A VIEW OF THE CAREY LAW. 



18$ 



land to the State will either regenerate and make a 

 new State of Wyoming agriculturally or will relegate 

 it back to be used as a pasture ground for herds of 

 cattle and bands of sheep. More than this, Wyom- 

 ing being the home of the author of the bill, and the 

 statement having been frequently made that Wyom- 

 ing is peculiarly situated to take advantage of the 

 bill, naturally turns the attention of other States in- 

 cluded in its provisions to this State, and our success 

 or failure in dealing with the measure will be the 

 criterion for action in other parts of the West. So 

 that in a degree the advancement in agricultural de- 

 velopment of the entire West, which may be made 

 under this law, hinges indirectly upon the action of 

 the Wyoming legislature. 



NEED OF UPBUILDING. 



Certain it is that Wyoming is sorely in need of 

 some process ot upbuilding. Untasteful though it 

 may be to admit it, the State, although the youngest in 

 the Union, has been deteriorating. In 1888, the total 

 assessed State valuation was $38,338,541.00; for the 

 present year it is $29,198,041.20, a decrease of $4,140,- 

 499.80. In 1891, the first year of statehood, the total 

 valuation was $32,536,400.00, showing a decrease in 

 total assessable valuation during statehood of $3,338,- 

 359.80. Of this depreciation, $1,275,967.00 has been 

 in cattle valuations, the remaining $2,062,392.00 being 

 in other industries. 



During this period the cattle business, which until 

 1888 was Wyoming's most profitable industry, has by 

 reason of adverse winters, insufficient grass and hay 

 supplies, falling prices and other causes, steadily 

 retrogressed. Other industries supported by the 

 cattle business have been depressed corresponding- 

 ly, and mining and agriculture have been at a stand- 

 still; this, too, in a State that has more varied and 

 valuable natural resources than a majority of States 

 in the Union. Wyoming has coal in great quantities, 

 soda, oil, the precious metals, timber, large tracts of 

 good land susceptible of agricultural development, 

 and a better water supply than any of the other arid 

 States. But her mines are undeveloped, her timber 

 supplies untouched, and with an acreage of good land 

 equal in size to an Eastern State most of her food 

 products are brought from Colorado and Nebraska. 

 With natural resources so bountiful and actual 

 results so meager the inquiry naturally arises why 

 such a state of affairs exists. It is caused mainly by 

 the inadaptability of the land laws of the United 

 States to the conditions which are found in the State. 

 The large areas of lands, owing to physical character- 

 istics of the country, cannotbe reclaimed and cultivat- 

 ed unless large amounts of capital are employed in 

 the work of reclamation. Capital cannot be obtained 

 without security and the land laws of the United 

 States do not admit of any means of making the 



lands to be reclaimed a basis for such security. With- 

 out the cultivation of these areas food supplies must be 

 brought from other States, making living so expensive 

 that labor cannot be secured to develop mineral and 

 other resources. 



AN OPPORTUNITY AT HAND. 



The Carey Law affords an opportunity to conquer 

 this hitherto insurmountable difficulty, and if wisely 

 legislated upon in the State these immense tracts of 

 land may be reclaimed, the capital employed in re- 

 clamation may be protected and recompense for its 

 v;e insured, and the land may ultimately become the 

 property of the small farmer and ranchman. For- 

 tunately for the State the question of politics except 

 where aroused by demagogues does not enter into the 

 matter. The bill was framed by a Republican, 

 approved by the Democratic Secretary of the In- 

 terior, approved unanimously by the committee on 

 public lands and passed almost unanimously by both 

 branches of Congress. 



The committee on public lands in its report said of 

 the measure: "The plan contemplated by the bill 

 will prevent the land falling into a few hands, and if 

 the States avail themselves of its provisions it will 

 cause as wise a distribution of the lands as could take 

 place under the homestead law." 



" The land laws in existence are not well adapted 

 to the arid region, but until some other mode is 

 adopted and found practicable it will not be wise to 

 repeal these laws. '* 



" If the States complied with the conditions of the 

 act, the lands would be reclaimed, settled upon, and 

 disposed of to actual settlers in small tracts, thereby 

 accomplishing the same purpose as is contemplated 

 by the homestead laws of the United States." 



In his report the Secretary of the Interior, S. W. 

 Lamoreaux.Commissioner of the General Land Office, 

 says : " The bill is clear and is guarded in its terms. 

 It is the interests of small settlers. The United 

 States holds the title until the lands reserved are 

 actually reclaimed and settled. The building of 

 irrigation works has been found to be very expensive, 

 costing from $5.00 to $30.00 an acre under the most 

 favorable circumstances, and only where it has been 

 possible to secure large bodies of land has the cost 

 been the minimum. Consequently, the most success- 

 ful settlements, notably in California and Colorado 

 under irrigation canals, have been where the lands 

 could be procured in bodies. " 



"The reclamation of the arid lands cannot be ac- 

 complished to any great extent through the efforts of 

 any single individual. Homeseekers are not men of 

 means. Combined efforts of many settlers to re- 

 claim large bodies of land cannot be secured nor suc- 

 cessful results accomplished except under such mu- 

 nicipal superintendency as shall insure economic and 



