130 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



March 



To prove this statement it is only 

 necessary to drive through a country 

 where the commutation clause has 

 been largely applied. Field after field 

 is passed without a sign of permanent 

 habitation or improvement other than 

 fences. The homestead shanties of 

 the commuters may be seen in various 

 degrees of dilapidation, but they show 

 no evidence of genuine occupation. 

 They have never been in any sense 

 homes. 



Investigations have been carried on 

 where the commuted homesteads are 

 notable in number. The records of 

 some of the counties examined show 

 that 90 per cent, of the commuted 

 homesteads were transferred within 

 three months after acquisition of title, 

 and evidence was obtained to show 

 that two-thirds of the commuters im- 

 mediately left the State. In many in- 

 stances foreigners, particularly citizens 

 of Canada, came into this country, de- 

 clared their intention of becoming citi- 

 zens, took up homesteads, commuted, 

 sold them, and returned to their native 

 land. 



The reasons given for adhering to 

 the commutation clause are diverse 

 and many of them are cogent when 

 applied to individual cases. It is said, 

 for example, that the commuter de- 

 sires to raise money for use in improv- 

 ing his place. This is often true, but 

 in the majority of cases the records 

 show that the commuter immediately 

 leaves the vicinity. The frequency of 

 - is traceable in many places di- 

 rectly to the activity of agents of loan 

 companies, who are often United 

 States commissioners also, eager first 

 to induce settlement and then to make 

 these loans on account of the double 

 commission received. Later they se- 

 cure the business which accrues to 

 them through the foreclosure and 

 transfer of the property. The true 

 working of the commutation clause 

 does not a|>] tear until after foreclosure 

 upon the maturity of the loans. 



< >ne significant fact brought out by 

 the investigation is that a large portion 

 of the coinmuters are women, who 

 never establish a permanent residence 



and who are employed temporarily in 

 the towns as school-teachers or in do- 

 mestic service, or who are living with 

 their parents. The great majority of 

 these commuters sell immediately upon 

 receiving title, the business being 

 transacted through some agent who 

 represents his client in all dealings and 

 prepares all papers. 



The commutation clause, if it is to 

 be retained to cover special cases, 

 should be effective only after not less 

 than three years' actual not construc- 

 tive living at home on the land. Un- 

 der present practice, the commutation 

 period being fourteen months, six 

 months of this time is generally taken 

 to establish residence, so that only 

 eight months remain. This time is 

 usually arranged to include the sum- 

 mer, so that the shack built need not 

 be habitable in severe winter weather, 

 and the residence on the land may con- 

 sist merely in a summer outing. Ob- 

 viously it is essential that residence 

 should be far more strictly defined. It 

 is probable that lax interpretation and 

 enforcement of the provisions of the 

 law regarding residence is responsible 

 for more fraud under the homestead 

 act than all other causes combined. 



It may be urged' that the frauds 

 which have taken place under the oper- 

 ations of the commutation clause are 

 due largely to lax administration. The 

 fact is that the precedents established 

 by decisions rendered on special cases 

 have so far weakened the powers of 

 administration that additional legisla- 

 tion is necessary. 



DESERT LAND LAW. 



In the preceding report the opinion 

 was expressed that the desert-land law 

 should, for the present, at least, be 

 allowed to stand, with a few changes 

 in detail. It was believed that, with 

 the experience of the past for guid- 

 ance, it would be possible to enforce 

 this law so that its essential provisions 

 a mid be complied with. More careful 

 analysis, however, of the operations 

 of this act and of the practices which 

 have grown up has led your Commis- 

 sion strongly to the conclusion that 



