The Parker post., 1917-07-21
LAWS GOVERNING
SALESTATELANOS
MANY THOUSAND ACRES OF
STATE LANDS ARE BEING PUR-
| CHASED AND LEASED BY
! FARERS AND STOCKMEN.

Z Arizona's public land code, under
which the state land department is
| now engaged in selling or leasing
over ten million acres, was enacted
by the second special session of the
second state legislature, and approx
ed June 26, 1915. The land code
created the state land department for
the administration of state lands.
superseding the old state land COM
mission whose work had consisted
mainly of selecting for withdrawal
such lands as had been set aside for
the state by various acts of congress.
The state lands of Arizona consist
OF school lands. Sections 2, 16, 80
and sc in each and every township
in the state, which aggregate S,103,-
$50 acres. The act of congress ap-
proved June 20, 1910, commonly
known as the enabling act, granted
70 Arizona, to be selected from the
surveyed unreserved, unappropria-
ted and -mineralized public lands
of the United States within the lin
it's of said state,' total of 2,35O,OOO
acres for various purposes, namely:
university purposes, public buildings,
penitentiaries, insane asylums. schools
and asylums for the deaf, dumb and
blind, miners hospitals, normal
| schools, charitable, penal and re-
| lormatory institutions, agricultural
and mechanical colleges, school of
mines, military institutes and for
| payment of bonds and interest bv
Maricopa, Pima, Yavapai and Coco
| nino counties
This makes total of 10,453,68O
acres of land belonging to the state
90 be administered by the state land
department under the provisions of
the public land code, which provides
| that state lands may be leased and
sold to citizens of the United States,
or those who have declared their in
tention to become such, over the
age of eighteen and twenty-one
years. This means that a person
| over the age of Is can purchase state
| lands, but must be 21 years old to
lease state lands.
Only one whole section of grazing
and one-quarter section (16O acres)
OF agricultural land can be leased or
sold to one individual person, COM
pany or corporation, but each mem
Der of any company, association or
corporation may purchase or lease
up to the limit
The terms of sale are such that
any person of no matter how small
means can purchase land from the
state All land is appraised by the
board OF appraisers, one appointed
by the governor, one by the state
land commissioner and one by the
board Of supervisors of the county
IN which the land to be appraised is
located. The appraisement is made
on both land and improvements
Where there are improvements on
the land, in case another than the
owner of the improvements bids in
lhe land at auction, his bid also car
ries the appraised value of the i'm
provements which must be paid in
full to the state land department
within thirty days from the date of
the sale, and the department in turn
pays the money over to the owner of
the improvements after first deduct
ing any rental, arrears or other
money due the state.
All land sold by the state must be
sold at public auction to the highest
bidder. When the successful bidder
is announced he must pay the states
sales agent one per cent of the pur-
chase price on the date of sale, or a
sufficient amount to cover the cost
OF appraisal and sale, which amount
is then credited against the purchase
price of the land. He must also pay
one per cent of the purchase price
OF the land and improvements in ad-
d1tion to the sale price of the land.
IN other words, when the land Is pur-
chased from the state, the purchaser
must always pay 101 per cent for
the land. Then within thirty days
from the date of sale, payment of
four per cent must be made on the
land, which completes a five per
cent payment, leaving 95 per cent
to be divided into thirty-eight equal
installments, payable annually with
interest at five per cent
The whole amount of the pur-
chase price may be paid at any time,