Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1914-06-03
ITEMS OF INTEREST
AT NAT0N'S CAPITAL
SPECIAL ATTENTION GIVFN
TO NEWS OF IOWA PEOPLE.
Special Representative Will Keep
Public Opinion Readers Posted.
Interesting Developments of Ma.
tons Affairs Tersely Described
by Former IOwan for Iowa
Readers.
Public Opinion Bureau
Washington, D. c..


1t has taken the American govern
ment long time to wake up to the
| fact that the Canadian government
has better homestead laws than our
own, and for that reason the Domin-
ion has been able 10 induce hun
dreds of thousands of Americans to
go into Canada One of the provi-
sions in the Canada homestead law
allows an eighteen year old boy to
acquire home, and the result is
that young men under age have been
taking up the public lands OF the
Dominion. The proposition for
homestead entries by minors has
been gaining strength in Congress,
and it received an impetus last month
when the western governors in their
annual conference at Denver, went
on record as unanimously resolving
that I'VE approve the plan now be-
fore Congress TO permit homestead
entries by persons over eighteen
years of age" The Interior Depart
ment and the Agricultural Depart
ment have both strongly endorsed
the suggested legislation. Since the
Secretary of the Interior has been
enabled to designate entirely arid
lands that cannot be irrigated as
enlarged homesteads, enabling sett-
lers to secure 800 acres of land in
stead of 100, there has been no.
ticeable Improvement in conditions
Of settlers in. sections of the coun-
try where grazing has been the prin-
cipal source of income.
The change in the homestead law
by which settlers can acquire title
in three years has more than dou-
bled the entries throughout the Unit
ed States, During the fiscal year
ending June 80, 1912, the total
homestead entries throughout the
United States were 24,326, covering
4,306,06S acres of land. The three
year homestead law was passed June
ed States. During the fiscal year
ending June 80, 1913, there were
in the United States 52,252 final
homestead entries, covering more
than ten million acres of the public
domain.
During the debate in the House
upon the bill of Representative Tay-
of eighteen years or over, to take
homestead and desert land entries,
representative Burke of South Da-
kota, who is shortly to be advanced
to the Senate, used the argument
that many of the boys serving in
the navy and marine corps are not
more than eighteen years old, and
that the average is about twenty.
He insisted that those boys who re-
Gently gave their lives at Vera Cruz
were not too young to file on a,
homestead, and he said that he pre-
fered to encourage the boys to re-
main at home, to stay on the farm,
instead of going into the army and
navy. He concluded that IF a boy
is old enough for military service he
ought to be able to file on the public
domain" Burke, a Republican, and
Taylor, Democrat, have been two
of the best friends the homesteaders
ever had in Congress, and they have
both been enemies to what has been
termed by them as professional con-
servation." Taylor says that there
is no monopoly of agricultural land
in the west today, and everyone who
has big farm is trying to cut it
up and sell it into smaller tracts" /
He adds that a comparison of the
land laws of the Dominion of Canada
with those of the United States,
shows great many more liberal
features in the system of occupation
homestead laws.
At the investigation before the
Senate in January Mr.. William j.
White, in charge of the immigration
to Canada, testified that
100000 citizens of the United States
had gone to Canada to take up
lands. The United States has just
that the Canadian govern
ment has been spending between
100000 and $4,000 a year in adj
in the states along the
border, and the greater part of the
money has gone into the patent in
sides of country. newspapers. Now
since the horse has been stolen, Con-
gress is going around to lock the
doors, to check immigration.
According to our Agricultural De-
partment the cost of producing wheat
in Saskatchewan is fifty-five cents
per bushel on the farm, and sixty
two cents per acre f, o. b. cars. 1t
has been figured out that the Sas-
katcheWan farmers last wear allied