Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1915-09-16
Adopt Resolution
on Land Problem

zens OF Ashland and interested par
ties from surrounding districts met at
the Commercial Club rooms last Fri
day evening to discuss matters relat-
ing to the railroad land grant prob
lem which vitally affects Jackson
county. b. e. Phipps presided over
the meeting and w. o. Dickerson act
ed as secretary. A committee con-
sisting of F. G. McWilliams, S. S.
Mitchell, c. w. Banta, G. w. Moore
and c. B. Lamkin was appointed to
circulate petitions to the conference
which will gather in Salem this week
to consider the grant problem. The
following resolution was passed by
the assembled citizens:
ITO the United States Senate and
House of Representatives in Con-
gress assembled:
Gentlemen: The citizens of Jack
son county, Oregon, in meetings as
sembled for the purpose of petition
ing congress concerning legislation
relating to the further disposition OF
the unsold lands of the grant made
to the Oregon G. California Railroad
Company, beg to represent to you the
following:
"There are 1,S15, ,O4O acres of land
in Jackson county, of which 441, 900
acres are under the grant of the Ore
gon & California Railroad Company,
and 6O7,324 acres are embraced in
the forest reserves. Only about 9O,-
600 acres of tillable land are now be-
ing made to produce the county, state
and national revenue in this vast do
main. The railroad lands have been
withdrawn from sale since January /,
1903. By reason of this condition
Jackson county in common with
much more of the Oregon country has
been retarded in growth and develop
ment. Taxes have been increased and
there are now about 100000 of de-
linquent taxes standing against the
grant lands of the Oregon & Califor-
mia Railroad Company in Jackson
county.
"The county contains large amounts
of timber of merchantable quality,
and the fact that each alternate sec
tion of the timber thereon in the for
ests can not be purchased has pre-
vented the development of numbering
except on a limited scale, as much Of
the timber must have logging roads
built thereto, and this is of course
impractical where one-half of the
timber and lands is held under an
ownership that will sell neither lands,
timber nor logs.
"a large part of the country con-
tains gold and copper mines, and min
ing has been prevented for the reason
that every government section where
mineral is found is surrounded on
four sides by railroad lands. The
miner and prospector have been con-
fronted with the fact that where the
vein or deposit found on government
lands is traced to the section line,
there development and exploration
must cease. Many discoveries of val
liable mineral deposits have been
made on railroad lands and those ad-
Joining them In cases thousands OF
dollars have been expended in de-
velopment, and in many instances this
has been stopped by threats of eject
ment on the part of the railroad,
which has been deaf to opportunities
to sell the SAME. This county has
been a mining country for sixty years,
and the reports of the United States
Geographical Survey show that the
largest part of the county is prom
Using field for the mining of gold and
copper, and that large quantities
thereof are produced annually.
"In this grant there are large guam
titles of land suitable for agricultural,
horticultural, viticultural and grazing
purposes. Within a radius of ten
miles from Grants Pass, modern
city of 5000 population, there are
10000 acres of railroad land, level
and rolling in character, all of which
is susceptible of cultivation and irri-
CATION from Rogue river, which
flows through it, and carrying suf-
ficient quantity of water to irrigate
10000 acres
"The development of irrigation is
prevented effectively by the railroad
ownership of these lands, which reach
even the city limits. Thousands oil
people have come to this country in
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