The Ronan pioneer. [volume] (Ronan, Mont.) 1910-1970, 1913-10-10

Inc hdllSpelI Dee says. vi
the seven thousand lucky ones at
the Fort Peck opening, how many
will make final proof on the land
selected? If former openings,
and the settlement Of public lands
generally may be taken as a pre-
cedent, the answer will have to
be only a small percentage
"The lands are said to be very
valuable, and doubtless are, and
yet the history of homesteaders
in the west for many years has
been that it is not the man who
proves up who makes the money,
but the one who follows him.
Unquestionably, this is not as it
should be and was not the inten-
tion of Galashua Grow, the faith
er OF the homestead law, when
he framed the bill.
"At the time of it's conception,
it was undoubtedly a boon to the
ambitious young farmer who had
reached his majority and wished
to acquire a home of his own, but
in those days the west had not
reached far beyond the the Mis-
sissippi river, and the pioneers of
that time found it a comparative
ly easy matter to push a few hum
dred miles further into the wilder
ness and establish a home on the
frontier. At least they were fit
ted for their occupation, accus-
toned to hardships, and had a
ten to one better chance of Win
ming out than the entrymen of
today.
AT that time the homestead
law was we'll adapted to the re-
quirements, but it poorly meets
the demands of today. The diff
Guilty at the present time is that
conditions have changed, while
the law was made to apply to a
past generation.
I'm the last fifty years the
United States has changed large
ly from an agricultural to an in
dustrial nation, and it is out of
the CALLING conditions of this in
dustrial world that has been Gre
ated that the vast majority of
men and women come seeking
homes and independence on the
free lands that have been prom
ised them by Uncle Sam.
by far the greater portion of
them come from beyond the
range of the prairie schooner, are
not familiar with the work they
are about to undertake and usu-
ally have not the necessary CAPT.
tai to engage properly in the busi-
ness and tide over the first few
lean years. Usually they relin-
quish to some practical farmer
for a few hundred dollars, and by
the time they have paid off their
bills at the store, their transpor-
tation back home, and again get
into their regular employment,
they find themselves somewhat
worse off than when they started.
1T is probable that these en-
trymen start out with the best of
intentions, and would make the
best class of citizens if they had
a chance, but the cards are all
stacked against them. The law
requires a continuous residence
of fourteen months under ordi-
nary circumstances, and three
years, which used to be five, on
reclamation projects.
So it is not to be wondered at
that he gives up the hope he had
cherished of a free home and goes
back to the rut from which he
came.
''The trouble is that the law
does not apply in the case of the
class of men who have most need
of the benefits which should be
afforded by the homestead act.
The government acts in a pattern
al capacity with it's ward, the In
dian. He is given the best land
on the reservations, and in ad-
dition is given stock, implements,
rations and a pension, but the
white settler is under suspicion.
It seems to be the fear Of the de-
partment that he is trying to grab
off a chunk of the public domain