The Ronan pioneer. [volume] (Ronan, Mont.) 1910-1970, 1914-12-25
CHANGES URGED
IN LAND LAWS

lands as a precedent to it's sale is the
amendment to the land laws that the
legislature this winter may be urged
to enact. D. J. Burke, railroad con-
tractor, in an interview in the Great
Falls Tribune, advocates the change.
''Only few days ago, all the Mon
tana papers carried a story of the
large acreage possessed by the state
at the present time," said Mr.. Burke,
''and on first blush, it looks good on
paper. There were more than four
millions of acres accounted for under
The head of state lands. Giving every
one of them $40 acres, that would
provide claims for nearly 1000 per-
sons and when we begin to consider
it from that view it is easy to see
that Montana, like some people we
have known, is land poor. Now what
should be done is to make a change in
our land laws which would promote
settlement and development of state
lands.
I'm the acreage accounted for as
state lands only half of the trouble is
apparent. While there now stands on
the books as state lands, more than
four million acres, there is nearly half
as much more which has been sold by
the state at it's previous sales, but
which has never been touched by the
purchaser who got it wholly as a spec
u}ative proposition. Every acre so
he'd, works a drawback to the state
ard to all persons owning property
ard trying to develop their holdings
in the community. Now l have So
luton for the problem. Here it is:
Let the legislature change the law
governing the disposal of the state
land and make it a condition prece-
dent to holding the land that it shall
be actually settled upon and developed
ana improved Let anyone willing to
buy it on such terms buy what he
pleases and make his first payment
forfeiture if the actual entry upon the
land is not made within eight months
from the date of sale. Require that
60 per cent of the improvements be
completed at the end of the first four
years or make it possible for the
state to claim the payments made in
that period as penalty, but still give
the person further chance to prove
title, allowing him second chance of
four years, but if he has not met the
requirements as to the 60 per cent
OF the improvements in six years
from the original sale make it possible
for the state to recover the lands and
sell them to another.,1n other words,
make the penalty for failure to set
tie and improve a real one and one
that will induce action on the part of
the one taking -the lands when they
are bid in at the sale.
AT the present time the state is re-
Quired to sell the lands for at least
the appraised value. We all know
that few real estate men control
the market for state lands. They u.s.
ua]ly get them for the appraised val
ue, and as they have only put nomi-
nal sum into them, they can carry
the contracts along until they get
Some buyer at bargain and unload
on him, and when they have sold they
have never done anything toward de-
ve,oping the acreage. Possibly the
second buyer is merely speculator.
The men who follow this game have
no trouble in getting their dummies"
to Did on the land and it is common
knowledge that number of real es-
tate men, in certain sections, have
large holdings they have secured in
the manner have mentioned.
What would be the benefit of the
plan l have suggested? One may
ask. In the first place, it would
give an inviting field for those
who wanted to get good land on easy
terms at low rates and ought to stim-
ulate settlement. Added population
would mean increased property values
and larger tax rolls which would tend
to lower taxes. 1t would make need
for more railroads and the building of
more railroads would mean more work
for "Pick Handle" forces. That would
mean temporary payrolls while the
roads were under construction and
better means of transportation for
handling crops going out and machin-
cry and manufactured goods coming
in. 1t would build school houses and
churches to accommodate the educa-
tional, religious and social needs of
the rural population and would add
trading contors II, tho tovyrr opd vii