PUBXIO LAUDS COMMISSION". 5 



ascertained with reasonable certainty, provision should be made for 

 dividing them into areas sufficiently large to support a family, and 

 no larger, and to permit settlement on such areas. It is obvious that 

 any attempt to accomplish this end without a careful classification 

 of the public lands must necessarilj fail Attempts of this kind are 

 being made from time to time, and legislation of this character is 

 now pending, modeled on the Nebraska 640-acre homestead law, 

 which was passed as an experiment to meet a certain restricted local 

 condition. This act (33 Stat., 547) permits the entry of 640-acre 

 homesteads in the sand-hill region of that State. '\Vhether in prac- 

 tix;e the operation of this law will result in putting any considerable 

 number of settlers on the land is not yet determined. 



Your Commission is of opinion, a"fter careful consideration, that 

 general provisions of this kind should not be extended until after 

 thorough study of the public lands has been made in each particular 

 case, because to do so controverts the fundamental principle of saving 

 the public lands for the home maker. Each locality should be dealt 

 with on its own merits. Even if it should ultimately appear that 

 this law has worked beneficially in Nebraska it would by no means 

 follow that such a law might be safely applied to other regions dif- 

 ferent in topography, soil, and climate. No arbitrary rule should 

 be followed,, but in each case the area of the homestead should be 

 determined by the acreage which may be necessary to support a 

 fa'Hiily upon the land', either by agriculture, or by grazing if agricul- 

 ture is impracticable. Until such acreage is determined for each 

 locality,, any new general, law providing a method of obtaining title 

 to the public lands would, in the opinion of your Commission, be 

 decidedly unsafe. 



LIEU LANDS. 



Careful study has been given by your Commission to the subject 

 of forest-reserve lieu-land selections. These selections have given 

 rise to great scandal, and have led to the acquisition by speculators 

 of much valuable timber and agricultural land and its consolidation 

 into large holdings. Furthermore, the money loss to the Govern- 

 ment and the people from the selection of valuable lands in lieu of 

 worthless areas has been very great. There has been no commen- 

 surate return in the way of increased settlement and business activ- 

 ity. Public opinion concerning lieu-land selections, by railroads in 

 particular, has reached an acute stage. The situation is in urgent 

 need of a remedy, and jour Commission recommends the repeal of 

 the laws providing for lieu-1'and selections. 



A partial remedy by Executive action has already been applied by 

 carefully locating the boundaries of new forest reserves, and thus 

 limiting lieu-land selections to comparatively insignificant areas. 

 The last annual message to Congress declares definitely that — 



The making of foirest reserves within raiU-ood and wagon-road land-grant 

 limits will hereafter, as for the past three years, be so managed as to prevent 

 the issue, under the act of June 4, 1897, of Base for exchange or lieu selection 

 (usually callted scrip).. In all eases vyhere forest reserves within areas cov- 

 ered by land grants appear to- be essential to the prosperity of settlers, miners, 

 or others the Government lands within such proposed forest reserves will, as 

 in the recent past, be withdrawn from sale or entry pending the completion of 

 such negotiations with the owners of th& land grants as will' prevent the crea- 

 tion of so-called scitliii 



