The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1916-02-29
SENATOR PITTMAN
EXPLAINS LAND BILL
United States Senate,
Washington, d. G.

Washington, ID. Z.
February "a, 1916.
Editor Silver State:
Permit me through the columns of
your paper to call the attention of the
people of Nevada to a few facts that
are contained in the Congressional
Record embracing the debate upon my
seven million acre land grant bill to
the State of Nevada, which will COM
pletely answer the attack made upon
the bill by one of the newspapers of
the state, which is evidently endeavor-
ing to defeat the bill in the House of
Representatives.
Senator Poindexter, who offered an
amendment reducing the grant to three
million acres and thereafter a second
amendment reducing the grant to four
million acres, found no fault with the
bill otherwise, and did not suggest any
amendments that would further safe
guard the land grant from acquisition
by few people.
Senator LaFollette voted against
both of Senator Poindexter's amend
ments and finally voted for the bill.
Senator Jones of Washington ques-
toned me with regard to the bill, vot-
ed against Senator Poindexter's
amendments and against Senator La
Follette's amendments, and then voted
for the bill.
Senator Robinson, who is quoted in
the paper referred to as questioning
me with regard to the bill, voted
against the Poindexter amendments
and the LaFollette amendments, and
voted for the bill
Senator LaFollette's s amendment to
place a minimum price of three dollars
an acre upon the land, which was vot-
ed on Immediately before the final pas
sage of the bill, was defeated by a
vote of forty-seven to thirty-three.
After the defeat of this amendment
the bill was carried on viva voce
vote with only one voting in the mega
tive.
No corporation, association or indi-
vidual could acquire two million acres
or any amount greater than GAO acres
except through fraud. The bill limits
the acquisition of the lands to $40
acres and to a citizen of the United
States. If an attempt is made to ac-
quire more than one tract through
agents or dummies, such acquisitions
are void and will be set aside. The
same provision applies to coal inter
ests, stone and timber interests, to
homestead and desert-land entries. The
same character of fraud might be per-
petrated with regard to these entries,
and no doubt in a few cases has been,
but the punishment of such frauds
have been so great in recent years
that it is Improbable to attempt such
frauds. The last great fraud of this
kind was attempted in the coal fields
of Alaska, and all of such entries were
set aside and many of the perpetrators
of the fraud were criminally prose-
cuted
My bill has other additional safe
guards. 1t provides that each tract
must be appraised before it can be
sold, and that then it shall not be sold
for less than the appraised value. 1t
also provides that after the appraisal
the particular tract shall be put up to
public auction and notice given of the
sale. Under the terms of the bill only
citizens of the United States could
purchase, and only a citizen who has
not at prior time availed himself of
the benefits of the Act. This proceed
ure gives ample opportunity to inves-
tigate the good faith of every applica-
tion to purchase and to protect against
any fraud. These are restrictions and
precautions placed in the bill by Con-
gress. The legislature of the state of
Nevada may throw any additional pre-
cautions upon the transaction that it
sees fit
l would not consider the newspaper
article referred to worthy of answer
if it were not for fear that members of
the House of Representatives receiving
such article might be influenced by it,
believing that it expressed the senti-
ment of the people of our state. It is
sufficiently difficult to obtain legisla-
tion for western states, without having
one of the supposedly leading papers
of the state misrepresent the senti-
ments of the people of the state in the
effort to defeat a bill that admittedly
would be for the upbuilding of our
University and our public schools and
the relief of our people from taxation
for such purposes.