The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1917-01-06

Congress and signed by the President;
together with explanatory remarks
by Congressman Taylor, who was the
main force behind the measure on Its
long journey through the National
Legislature. This text is from the
official Congressional Record Of Dec
ember 22nd:
Congressman Taylor said in part:
This 64O-acre stockraising hOne-
stead bill, as most Of the membership
of this house know, has been before
congress for the past three years, and
several of us have been diligently
working for it during all Of that time.
l introduced the bill in the sixty-third
congress and reintroduced 1t on the
first day of this sixty fourth congress.
so that the question of advisability OF
providing for stockraising homesteads
is not new subject before congress.
This bill represents a natural evolu-
ton or adoption of the homestead
Jaws to conditions existing In the pub
lie land states. There are today over
25O, 100000 acres Of unappropriated
and unreserved public lands in the
United States. This land has been
travelled over for 80 years and has not
thus far been deemed of sufficient
productivity to afford a living for
man and his family upon 100 acres;
and since the 18th of February, 1909,
the 800. acre enlarged homestead law
has been applicable to nearly all of it
and yet 1t Is not taken up. g..
Land hunger in the United States
that is, the desire and hope to obtain
Il home, which is one Of the nOblest
instincts of the human race-is great
er today than ever before. Yet it is
not only folly but almost criminal to
invite men with families to go onto
quantity of land that is not sufficient
for them to make living upon. And
many of us from the West have for
several years felt that the time had
come when new form of homestead
law should be enacted to make the
settlement part of those vast areas
possible.
This bill will apply to large portions
of arid nesas, mountain sides, rs well
rs gulches and rough. broken land,
where, by the dry-farming methods
and by using crops suitable to the arid
regions, settler can, by acquiring a
| few head Of stock, maintain q home
and support himself and family.
There have been some objections to
this measure by representatives of
large cattle and sheep growers, upon
the ground that the bill may interfere
with the use of the open public range.
On the other hand, some people object
to the measure because it is not liber
al enough. All of those objections and
recommendation have been exhaust
lively considered, and this bill is II
compromise and the best compromise
that can be obtained. 1t does not go
as far as l think it might safely go,
and there are some restrictions that
I think are unnecessary. But it is a
long, long and tremendously import
ant step in the right direction. In fact
it marks a very important epoch in
! Vic VI WIG
country, more even than the passage
of the enlarged homestead law, or the
enactment of the three-year home
stead law, with which | was actively
connected. 1t is true that this bill is
not as liberal rs either the senate or
house bill; at the same time if condi-
tions warrant it, congress can here
after amend the law, and feel that
we should by all means adopt this re-
port, and | trust the president will
approve the measure and that it will
be given a fair trial.
In the state of Colorado, of which |
have the honor in part to represent,
there are today nearly 10, 600, 900 acres
of unappropriated and unreserved
public domain outside OF the forest
reserves, and there are IA, S39, 994 acres
in the forest reserves of Colorado, be-
sides other Withdrawals. This law
will mean the settlementof of, believe,
approximately one-fourth of all the
remaining public domain outside OF
the forest reserves of the United States
and will add thousands of homes to
each of the Western states and put
several million acres of land that now
appears utterly worthless into pro-
ductive condition and onto the tax
rolls of each of those states.
In order that the record may be cor
rect and that the public may have
the benefit of seeing this bill before it
is issued by the government printing
office as q law, which usually takes
some little time, I am going to insert
in the Record as a part of my remarks
a copy of the bill identicalIy as we