1904 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



Notwithstanding the facts above 

 stated, as set forth with much addi- 

 tional conclusive evidence in the report 

 of the Senate Lands Committee recom- 

 mending for passage the Quarles bill in 

 the last session, no action whatever was 

 taken by Congress before adjournment. 



In his last annual message to Con- 

 gress, President Roosevelt called atten- 

 tion to the land frauds existing in the 

 following strong terms : 



' ' By various frauds and by forgeries 

 and perjuries, thousands of acres of the 

 public domain, embracing lands of dif- 

 ferent character, and extending to vari- 

 ous sections of the country, have been 

 dishonestly acquired. It is hardly nec- 

 essary to urge the importance of recov- 

 ering these dishonest acquisitions, stolen 

 from the people, and of promptly and 

 duly punishing the offenders." 



REMEDY FOR THE EVIL. 



We must not lose sight of the fact, 

 however, that it is a poor policy to lock 

 the stable door after the horse has been 

 stolen, and it is very doubtful whether 

 any material part of the public domain 

 which has been fraudulently located and 

 patented will ever be recovered by the 

 government. The thing to do is to stop 

 these frauds by repealing the laws under 

 which they are permitted, and thereby 

 close the stable door against future 

 thefts. 



The President, in his message, further 

 said : 



" The rapidly increasing rate of dis- 

 posal of the public lands is not followed 

 by a corresponding increase in home- 

 building. There is a tendency to mass 

 in large holdings public land, especially 

 timber and grazing lands, and thereby 

 to retard settlement. I renew and em- 

 phasize my recommendation of last year 

 that, so far as they are available for 

 agriculture in its broadest sense, and to 

 whatever extent they may be reclaimed 

 under the national irrigation law, the 

 remaining public lands should be held 

 rigidly for the home-builder. The at- 

 tention of Congress is especially directed 

 to the Timber and Stone Law, the Des- 

 ert Land Law, and the commutation 

 clause of the Homestead Law, which 

 have in their operation in many re- 



spects conflicted with wise public land 

 policy." 



To this end the same bill introduced 

 by Senator Quarles in the last session 

 of Congress and favorably reported by 

 the Senate Public Lands Committee has 

 been reintroduced by him at this ses- 

 sion, and we most earnestly recommend 

 that Congress be urged to recognize the 

 importance to the people of this coun- 

 try, and especially to the commercial 

 and manufacturing interests, of the im- 

 mediate passage of this bill. The facts 

 which show the urgent and immediate 

 need for the repeal of these laws are 

 notorious throughout the country and 

 have been again and again laid before 

 Congress by President Roosevelt and 

 other Presidents of the United States, 

 Secretaries of the Interior and of Agri- 

 culture, and Commissioners of the Gen- 

 eral Land Office'. Every month of delay 

 results in the disappearance from the 

 public domain of a body of land now 

 aggregating more than two million 

 acres a month, and the rate of such ab- 

 sorption is steadily increasing. 



Realizing that public sentiment is 

 demanding some action on this ques- 

 tion, various substitutes and amend- 

 ments to these laws have been intro- 

 duced in Congress, in the hopes of 

 diverting attention from the main issue 

 and in securing a wordy revision of the 

 land laws, which, however, will still 

 leave them convenient tools for the 

 land-absorbing interests. 



DANGER IN LAND GRANTS TO STATES. 



There are many reforms which should 

 be made in our land system in addition 

 to the repeal of the three laws above 

 referred to. There are bills pending 

 in this session of Congress for the ces- 

 sion of lands to certain states and terri- 

 tories for various purposes, without any 

 designation of the specific lands desired 

 granted. Before another acre of public 

 land is granted to any state or territory 

 for any purpose whatsoever, or upon 

 any terms and conditions whatsoever, 

 a thorough investigation should be made 

 and a report laid before Congress and 

 the people of the country as to what has 

 been done by the states and territories 

 of the arid and semi-arid region with 



