The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1916-11-09

raj Land
ling and oil Bulletin.
can be levied against 1t by the state.
This viii undoubtedly bring friction
and sooner or later the states will
demand their rights and the protec-
ton guaranteed under the eonstitu-
ton and under the original grants
from the states making eessions in
trust to the federal government.
The fundamental theory of our gov
ernment has been freedom and indie
pendence of the individual, and this
theory has been carried out with re-
spect to our public lands, with the re-
suit that We have citizenship Of
landowners not vassals to a feudal
landlordism and, as one historian
most aptly puts it, 1T has made us a
lnation of landowners, and thus not
only strong nation. able to assimi-
late the vast number of immigrants
who annually come to its shores, by
giving them direct interest in the
stability and maintenance of its in
situations, but also a nation in which
marked distinction of classes is i'm
possible, one man being as good as
another, and all possessing equal
rights"
Leasing System Demonstrated
Failure.
In 1907 the federal government de-
parted from the policy of selling the
public lands. They did so with refer
ence to lead mines only, justifying the
departure apparently upon the theory
that lead was necessary for military
operations and that the government
should retain control of the lead
mines and only lease them on a roy
atty. A leasing system. however, was
found unsatisfactory and l find that
President Polk, on December 2, 1S45, in
his first annual message, says:
1.-THE system of granting leases has
proved to be not only improbable to
the government but unsatisfactory TO
the citizens who have gone upon the
lands, and must If continued, lay the
foundation of much future difficulty
between the government and the les
sees. l recommend that
these lands be placed under the su-
perintendence and management of the
general land office (they were former
| ly under the war Department. as
other public lands. and be brought
into market and sold upon such terms
as congress in its wisdom may pre-
SCRIBE"
Congress followed these recommen-
dations and abolished the system of
leases and returned to cash sales and
private ownership and control
In 1849, after the discovery of gold
! in California, the question of the
proper disposition of the mineral
lands again arose and President Fill
more, in his annual message of Dec.
2, 1849. dealing with the discovery Of
gold in California said:
II was at first inclined to favor the
system of leasing, but further reflec-
ton and our experience in leasing
lead mines and selling lands upon
credit has brought my mind to the
conclusion that there would be great
difficulty in collecting the rents and
that the relation of debtor and credit
or between the citizens and the gov
eminent would be attended with many
mischievous consequences. l there
fore recommend that instead of re-
tanning the mineral lands under the
permanent control of the government,
they be divided into small parcels and
sold under such restrictions as to
quantity and time as will insure the
best price and guard most effectively
against combinations of capitalists to
obtain monopolies."
The law enacted provided for the
sale Of the land, and the granting of
more or less definite rights to those
who sought to develop minerals upon
the public domain, and every act Of
congress affecting public lands until
recently has provided for the sale of
the land with no intention of control
or regulation, leaving that to the
states to regulate by their own laws.
Leasing Theory Of conservationists.
For years there has been an effort
to secure new legislation, which would
more adequately prevent monopoly,
result in better regulation, and make
more definite and certain the rights
of those who develop the public min
eral lands. Today this effort is part
of what is most commonly called the
conservation movement Unfortunate
ly certain theorists and bureaucrats
who have the time and money to agi-
tate through public speeches. the
magazines and the press and through
permanent Hobbies, have determined
that there is only one manner by
which these results can be accom-
plished, namely, leasing system,
with the reservation of great dis
cretionary and arbitrary powers in
the bureaus which administer the law.
That the same objects could be better
accomplished by sale under proper