The Washington herald., 1913-07-24
lane WORKSHARD.
TO AID FARMER.
Secretary Of the Interior Has
Begun Long War on
Land Grabbers.
VAST TRACTS INVOLVED
Ninety-Five Per ceat Of Territory
Held BY Spectator Whs Charge
Excessive Rates.

6xce40ve NAte1s
Secretary Of the Interior Franklin n
Lane has made a bid which will. In AL
probability, Guido anything IN this nne
that William Jennings Bryan ever tried
to accomplish in championing causes
of the people That is to say. MI. Lane
has confined his efforts in this directon
to a particular section Of the country,
west of the Mississippi River.
He is not trying to gain anything Tor
himself. especially, but he has taken up
the cudgels for the farmer and the home
steader in the great West. His efforts
in this direction materially effect the
pocketbook of every man, woman and
child, and within the next years Mr..
Lanes name may be a household word
from Chicago to San Francisco.
Spectator Is Opposed.
incidentally. he is "bucking' the land
Spectator and is brewing a little storm
that is gathering in San Francisco, Port
land, Seattle. and other far Western cities
which threatens to inundate the Interior
Department and the halls of Congress
when the issues, apparent now only on
the surface, are brought out. These land
'grabbers," as they are termed here.
have quietly been acquiring vast tracts
OF land in the West on which the people
of the. United States have spent over
SO, 600, 900 in irrigation projects. The home
steader has either been ousted through
excessive water rate charges or becomes
the tenant of the land companies.
Secretary Lane finds that the projects
were constructed for the purpose of aid
ing the small farmer in tilling his ground,
but that in reality IS per cent Of the
land is held by land spectators who are
charging excessive rates for water which
has been sluiced to the land by the gov
eminent. The other 5 per cent Of the
acreage is owned by the small farmer,
but even government water rates are
held by Mr.. Lane to be excessively high.
Building notes for dam canal and sluice
ways add to the cost Of upkeep OF the
farm and conditions, Westerners say, are
becoming intolerable.
By going into the question from the
very first day that he entered his office,
Mr.. Lane has become intimately acquaint-
ed with conditions obtaining in the West.
Daily conferences have been had with
delegations from the West. Even the
land speculator had his day in court. and
his contentious and views were placed
before the Secretary. So for three solid
months Mr.. Lane has gone into the ques-
ton of water rights for cities, water
SPECTATOR, and has come to the con-
clusion that the United States govern
ment has been the means of furthering
the aims and schemes of the real estate
dealers rather than conserving the inter-
ests of the small farmer or homesteader.
Farmer Needs Help.
In this connection Mr. Lane announced:
Il am for the farmer, first last, and at
all times Naturally handicapped by lack
Of sufficient f6lds to carry on expensive
under the conditions that obtain
in the West, the farmer must receive
support and cooperation from the gen.
eral government, If the great West il to
be settled and made to be as productive
as the East. Expensive water will ruin
the small farmers and ranchmen- They
must have cheap rates and longtime
notes, the government must back them
up and extend them credit. helping them
over the rough places if necessary. If the
various projects designed to benefit the
whole people are to accomplish the pur-
poses for which they were constructed.
Why should this government spend sI5,-
100 900 for the benefit of private capital!
Why should the government adopt hard
and fast policy, such as has existed IN
The past, which has kept the small farm
ar from going into the new regions and
taking up government land? Isn't 1t
lime for the United States to extend to
the westerners a little paternal patience.
little more consideration, helping
band?
This is Just where Mr.. Lane comes to
he front as a champion of the peoples
rights. westerners do not think that Lane
IS playing politics or using an oppor-
unity of getting in solid with them.
they believe that through Mr.. Lane they
nave a greater chance Of obtaining what
S due them than they have ever had
before, and are willing to take the Sec
,etary at his word, depending upon his
Known proclivities in getting to the bot
ON of things and deciding the issues for
he benefit of the many.
Protests to Come.
The storm that is centering, however,
zones from the land spectators. Con-
iitions obtaining now in the West are
,ery much to their liking, and they
oath to have the Secretary "unneces-
arily interfere" Protests are bound to
.ome piling into Congress this coming
all against Secretary Lanes 'perni- !
ious'' interfering with a policy fostered
w the government Under which capital |
SITS have been induced to open up the
hundreds of thousands OF acres OF lano
Ldiacent to the several irrigation pro-
ects.
Secretary Lane expects q tremendous
,owl to be raised, and is preparing for
/ in advance. He already has announced
hat he will do something to relieve i
he present conditions of the farmers on
he irrigated lands, and decision in sew
raj very important cases is about to
e made, probably not until after Con-
ress adjourns, however. Land specuia-
ors cannot very well protest against
omething that has not yet happened.
nut Interior Department agents report
hat large realty investment concerns
re watching Secretary Lanes every
ction.
When the Secretary's decisions are an
ounced, it will give the land spectators
Ienty of time in which to prepare an
ppeal to Congress. but 1t is not thought
v government officials that It VIII
mount to much. as Representatives IN
congress are loath to face the condemna-
ion Of their constituents. II
Secretary Lane, however, IL Wiling 10
bide by the result, and 1t Is SAFE 70
redict that he will make big hit with