Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-25
DOMAIN CESS|ON
URGED BY BRATTON
Surrender of 100000, 900
Acres to States Advocated
by Radio Forum Speaker.

CeSSlOn OF the puDllc CONAN OF the
United States. embracing more than
zoe, 900 900 acres to the States in which
it Is located, as a conservation measure,
was advocated by Senator Sam @. Brat
ton Of New Mexico, In an address last
night in the National Radio Forum, ar
ranged by The Evening Star and Spon-
Sored by the Columbia broadcasting
system.
The productiveness of the public land
and especially its value for grazing, the
only use for which most of 1t is suited,
is being rapidly reduced through "reck-
less use and neglect" declared Senator
Brat on.
"To continue the present unregulated
condition Is to invite economic deStruc-
ton" he added. Regard for true prin-
ciples of conservation leads unerringly
To, the conclusion that a change of pol
icy in the near future is imperative.
Advocates Corrective Move.
'"This condition will correct itself
gradually and steadily II the land is
surrendered to the States and they in
turn pass 1t to private ownership, where
the owner has the natural urge to pro-
tect and preserve his estate. 1t likewise
win be cured, If the State establishes, as
1t naturally will do, safeguards against
these evils as to such part as may be
leased for grazing purposes"
There Is no longer any occasion for
the Federal Government to hold this
1and in the opinion Of Senator Bratton.
1ts dceSSion to the States he said, will
be- foremost among the subjects to be
considered by Congress during the
Winter.
Senator Bratton said Congress should
proFide that all income derived from the
sale, lease or other disposition of the
land should be used for schools or
roads, leaving 1t to the States to de-
terniine how much should be allocated
TO each purpose. He advocated the
granting Of the subsurface mineral
rights as well as the surface rights to
the States II that can be done but in
any event the granting Of the surface
rights.
~ Is Old Question.
The subject to which I address my
self and invite your attention, namely,
whether the unreServed and unappro-
pr1ated land constituting the public
domain Of the United States shall be
ceded to the several States in which it
Is located, is not a new one. States
men, writer's and speakers have adj
vanced their beliefs regarding it with
marked erudition. Accordingly, shall
not indulge the hope that 1 may say
anything new touching the problem.
On the contrary. shall be content II
] may be able, through hurried can
VasS Of some features of the situation,
to arrest attention, excite curiosity, pro-
woke inquiry and arouse a desire to
solve the problem at a reasonably early
date. That 1t will be foremost among
the subjects considered during the
forthcoming regular session of Con-
greSS Is patent to every one enjoying
any degree of familiarity with existing
TNAs- - -. &..~A
time Congress has dealt with It, 1t
will be recalled that in 1888 Henry Clay
introduced a bill, which subsequently
passed through Congress, granting all
public lands to the States. It received
Docket veto at the hands of President
Jackson. Bills to the same effect have
been introduced and urged from time to
time since. Indeed, several are now |
pending In the Congress.
Because the question is of peculiar |
vital concern to the States within whose |
borders this land is situated, and be- |
cause its various aspects are relatively
little understood by many people resid-
ing in other States who have only
nominal stake In the problem, with
the consequent result that they are
little versed in its intricacies, it may be
well to state some of the salient fea-
lures Of the matter at hand Virtually
all of the land in question is situated in
IL States; the vast ma jority of it is to
be found within IL of these States
commonly called the public-land States
They are Arizona, California, Colorado,
Idaho. Montana. Nevada, New Mexico,
Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyom-
ing.
eO0,000,OO0 Acres Involved.
The area embraces 100 million
acres in the public domain proper; 10
VPAflliHN hoVafnfOra vxifk. AVoH h,,l
Executive order of the President for
stock driveway and stock watering
places and IS million acres likewise
withdrawn by Executive proclamation
for coal oil and oil shale reserves, thus
making total well in excess of 200 mil
lion acres. II is larger than the COM
bined area Of Alabama, Arkansas, Con-
necticut Indiana, Kentucky, Mary
land, Massachusetts, New Jersey, West
Virginia and South Carolina. 1t is six
times as large as the State of Pennsyl-
vania. This does not include national
parks, national monuments, national
forests. Indian reservations, nor lands
withdrawn for mineral reserves, power
sites and some additional reservations
relatively small in quantity. Speaking
In even numbers, there are 155 million
acres in forest reserves, 40 million acres
in Indian reservations, million acres
in national parks, 9 million acres in
stock drivewayS, z million acres with
drawn for power sites and classical
tons and million acres withdrawn for
oil reserves and oil shale reserves 1t
is not advocated by any one, so far as
my knowledge extends, to disturb the
autonomy Of land heretofore reserved
for the purposes just enumerated and
now devoted to such uses. Let that be
clearly understood least some one inter-
ested In preserving our forests and other
places of scenic value, or who feels a
deep interest in the welfare of our In
dian population. should suffer disturb
ance of mind In the belief that the
matter under discussion involves a pro-
posal to grant or disturb those lands.
That will not be done. The proposal
concerns only unreserved and unappro-
priated land now constituting the pub
lie domain.
President Urges Cession.
A written communication addressed
by the President to Hon. joseph
M. Dixon, Assistant Secretary of the
Interior, on August 81 last and by let
ter read to a Conference of Governors
of the Public Land States. held at Salt
Lake City. Utah. on the 26th and 27th
Gays of that month. gave rise TO the
renewed discussion which Is now mani
Testing itself in all parts of the country
through press comment and otherwise
In his letter the President suggested
the ACCESSIBILITY of ceding to the States
the surface rights to this land reserv-
ing all subsurface minerals to the Fed
eral Government. In order that the d.
rect question in all of its aspects. as
we'll as its several related subjects
might be thoroughly and scientifically
studied. eliminating in suggestions
made for consideration, in connection
with his recommendations to Congress.
the President expressed himself as be-