tf 



THE UNRESERVED TIMBER LAND 247 



Railroad violated these provisions, in some instances selling land at 

 prices largely in excess of $2.50 per acre, and in quantities exceeding 

 1000 acres to each purchaser; but the worst violations came after 

 1890, after the Southern Pacific system had secured control of these 

 lands/"** One of the first things the Southern Pacific did was to organ- 

 ize an effective land department, employing land examiners and tim.ber 

 cruisers to ascertain and appraise the value of each tract of land con- 

 tained in the grant. About this time, some of the experienced timber- 

 men of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota learned the value of the 

 Oregon timber lands, and the railroad company was quick to see its 

 opportunity to profit by selling to these timbermen in large tracts. 

 Late in the year 1902, the Southern Pacific adopted a new policy, 

 and permanently withdrew all of its lands from sale. There then re- 

 mained in its hands approximately 2,000,000 acres of the old Oregon 

 & California grant, besides 300,000 acres claimed but not patented. 

 After having disposed of approximately 800,000 acres, most of it in 

 violation of the terms of the grants, the Southern Pacific resolved 

 upon the plan of asserting a permanent estate in the remainder. Vari- 

 ous excuses for this step were given. The San Francisco fire was used 

 as an excuse for some time, the railway explaining that the records of 

 he company had been destroyed, and with them its information con- 

 cerning its holdings. In March, 1907, however, the attention of the 

 United States Department of Justice was called to the state of affairs, 

 and an investigation was made, which showed that a total of over 

 800,000 acres had been sold at an average price of about .$5.50 — 

 nearly double the price provided in the granting act — and that, of 

 this total of over 800,000 acres, only 127,418 acres had been sold 

 according to the limitations provided by the act.^^° The Coos Bay 

 Wagon Road grant,"^ now practically all held by the Southern Ore- 

 gon Company, had been made subject to conditions similar to those 

 imposed upon the Oregon & California, and similar violations were 

 alleged to have occurred.^^^ 



Early in the year 1908, a Senate resolution introduced by Tillman 



309 s. Doc. 279; 60 Cong. 1 sess. 



110 Ibid., 9. 



111 Stat. 15, 340. 



112 "Lumber Industry," I, 251. 



