even worse things
take place. The report of the forestry
investigation commission shows that
men sold state lands as much as nine
months before they bought them.
Pretty simple way of getting rich that
If you're close enough to the Office.
-All yon have to do is to find pur-
chaser who will not insist on the i'm
mediate delivery Of the deed. Then
you can look over the list and buy land
for one-tenth of what you have already
sold it for.
''Now much Of this went on in years
gone by. But know that the capitol
is swarming with these same specula-
tors- They are grabbing up all the
lands they can before we have chance
to pass the needed legislation with
drawing all state land franchises.
& "As the thing stands now, we don't
get enough money out Of the sale Of
lands to begin to break even on what
it costs to handle the lands. / know
something about land values, and land
that is not worth S. per acre is not
worth taking at all.
ALSO, mineral rights on all land sold
should be reserved by the state. Min
nesota pays good share of her running
expenses by the royalties received from
iron lands owned by the state, and
Michigan should do the same.
1.-THE Morrice bill, as it will finally
be fixed up, win, I,ebelisse, ,rtske. care
of the situation, butswhiIe it is pend
ing, the sale of lands should be held up.
And if Mr.. Russell is notswiliing to aid
in this matter am going to know the
reason why
"As it is now, he is busy lobbying
against the bill instead of working for
the best interests of the state in saw
ing the lands.