40 
ADMINISTRATION  AND  NEW  LEGISLATION. 
The  Commission  deems  it  inadvisable  to  reframe  entirely  the 
present  land  act,  yet  certain  main  principles  should  be  added, 
while  certain  sections  should  be  amended,  and  certain  other  sec- 
tions redrafted  as  to  details.  As  a whole  with  certain  amend- 
ments the  Commission  believes  that  the  present  land  laws  with 
proper  and  judicious  administration  are  reasonably  adequate  to 
meet  the  needs  of  our  local  conditions.  No  system  of  land  laws 
can  be  practically  framed  which  will  provide  in  exact  language 
the  terms  and  conditions  to  be  followed  in  each  individual  in- 
stance. With  conditions  such  as  exist  in  this  Territory  requiring 
an  elastic  system  of  laws,  the  successful  application  thereof  will 
depend  very  largely  upon  the  sane,  sympathetic,  conservative,  yet 
liberal  and  reasonable  administration  of  such  laws.  The  Com- 
mission believes  that  with  the  exception  of  a few  amendments,  the 
great  land  law  problems  of  this  Territory  are  ones  of  adminis- 
tration rather  than  of  much  needed  legislation.  Provided  there 
had  been  opportunity  for  further  conference  and  study,  other  rec- 
ommendations might  have  been  made  as  to  certain  details.  The 
following  recommendations  only  as  to  legislation  are  made  at  this 
time : 
HOMESTEAD  AGREEMENT. 
i 
The  law  as  it  stands  at  present  may  be  said  to  render  effective 
most  of  the  provisions  of  the  method  for  disposing  of  land  for 
Homestead  purposes,  which  the  Commission  recommends,  yet  not 
all  of  them.  The  method  recommended  is  that  of  a Homestead 
Agreement.  This  agreement  involves  the  following  principles, 
and  amendments  should  be  made  to  carry  them  into  effect.  These 
amendments  should  form  a separate  subdivision  and  be  added  to 
the  act. 
(i)  Method  of  Sale. 
Sale  by  lot  should  be  permitted  in  case  of  more  than  one  appli- 
cation. This  method  places  all  on  an  equal  plane;  and  the  man 
of  small  means  stands  an  equal  chance  with  any  other.  It  is  the 
method  recently  adopted  in  disposing  of  some  of  the  lands  in  the 
Avestern  part  of  the  mainland  of  the  United  States.  The  sale  by 
auction  has  its  advantages,  and  should  be  preserved.  The  particu- 
lar method  of  sale  for  any  tract  of  land  offered  may  be  deter- 
mined by  the  Governor.  After  a drawing  to  determine  the  suc- 
cessful applicants  has  been  held  or  an  auction  sale  has  been  con- 
ducted, the  Governor  should  be  empowered  to  issue  rules  and 
regulations  as  to  the  manner  of  disposing  of  lots  not  taken  by  the 
applicants  at  the  drawings  or  left  unsold  at  the  auction  sale  with- 
out the  necessity  of  holding  another  drawing  or  sale. 
