Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1913-08-07
REVISION OF THE LAWS
Changes in Statutes Applying to
Homesteads Being Pushed by
Chamberlain.


have been frankly envious of his rath-
er startling record of getting three
bills passed by the senate in one day.
1t is something to be proud of under
any circumstances, and especially so
at this session when anything except
tariff and currency topics are practi-
cally taboo. The three bills we're:
First, allowing agricultural entries
on lands withdrawn on the supposi-
tion that they contain oil; second,
providing for a state forest reserve
in Oregon; third, Senator Borah's
modification of the homestead bill.
OF the three, perhaps the last is
the most important. This may be
said to be especially so as regards
settlers in Oregon, Washington and
| Idaho, where the natural conditions,
such as occasional heavy growths of
I timber, make the clearing of the land
difficult and expensive.
In the report which accompanied
! the bill when it was reported by the
committee on public lands, of which
Senator Chamberlain is chairman,
the following statement occurs: =
During the second session of the
SiXty-second congress there was
passed what is known as the three
year homestead law. In that law
was inserted a clause which provided
for the cultivation of not less than
ten acres of land during the second
year and of twenty acres during the
third year of homestead entry made
under the general law-that is, an
entry for 160 acres. Prior to the
passage of that act no specific
amount of cultivation had been re-
quired respecting homestead entry
of 100 acres. The attention of the
committee has been called to the fact
that the effect of this clause is to
work a material hardship to those
who are honestly endeavoring to Sc
cure homes, who, by reason of their
limited means, cannot do so upon a
great deal of the public lands. The
result has been to put in peril num-
Der of homesteads throughout the
west, and in some instances they
have been held for cancellation.
The purpose of the bill is con-
tanned in the following proviso, ap-
pearing on page 2 of the BILL
Provided, That the entryman in
lieu of cultivation required herein
may make improvements upon his
entry by constructing fences or build
lngs, by slashing, clearing, or in 9TH
er ways preparing the land for culti-
yation, by planting orchard, or by
otherwise making the homestead
habitable or capable of production,
said improvements to aggregate an
0f - ~
$l.5O per acre, except that in cases
OF entries under section 6 of the
enlarged homestead law the amount
of improvements shall be not less
than seventy-five cents per acre.
The committee struck out of the
bill this language:
But the secretary of the interior
may, upon a satisfactory showing,
under rules and regulations pre-
scribed by him, reduce the required
area of cultivation"
In view of the large number of
persons directly and indirectly af-
fected by this proposed law, it may
be well to give its full text 1t pro-
vldes that the provisions pertaining
to cultivation by entrymen of home
stead lands as set forth in the sec
tion of the act approved June sixth,
1912, entitled An act to amend sec
tion 2291 and section 2297 of the
revised statutes of the United States,
relating to homesteads,' be amended
to read as fellows:
Provided further that the entry
man shall, in order to comply with
the requirements of cultivation here
In provided for, cultivate not less
than oDe-siXteenth of the area of his
entry, beginning with the second
year Of the entry, and not less than
one-eighth beginning with the third
year of the entry, and until final
proof, except that in the case of en-
tries under section of the enlarged
homestead law double the area of
cultivation herein provided shall be
required; provided, that the entry
man in lieu cultivation required
herein may make improvements upon
his entry by constructing fences or
buildings, by >slashing, clearing or in
other ways preparing the land for
cultivation, by planting orchard or
by otherwise making the homestead
habitable or capable of production,
said improvements to aggregate an
amount each year of not less than
$1.5O per acre, except that in cases
of entries under section of the en-
larged homestead law the amount of
improvements shall be not less than
seventy-five cents per acre; provid-
ed, that the above provision as to
cultivation shall not apply to entries
under the act of April twenty-eight,
1904, commonly known as the Kin
kaid act, or entries under the act of
june seventeen, 1902, commonly
known as the reclamation act, and
that the provisions of this section rel
ative to the homestead period shall
apply to all unprotected entries as
well as entries hereafter made upon
which residence is required"