cost; it failed where the land speculators circumvented the 

 law by means of fraud or bought up the patented lands from 

 "dummies." 



The same thing has to be guarded against even more strict- 

 ly in the management of the heavily timbered agricultural 

 lands of the West. It has been found necessary to hold this 

 land until the timber has been cut away and then to open up 

 the cut-over land to settlement. Otherwise the timbered 

 claims inevitably fall into the hands of speculators and are 

 eventually put on the market in the cut-over condition at high 

 prices. Many million acres are lying comparatively idle and 

 neglected today because they are held by speculators which 

 would otherwise long ago have been developed into highly 

 productive property. 



The State is either slow in recognizing this or too weak to 

 prevent it. The state land policy invites speculation and thou- 

 sands of acres of our own state's lands today in the hands of 

 speculators are scarcely earning taxes while the rest of the 

 citizens are bearing the increased burden imposed by a sparse 

 population. This should be stopped. The sooner the State 

 recognizes that only the proper use of all land for the pur- 

 pose to which it is best suited can bring the greatest pros- 

 perity, the sooner land speculation will be forced out of exist- 

 ence and the sooner the State can work out its normal de- 

 velopment. 



This is of pecuniary interest to every man in the State who 

 does not own any idle land and it may be of interest in one 

 way to him. 



