Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-01-15
AGAINST LEASE
BILL PROPOSED
REPRESENTATIVE Mcclellan Intro
duces Amendment too His
Resolution.

Resolution.
Representative George Mcclellan
of Beach yesterday introduced in the
house an amendment to his concur
rent resolution memOrializing the rep
~resentatives and senators from North
Dakota in the national congress to
use all efforts to secure the passage
of the stock raising homestead act
now pending in the house.
The amendment protests against
the national leasehold bill and reads
as follows: 4.
"Be 1t Further Resolved, BY the
House of Representatives. of the
State of North Dakota, the Senate
concurring:
THAT, Whereas, The steady devel'
opment of the West has been depend
ent upon and built up by actual set
tiers and homesteaders, who came
west for the purpose of finding homes
for the support and maintenance Of
themselves and families; and
Whereas, Practically all the agri-
cultural lands in the Third Congress.
sional District of the State of North
Dakota have been selected and are
now occupied by actual settlers; and
"Whereas, The balance of the un>
occupied lands are quite rough and
broken and consist mostly of what
are commonly known as the Bad
Lands, and principally valuable for
stock raising; and
Whereas, The balance of this land,
if assigned in proper quantities, will
YET support hundreds of families; and
Whereas, We believe an act can
be passed by congress which will
grant each settler a sufficient acreage
Of said lands as will comfortably sup,
stock raising thereon; and
Whereas, 1t has come to our no.
tice that a movement was OF foot to
have congress pass a law to have said
government lands granted to the state
for leasing purposes, and to also pass
a national leasehold bill; and 81,
whereas, We believe that such an
act would be a crime and an outrage
perpetrated upon the counties in
which said lands are situated and
would deprive them of the actual set
tiers and families which they would
otherwise get, and would further de-
prive such counties Of the assessable
valuations and taxable property
which they are entitled to and from
which said counties would eventually
realize an abundance of evenue by
virtue OF families having their, lands
patented and homes built thereon for
themselves and families and their
children's children; and
whereas, There is not the incent-
i've for families to build up valuable
and permanent homes on rented land
that there is on land they can call
their own. and from which they would
not have to be separated by virtue Of
the expiration of a lease; and
Whereas, There are a number Of
the counties in which this land is 10.
Gated that are already too small in
the area of their agricultural lands
without robbing them of what is left,
and this is especially true of Billings
county, which has not any more tax
able real estate than it needs for the
running of the county government;
and
Whereas, We do not believe in
heaping the burdens of taxation on
the few who happen to own the agri-
cultural land in such localities when
the same can be reduced with the
settlement of these vacant govern.
ment lands, by homesteaders who are
willing to share the burden of tax
alton in their community for the pur-
pose OF getting homes; and
whereas, We are heartily in ia
vor OF some act that will tend to i'm
prove said district and bring settlers
who will make permanent homes
therein, but that we are bitterly op-
posed to the submission of a national
leasehold bill or any act that will
smut the lands out from actual home
stealing, thereby curtailing and han.
dlcappiag the development and up.
build of said district; Now, There
fore, = .
"Be 1t Resolved, BY the House of
representatives of the State of North
Dakota. the Senate concurring, That
We transmit a copy of this resolution
TO our senators and repres entatives in
tne national congress, requesting AID
urging them to use all honorable =,
means to see that the spirit of this
resolution, as amended, be put into
execution as far as possible. and that
any act which would tend to prevent
the actual settlement of the lands
above referred to, and which woulc
deprive any county in said Third con-
gressio1al district of the full benefit
of its lands, through taxation or 9th.
erwise, be prevented"
Mr.. Mcclellan moved that tho ro-o.
luton be referred to the committee
on state affairs, which motion pre-.
vailed and the resolution was so re.
ferred.