The Grangeville globe. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho) 1907-1922, 1910-10-27
FACTS ABOUT
LAND LEASING
State Land Commissioner Re-
flutes Gross Misrep-
resetations.

- Any man KNOWING Wnd- he Is udlk
3 ing about, who condemns the land leas
ing policy of the present state land
board shows that he would work to
def &.aent of the public chool fund
of me state and is not qualified to be
intrusted with power over the public
lands of the state"
This is the sentiment held by Geo
Day state land commissioner as ex-
pressed to the Capital News this morn
dng. "Such condemnation " he declar-
ed, iS lin reality a condem-
nation of the system which has in
creased the revenue of the common
school fund of the state from the leas
ing of lands of about $4,000 per year
to an annual sum exceeding S150.000
which is now being psi1 ont from
this source for the maintenance cf
the public schools of the state.
"a Take the so-called Big Four lease
OF Fremont county for instance, :"
he said Il am the father of that
project. | made the original select
ion OF the land and | recommended
II the leasing system as it is now work
ed out and | am proud of the fact
that through my efforts it is now
bringing the state nearly $1,000 an
nally-a source OF revenue which
had never been secured before. A
repudtion of this system would mean
the loss to the public school fund OF
more than two-thirds of this amount
detriment that would be done to the
state by the destruction OF one great
jim dustry with Its taxab,o property
and its annutl expenditure of money
in Fremont county without bringing
anything of value TO replace it,
States Holdings,
The states holdings in this sec
ton of the state on the Rexburg
bench were selected by me in 1908
They comprise about 10000 acres
of land lying in a more Or less com
pact body in a strip the extreme
length of which is 35 miles. the widtl
about 20 miles at its widest part, and
narrowing down TO some six miles Oh
less | was criticized then for Sc
lecting the land. Dry farming had
not been proven the succe SIS that ID
mas since been found to be. There
were but one or two settlers in tbs
section utilizing these dry farm lands
+,.i. "a boC
been forced to abandon their claims
Nevertheless | had had some eXper
fence along those lines and | had
confidence in the future of the Sc
lections.
A Great Sheep Pa ure.
This vast tract of land had beeI
used for many years as a great shee
pasture. When the policy OF The
land board to lease its land became
known, some of the sheepmen Of tha
section wanted to lease simply The
lands adjacent to Moody creek, Can
yon creek, Teton 1tver. the Bitei
creeks and Conan creek which are
the only streams in that section
Their purpose was to get possession
OF the lands which would give then
access to the streams. rhey Were
quickly informed that they would no
be permitted TO select such choice
locations to lease unless they lease
the entire holdings of the state.
"The first lease was made for 14J,
600 acres at 711 cents an acre. Dur
ing the life of that lease the common
school fund received at least $1,000
year or a total of $4,000. The pc
sons making this lease. since know
as the Big Four were Smart & Web
ster, Austin Bros. Johnston & Sever
son and Hunt, Bicks & Co. The re
maining 5000 acres of ihe state
holdings were held out as agricul
tual lands subject 10 sale.
New Lease Asked For
This lease expired in December
1909. About the time the Lease expil
ed application to lease portions o
the land as agricultural lands begal
to come in. | made personal Ell
fort to indLce as many IS possibl
to send in applications and an effor
was made to have it become know
I'm Fremont county that such applica
tions were desired by the state Ian
board. AS result of cur effort
there were applications for the leas
as agricultural lands of some 500
acres
The parties who had held the OF
igimal lease had formed 6osir oGgani7
a4ions among which the land ha'