Elko independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1915-current, 1916-04-22
SENATOR P|1TMAN
ANSWERS EDITORIAL
April II. 1916.
April II, 1915.
Mr.. T. D. VanDevort,
Editor, Carson City Daily Appeal.
Carson City, Nevada.

Editor, Carson City Daily Appeal,
Carson City, Nevada.
My dear Mr.. VanDevort: / am In
receipt Of the Appeal of April 18th.
containing an editorial entitled Let
the bill help highways too"
You desire to so amend the 100000
acre land grant bill as to appropriate
money for public highways in Nevada.
You also desire to strike out the pro-
viso for competitive'b bidding.
/ have already discussed in state
ment to the public the competitive
bidding provision. Whether the pro-
vision is advisable or not, the bill can
not pass either the senate or the house
without such provision. and therefore
IL is useless for us to discuss the ques-
ton.
There is no question but that the
building Of highways in Nevada is a
worthy cause, but 1t would be impos
sible to obtain a grant OF land from
the federal government for such pur
pose.
At the last session of congress l in
troduced a bill to encourage the de-
velopment of subsurface and artesian
water, and to facilitate the settlement
of our public domain. Certain lands
surrounding the grants under this bill
were to be sold for the benefit of the
roads in Nevada. / passed the bill
through the senate in such form.
When it reached the house, the Public
Lands Committee of that body posi-
lively refused to report the bill out if
the money went to a road fund. They
stated that congress was legislating
nationally for all of the roads of the
country, and they would not grant
land for such special purpose in any
state. They therefore amended the
| bill by requiring that the money go TO
the irrigation fund. After this eX-
perience, l knew that any attempted
grant of land for the purpose of roads
in Nevada would be unable to pass the
| house.
There is a general road bill now
| pending in the United States senate
which provides for the distribution of
| twenty-five millions of dollars between
the states for the building of public
highways. This bill will probably
! pass, but whether it passes or not, the
fact that II has been introduced and
is now pending and applies to all the
states, will prevent any special road
| legislation. Congress contends that ii
| is taking care of road legislation by
this general act.
There are two other characters of
| legislation that will undoubtedly be of
benefit to the state, and which / am
working upon. One of them is the
| building up Of the public schools and
the University. the other is the settle
ment of the public domain. They are
entirely distinct subjects, and the leg
islation for each must be entirely dis
| tinct and of a different character.
H. NE H.
grant bill is to raise as large a fund
! as possible for the support of the Uni
! veTsity and the public schools.
The bill that I have passed through
! the senate to encourage the settlement
of the public lands Is known as senate
bill 2519. 1t provides that any citizen
may locate four sections Of land. He
has six months in which to commence
| to prospect for water upon any of the
four sections. II within two years he
| develops sufficient Subsurface or ar
| tesian water to practically irrigate
| twenty acres of land, he is granted any
one of the four sections as a bonus for
such work and development. AS was
stated by Senator Flanagan, the sur
face water Lf the state has been taken
UP and dry farming has not so far
proven a great success in Nevada. 1t
Is apparent therefore, that, without
water, homesteading would be prac-
tically impossible, and as has been
! demonstrated under the strict con.
struction of the department of the In
terror, desert land entries in Nevada
are quite impracticable. Under my
bill, residence during the two years is
not required upon the land, but the
claimant is given two years in which
to discover sufficient subsurface or
artesian water with which to irrigate
twenty acres Of land. This gives the
settler a chance to earn q living some
where else while he is prospecting for
water upon tract Of land. IL he gets
the water, he gets $40 acres. If he
does not get the water, II will not be
fit for homesteading and desert land
entries anyway, and could not be set.
tied or cultivated. Do you not con-
slider this the most practicable way
to encourage settlement, develop wat.
er and stimulate production? In 9TH
er words, In considering the terms of
the bill, We must consider the object
Of the legislation.
The general bill is to build roads; /;
the 100000 acre grant to endow the
University and the public schools !;
senate bill 2519 to encourage settle
ment in our state. take II that they
are all good bills, each serving a diff
ferent purpose, but not inconsistent
with each other, and that they must be
considered together in determining the
result to the state.
"a realize that you are perfectly
sincere In your suggestions, and as the
questions you have asked are of gen.
eral interest to the people of the state,
and as l am anxious that they shall
lend their support to the passage of
all three measures referred to through
the house of representatives, / am
sending a copy OF this letter to the