The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1934-10-08

SIOOWCO, HllO W pIV1IlOtA118 tA1S pOOA4S
welfare. They seek to control fires
that have burned in coal mines for
years; to check annual losses In oil
and gas that run into the tens Of mil
lions Of dollars: to develop q system
Of education that will most effectively
fit Americans for life; to give the In
dian q share in the right to pursuit
Of life, liberty, and happiness; and to
make the land most serviceable,
whether 1t be for agriculture. mining,
or recreation purposes. These agen-
cies include the most venerable IN the
Government service and the new
born. AS descendants Of the land
survey, the Soil Erosion Service and
Subsistence Homestead Division bear
to their antecedent . striking resem-
blance which lies in making the land
Of greatest benefit to the people.
Makes Waste Land Arabic
The policy Of the general land
office which affects the survey, man.
agement. and disposition Of the pub
lie lands and the adjudication Of
claims has changed through the
years. At first it was thought that
the public land, which came to In
clude by settlement, purchase. and
treaty, Mississippi, Alabama, and
Florida, and all that north and west
of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers,
should be sold to fatten the federal
treasury. The thirteen original states
and the Lone Star state had retained
their public lands.
Thomas Jefferson drew up the plan
whereby the country was to be made
by survey into q vast checkerboard
and the land parcelled off in neat
sections. This was the basis Of
unique agricultural set-up, the AM
erican plan being characterized by the
isolated farm home instead Of the
village settlement found in the old
world. Later legislation was designed
to encourage settlement rather than
money-making and during the Civi!
War the Homestead Law permitting
settlers to acquire Quarter-Sections Of
land by residence, cultivation, and
improvement gather than by pur-
chase was passed. BY this act, revol-
utionary in the annals Of agriculture,
nearly 800 million acres Of land have
been taken up in homesteads. With
notifications which provide for the
utilization Of grazing and mineral
lands for the public benefit, the policy
continues Of encouraging the e5tab-
lishment Of homes on small tracts.
Facts and figures from the bureau
Of reclamation are among those which
are so tremendous that the layman can
scarcely comprehend their meaning.
To say that the cumulative value Of
the crops grown On irrigated land over
q quarter Of q century is nearly two
billion dollars only hints at vast dams.
power houses, and millions Of acres Of
produce. In one year alone. nearly
three million acres were irrigated with
water from government works.
It Is possible to imagine the size Of
Boulder Dam. one Of the mammoth
projects to solve the lack Of water
problem, by knowing that It will take
nearly two years to place the three
and half million cubic yards Of con-
crete in this structure, and that s.
10000 barrels Of cement will be used.
The Bureau Of Reclamation Is an
income producing department which
takes in about five million dollars an
nually in rental Of water and govern
ment equipment and sale Of surplus
electricity, and other projects. It has
had the tremendous and fabulous task
Of retaining the arid and semi-arid