The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1916-06-22
MASTERLY SPEECH
BY N. ]. SINNOTT

The following are portions of an ad-
dress recently delivered In congress by
Representative Sinnott:
1t is generally thought that the state
of Oregon is to receive so per cent of
the proceeds OF the sales under this
bill. II the most cursory reading of
the bill SO hoodwinks anyone pretend
ing to be at all familiar with the sub
ject. then his knowledge of the bill is
most superficial or the bill
''ls like william with smiling cheek,
A goodly apple rotten at the heart"
By the granting act of 1866 every al.
ternate section Of land in a strip 40
miles wide and about $50 miles long
was granted the railroad company.
The amendatory act Of 1869 provided
that the granted lands should be sold
to actual settlers in quantities not
greater than 160 acres to each purchas-
er and for a price not exceeding $3.50
per acre. This provision was practic-
ally ignored by the railroad company.
This grant was tantm0unt to grant
of solid body of land 20 miles wide
and $50 miles long. II lay across the
most fertile part Of the state of Ore
g0n.
The area in gross of the grant was
over a. 600, 900 acres, an area one-third
again as large as the state of Connecti-
cut, which has an area of 3,084, 800
acres; twice as large as the combined
area Of Delaware and Rhode Island,
which together have $40, 480 acres.
The net grant which the railroad COM
pany was able to obtain was 3,207, 1885,
.73 ::acres, according to its own figures,
an area still larger than the area Of
Connecticut.
= OF this enormous area the railroad
company prior to 1887 sold only 163,-
430.28 acres to actual settlers. All
told to date. about 800, 600 acres have
been sold. the greater portion to tim
ber interests. Of this amount over
370, 600 acres sold TO the large timber
interests in violation Of the settlers
clause of the granting acts were in
volved in the compromise suits under
the 1912 compromise act.
At the time of the grants both the
even sections and the odd sections
within the limits of the grant were
open to preemption settlement at 81. rs
per acre. The railroad company was
given the odd sections. the government
retained the even sections. The grant
ing act provided that the even mum.
bered sections should be raised in price
from $l.25 an acre to $3.50 an acre.
Thus government provided for its
reimbursement for the grant. Again
the government recovered In the COM
promise suits, under the act of 1912,
nearly $1,000. 900. every dollar Of which
has gone into the treasury of the Unit.
ed States. In free transportation for
its troops and property the govern.
ment has received over $4,000. 600.
The government will receive many
million dollars more under the provi-
sions of this bill, all for lands which
were devoted to the:development of my
state. This development has been de-
feated. The government parted with
its title to the grant lands, never ex-
pecting another dollar therefrom. The
supreme court held that, with the ex-
ception of the settlers clause, the
grant was unqualified. The court
held, There was complete and abso-
lutte tgrant to the railroad company,
with power to sell, limited only as pre-
scribed." Had the government not
permitted the settlement clause to be
ignored for years with impunity. the
development of that section of the
state would present vastly different
picture from what it does today. We
in Oregon feel it is only equitable
that, inasmuch as the government has
parted with its title to these lands to
effect the settlement and development
of Oregon object having been de-
feated - the proceeds of the lands
should now be pursued and devoted to
the original purpose of the granting
acts; the progress and development of
the state to the remedying, as far as
mere money can remedy, loss that
can not be reckoned, that can not be
recompensed.
My state has borne the entire loss
and burden of the violated grant, the
adverse conditions thereby entailed.
Our industrial loss easily amounts to
more than the entire value of the
granted lands.
Oregon is now the nations wood lot,
with l3.14S,9 ,941 acres of forest with,
drawn from taxation. From this great
untaxable area last year the state re.
ceived the munifcent sum of S49, 1000.
This bill puts 40 per cent of the pro-
ceeds of the land and timber into the
general reclama tion fund.
Oregon, with over 1000. 900 acres of
arid land susceptible of irrigation. &C.
cording to the reconnaissance of the
Reclamation Service, has up to June 80,
1915. enriched the reclamation fund
over $4,000, 900 and had had returned
but So, 758, 1922.