The Coconino sun., 1921-03-18
ATTY. GEN. SAYS 16O ACRES
 ISLIMIT FOR STATE LANDS

motion of increasing the population of the owners and home builders. Nat urally, this cannot be accomplished by making the rich richer or by adding property and wealth to those who all ready have an abundance. It can only be accomplished to the benefit of the state by assisting those who lack and who, by virtue of circumstances andj environment over which they have not control are unable to overcome the many obstacles to becoming a home owning resident.
 Every normal man has, inborn, desire to own and possess tract of land on which to build a home and actually live a normal life. Our law must foster and encourage this, but beyond the point of helping a person to get a starting point, the individual must thereafter shift for himself. This state is interested in aiding those in need, but not to the point of aiding one in his acquisitive desires in con tradistinction to his needs. With this in view, then, one who has already once acquired tract, be it GAO acres of grazing or l60 acres of agricultural, has had what the state offers and has exhausted his rights to any further aid along the line of purchasing state lands. One cannot purchase both $40 acres grazing land and 160 acres agri- cultural. He may purchase one or the other, but not both. Conversely, our laws do allow one to purchase up to that amount and one should be al- lowed to buy from time to time until he has bought the full amount al- lowed.
 Similarly, our state land laws should not be interpreted to encour- age speculation in state land. One must not be allowed to indiscriminate- ly grab any considerable portion of state land under the guise of contracts to purchase, and then be permitted to sell or assign his contract to purchase. 1 Therefore, a purchase under our laws must be interpreted as not only the actual buying and paying for the land and obtaining a deed, but also to in- clude the acquisition of any interest under a contract to purchase; in other ! words, one who has entered into a contract to purchase either 160 acres of agricultural land or GAO acres of grazing land has been given his op- portunity and would appear to have exhausted his rights to other or fur ther purchases. Otherwise he could sell his contract rights at profit and | thus proceed to accumulate wealth to the detriment of those to come now and later on, who, as real pioneers and workers, will or do need bona fide | homes.
 "One contracting to purchase state land ordinarily would not be entitled to again contract for or purchase ad-, ditional state land, and the same in- depreciation would apply to an as- signee of a contract, he having placed ! himself in a condition to purchase land, or anyone else who has put him. self lawfully within the means of &C., quiring state land. Once having put himself in the way of acquiring state land, whether by deed, by contract to purchase, or by assignment of con- tract to purchase he would thereafter be barred from further acquisition by purchase of state land beyond the amount allowed by law.
 Further, in my opinion, the legal date of purchase is: !.
 "First-The date of the signing of the contract to purchase.
 "Second-The date of the assign ment of the contract to purchase.
 "Third-The date the land is struck off at auction.
 "W. J. GALBRAITH,
 Attorney General" ]"