seen In varlous degrees of dllapida- | ton, 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 ti-| tle, and evidence was obtained to show that two-thirds of the, commu- ters immediately left the state. In many instances foreigners, particu-| larly citizens of Canada, came into this country, declared their intention of becoming citizens ,took up home steads, commuted, sold them ,and re- turned to thelr 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 commu-| ter desires to raise money for use in| improving his place, This 1s often! true, but in the majority of cases the records show that the commuter im-| mediately leaves the vicinity, The] frequency of loans is traceable In| many piaces directly to the activity of agents of loan companies, who are often United States commission. ers also, eager first to induce settle- ment and then to make these loans on aecount of the double commission received. Later they secure the business which accrues to them $ [4 \ | last year the repeal of the assign-| ment clause. This provision has been made the convenient vehicle for evading the spirit of the law and for | facilitating the acquisition of lands in! large holdings. The law limits the amount which one person or associa: | tion of persons may hold, by assign. ment or otherwise, prior to patent to 320 acres of such arid or desert lands, The most common form of at tempted evasion of this requirement Is for two or three Individuals to form themselves into a corporation, each individual member of the corpo- ration securing, by entry or assign- ment, 82 acres of such lands and the corporation as such 820 acres. These same individuals then form an- other corporation under an entirely different name gnd procure an as- signment of another 820 acres, and | this process 1s continued indefinitely, The General Land Office has within the past year endeavored to put a stop to this practice by holding that a corporation or association of ver. | sons is not qualified to receive a des- ert-land entry by assignment where its individual members either singly | or in the aggregate are holding 320 | acres of such arid or desert lands, This ruling, If enforced, will tend to lessen the evils resulting from large holdings prior to patent, but it is not deemed possible to secure adequate control of this question unless the law prohibits assignments of desert. land entries. By repealing that pro. vision of the law and requiring the claimant to show that he has made! the entry for his own use and benefit and not for the benefit of any other | person or corporation and that he! has made no agreement by which the title shall inure to any other person or corporation the evils Incident to large holdings of such lands under the sanction of law will be materially lessened, It is a striking fact that these large ldings of desert land are not re- and devoted to their best { use, Three bundred and twenty saeres | A. | 14x20 (inches, not feet) showing that false swearing In acquiring government land is no pew art, i | not exceeding through the foreclosure and transfer of the property. The true working of | the commutation clause does not ap- wPeap. until after foreclosure upon the maturityfof the loans One s@nificant brought out by the Invest fon is that a large portion of the mmuters are we who never blish a permanent resi dence and who are employed tempo- rarily in the towns as school teach- ers or In domestic service, or who are Hving with their parents. The great majority of these commuters sell im- mediately upon receiving title, the business being transacted through some agent who represents his client ifn all dealings and prepares all pa- pers. The commutation clause, If it Is to be retained to cover special eases, should be effective only after not less than three years’ actual-not con- stractage—11¥ing at home on the land Under present practice, the commuta- tion 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 incl summer, so that the shack built need not be habitable in severe winter weather, and residence the land ay consist merely in a sum mer outing. Obviously it is tial that residence shonld be far more, strictly defined. It is probable that lax interpretation and enforcement of the provisions of the law regard- ing residence is responsible for more fraud under the homestead act than all other causes combined. It may be urged that which have taken place nen, ude he +i . Le on ARBeNn frauds the the under | evils of irrigable land is entirely too much for economical handling by one per- gon, On the other hand, inspection shows that in the same locality and under the same climatic conditions t homestead entries, where not ecom- muted, are reclaimed and utilized. The desert-land act as it stands up- on the statute books appears to have many features which commend it as before stated, practices gov-| erning it have largely nullified its good features, and the resulting fully overcome with the cannot be out legislaton. The area should be ¢ of the desert entry it down from 320 acres to 160 acres, and discre- tion should be given to the Secretary of the Interior to ewut it down still further where it is apparent that in- tensive cultivatl is farm of 820 acres, if tirely too for and its other settlers from country. Furthermore, it monopoly easy tion. Actual living at home on the land for not less thon two vears s ' | required before patent. Your Commission can vt understand why settler should be given both a | mestead and a desert entry, either % practicable, irrigated, gingle ply coming i is en-| faially, prevents into the makes land induces specula large n | La nn sin ana of which without the other shouid su fice, under the law, to turnish home, 1 desert-land law be a meant of settiement, and bona fide residence should be regaired, Toe actna crop sl than one him a | rhould | actual | rigidly il { he roduction of a valuable juired on nat of the less en members of the Commis | Oar nd th great m them were found to be uninh unirrigated, uncultivated, and no improvements other than a This applies both to desert entries up which a final proof is now being offered and to other entries to which title has been given, It is a fact that a small pro. portion of the land disposed of under the terms of the law has actually been reclaimed and Im and scrutiny of many hundreds of desert “1 3 ©" Ly abit wi a, th 100, on very form dt 1 igAteq, REET Ae ORE, SV) Rh SPLENDID WESTERN TIMBER GROVE. Tn the Region Belng Despolled { operations of the commutation elanse are doe largely to lax administration, The fact in that the precedents estab. lished by decisions rendered on : celal cases have so far weakened the powers of administration that addi. tional legislation is necessary. Desert Land Law, In the preceding report the opinion was expressed that the desertdand law should, for . be allowed to stand, changes in detafl. Tt was for guidance, it would be possibls to enforce this nw so that ita essential reson should be sompited with. ore careful analysis, the operations of this act and of the ctices which have grown up has Mul Jour commission strongly to the nafon that this law shonld be modified In essential partisniars, Your Commission recommended a mT Ta Len LI eT hollevad | that, with the experience of the past however, of 3) 'nder the Timber and Ptone Act entries now passing to final nronf shows that In the majority of eases these lands are not actually ntiized, but are being held for speculative purposes, ng to severn! ennses, among which are the laxity of some | of the state laws governing appro priation of water for irrigation pre poses, and the insufMetency of the water supply. considerable A1Menity has heen shoonntered In administer. Ing that provision of the Aesertland Inwa which requires a olnimant to have a permanent water right based on prior appropriation. Very often the waters of a stream are exhansted by other appropriators before the time when the elatmant goes throngh the form of posting notices, recording his enim, and complying with other essentinle of the state law. Notwithstanding this, he fornishes the testimony #f two witnesses that the water thas a nted has ance Al} that the supply is adequate for that purpose, While this showing, on its face, indicates a compliance with law, the fact remains that the water supply, If any at all, is not sufficient to permanently reclaim the land, The ownership of stock in a jected irrigation ditch which does not exist in fact, or the ownership of a pump temporarily Installed, has often been accepted, in connection with such testimony, as proof of the possession of water, Many alleged Irrigation ditches or reservoirs are familiar to members of the Commis sion which are utterly inadequate to irrigate a square rod, and upon the strength of such works patent has frequently then Issued to 820 acres of land, Frauds committed through conven tional forms of perjury and through lack of proper verification of the facts as to the recllamation of the land justify the taking of immediate and radical steps in the revision of the law. The law should absolutely require an actual adequate water supply, and the limits as to quantity should be defined. In ghort, the law should render im- possible the continuance of the practices by which desert lands without water, without cultivation, and without crops are passed into the possession of claimants, pro- Grabbing Lands. The great bulk of the vacant pub- lle lands throughout the West are un- suitable for eultivation under the present known conditions of agricul ture, and so located that they can not be reclaimed by irrigation, They are, and probably always must be, of chief value for grazing. There are it Is estimated, wore than 300,000, 000 acres of public grazing land, an area approximately equal to one-fifth the extent of tl United States proper. The exact limits can not be set, for with seasoned chang large areas of land which afford good grazing one year are almost desert in her, There are vast tracts wooded timbered which 1 much and clas the Is made it will be im- give with exactness the tal acreage. The extent Is so vast the commercial interests in- volved so great as to demand in the highest degree the wise and ser | vative bauodiing of vast re-| sources, It is a matter to know w are fi f we oN ' Hiso land importance, sification of anoi of ia public lands possible to and 4 these import ] grazing being used he best way | the lands ossih'e ment ( the cour they are belng abused under a =) 1 which Is detrimental to such de- | ! ' 1 5 1 ly Hu Sd £Y8- At present the are theoretically open commons, vacant public lands] free all citizens but as a matter of fact | have heen parceled] mpacts ms ine its are | Fo | to largs out by 1 or rreements among he ny pr sey rior 8 definite of terests are In fre-! of incursions a land! been regarded vad } ’ five xcinsivels inged upot hi on fo he | shee] LOT ——— I ——————— ROCIHAMBEAU STATUE. ... A Heroic Bronze Figure of France's Field Marshall Standing In Front |e of White House. One of the very striking and ma jes tle bits of brot Washingt ir befiu statue which » the Rocha: in what was called Jackson S ne in nds {uare, oe pois 2 ™ " y dn — TP EON Calas