The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-06-15
STATE CAPITOL
LAND GRANT GONE
Has Been Frittered Away; in
Fact. Almost Given
Away.
FACTS AND FIGURES
OF INTEREST To ALL
One-Third of the Entire Grant
Absorbed by Handful of
People.

w men ON JauuaTF D, 1880. Il llIlle
more than twelve years ago, the state
officers Of Utah were inauguratcd and
Utah became a full.fledged State, these
officials found among things that had
been granted them by tho government
of the United States, great empire in
the shape of public lands. These lands
were granted for the purpose Of aiding
these state institutions: Agricultural
college, Deaf and Dumb Asylum, In
sane Asylum, Institution for the Blind,
Miners Hospital, Normal school. pub
llc buildings. reform school, reservoirs.
school of mines, school. university.
There was not a million acres. but
more than twice that number. IT was
valuable heritage, one that should
have made the several institutions of
the State not only rich, but more than
rich. II would have been so in most of
the States, but Utah differs from other
States
This great empire of public land. .
four times as great rs the State of
Rhode Island. has been frittercd away
given away by the several state land
boards, until The amount that remains
is but nominal. OF this great empire of
land thousands upon thousands Of acres
have been sold for ten TO twenty five
cents per acre.
Grant for State Capitol
Among the original grants TO the
State was 100 sections Of land, or Cd
900 acres, that were TO be used to and
in the erection of State capitol OF
this great body of land there now re-
mains but SOC acres, the remainder
having been sold largely at $i.25 per
acre. Some few thousand acres were
sold at $50 per acre.
There are several thousand acres sold
which sales have not yet been approved, f,
but the sales have been in reality inst
gifts, for, had they been held, the min
lmum price for the poorest of the land
grant for the State capitol would have
brought at least $40 per acre. and n
nucleus for State capitol building
fund would have been created which
would have built the capitol building
without calling upon the people at all
Who Obtained Land.
One person alone secured from this
64,000-acre grant. forty-two tracts, ag-
of the entire grant, for Sl.25 per acre
This sale was made to James IL. White
of Salt Lake City in list No. 16, the
date being March a. 1900.
On October S of the same year a
Colorado individual purchased 3S0l. 90
acres of the public building land for
which he paid $50 per acre. This was
Proseate Stevens of Montrose. OF this
acreage the sale of 62l acres was not
approved by the general land office at
Washington, inasmuch as il was min
eral land, although the State land
board here and the federal land Office
IN, Salt Lake had approved the entire
sale.
Was Valuable Tract.
On October 10. 1902. in list No 23,
6l99 acres were purchased by four per-
sons at $50 per acre, These parties
were John II. Seely of Mt, Pleasant,
l0i0 acres; Edwin 4. Howard of Salt
Lake City: 222l.60 acres; William
Howard and Mary Howard of Hunting
ton, 3437.56 acres. This sale has pot
yet been approved by the general land
office. although The State land board
and the federal land Office here passed
them up. These lands-this 6499
acres-wcrc examined by land officers
of the general government and found
TO be coal lands. and have been so
classified. These lands are worth
about $3.50. 900. but the State land
board Of Utah was willing. and did
pass them over 10 the parties named
for S914s. iust a small loss Of Il little
more than S6t000O
On September 81, 1904. three persons
living in Logan purchased thirtv.one
tracts of land, involving 3s7S2O acres.
These parties were Osborn, Wjdtsoe.
William Jardin and Louis a, Merrill.
The purchase price of these lands was
$l,JO per acre.
From this it viii he seen that these
half dozen persons secured alone one
third of the local land grant TO aid tue
public building fund. Had this land
grant been guarded properly ms it
should have been, as South Dakota did,
for illustration. the state should have
obtained from this 81. $40 acres. nj least
$2l9, 900, instead of the paltry sum
paid.
The members of the state land
board receive 800 per month for their
services i'm addition 10 travelling cx-
penses. There is no reason. therefore,
why rigid inspection OF the lands dis.
posed of was not made.
As said, Utah has been state for
twelve years. During this twelve years
the magnificent land grant has been
frittcrcd away. The receipts. of course
from the sale of these lands arc now
drawing a nominal rate of interest. but
there was no occasion 10 dispose of
them at the prices realized.
AS to Suspense Fund.
I'm connection with this there is
large sum from which the state does
not derive any revenue, that is the
suspense fund. This amounts 10 an
enormous sum. IL is the - cents per
acre paid in when application for the
land is made. This cannot bc invested
for the reason that IL may have to he
paid back 20 the applicant in the
event that his application he rejected
But this is another story.
These facts are given for the pur.
pose Of showing tho people that in the
alleged grabbing of everything in the
state, which the outside counties
charge Salt Lake City with doing. arc
without foundation, either in matter or
fact.
University OF Utah Summer School