THE ILLUSTRATED 1JEE.
15
How the Homestead
THE ALFRED BLOOM CO.
Operates in Practice
March 3, 1902.
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pTlS IT Btands today the principal use
I I of the homestead act, says
fraudulent acquirement of cattle
and sheep ranges and the building
up of big land holdings by corporations or
individuals who are protecting themselves
against the gradual contraction of the free
range. It seems Incredible that men can
be hired so easily to commit perjury. Each
and every homesteader who takes up a
claim with the Idea of selling It to a com
pany, or who takes It up to accommodate
his employer, who wants to range his sheep
or cattle to the exclusion of others, perjure
himself from the time he makes the first
application to the moment he accomplishes
his final proof and receives his patent. The
fraudulent use of the homstead law is duo
to the fact that five years' residence Is no
longer required to secure a title, to the
litter uselecsness of the law to the settler
In the arid domain, and to the laxity with
which the requirements of the law are ad
ministered by the land office. No one fa
miliar with the west will dare assert that
n is any opportunity for the taking
up of legitimate homesteads to anywhere
near the extent manifested in the original
filings made during the past twelve months.
Thus it is that a law which, In its day,
has been a boon of inestimable value to
humanity has become a vehicle of fraud and
a demoralizing influence upon the people
of the newest states.
The desert land act was passed In 1S77.
Pin?e that time there have been 36,951
original desert filings In the arid states,
these filings covering an area of 9,140,517
acres of public land. Of all these filings
but 10,912 have been proved up on and
" le conveyed by the government to the
Mdual, these final proofs covering 2,674,-
'es. During each year there have
Between 2, COO and 3,000 desert land
(ions made, and between 600 and 900
ul proofs accomplished. It is a con
servative estimate to say that fully 95 per
cent of the final proofs made on desert
lands are entirely fraudulent.
Irrlicatlon Hlnhtn.
As the law now stands any citizen of the
United States can take up 320 acres of arid
land, making a deposit of 25 cents per acre
at the time of filing and paying $1 an acre
more when title Is secured from the gov
ernment.. The law requires that before
securing title the settler shall prove the
ownership of sufficient water to Irrigate
this entire tract of land, shall prove that
he has expended at least $1 per acre each
year in improving the land and that he
has actually Irrigated, within three years
from the time of filing, every legal sub
division of his claim.
To honestly carry out the requirements
Imposed by this law a man must have an
unquestioned water right of sufficient vol
ume, and, as experience has proved, make
an expenditure of at least $10 an acre to
put this water upon the land In sufficient
quantities to raise a crop of some kind
which would not otherwise have grown upon
this claim.
The manner In which many of the final
proofs are made upon these desert claims
Is almost Incredible. In numerous Instances
no attempt is made to water the land at
all, the principal effort being expended in
the securing of witnesses who will swear
to a statement of alleged facts required by
the land office before patent issues. Some
Individuals make a practice of furnishing
testimony for those who desire to prove up
fraudulently upon their government claims.
To ease the conscience of others, instances
are recorded where water has been poured
the land from a pail. so the statement
fan be made by the witnesses that they
ave seen water upon the claim.
nriilnv Trlek.
tin well-known and now populous valleys
many of the arid states there are hun
dreds of authentic cases where enough
water to irrigate forty acres has been used
to obtain title to thousands of acres. Each
1 t has buen proved up on by the use of
'ny stream, the stream being diverted
ne claim to another in succession, as
..auoed by the witnesses who were to
swear as to the reclamation of the land. It
may be stated without exaggeration that
nearly all of the large landholdiugs or
ranches of the west have been built up by
fraudulent use of the land laws, and nota
bly by the fraudulent use of the homestead
aud desert land acts. In the first few years
ol the operation of the latter law each
claimant was allowed 640 acres, and under
this law great valleys and plains were ab
sorbed en bloc by individuals and corpora
tions, who employed people to use their
desert land rights all for the benefit of a
single establishment. The amount of land
which can be taken under the desert land
act has since been reduced to 320 acres,
but the same method Is still being pursued
in monopolizing tha rangts and fraudulently
acquiring title to the public domain. A
promineut western senator recently raid:
"The desert land act Is the most iniquitous
piece of legislation ever placed upon the
statute bioks. In ninety cases out of 100
the provisions of the law are not complied
with In securing title. In fact, the law U
fiagiantly violated and title secured by the
!tnketit perjury. Mow long, let me ask,
can this work of acquiring land largely for
the benefit of companies and corporations
continue before our rich arid domain will
pass beyond the reach of settlers and home
builders?" Many of those who have availed them
selves of the possibilities presented under
the present code of land laws are men ot
high standing, who would Indignantly re
sent the Idea that they were dishonest In
any particular. It has become the custom
for a man who desires to secure a lot of
land to let It be understood that such lan I
Is worth so much per acre to him as soor
as title can be conveyed. The result of
such an announcement Is to bring in a lot
of Irresponsible people, who file upon the
tract which the rancher desires to secure,
borrow from him the money to prove up
assist each other In the necessary perjury
to secure title and then convey the land for
a small consideration above tbe Indebted
ness to the individual or company Instigat
ing the proceedings.
Action lelnel.
Every secretary of the interior for twenty
five years past has urged the repeal of al
land laws, except one, by which a man can
secure title to land by five years' residence
upon It. In 1883 Secretary Teller said:
"Not another acre should be sold for cash
or strip." The schemes proposed by which
the public domain Is to be ceded to the
various states are simply the plans of the
land grabbers to secure what is left of the
vacant land by one grand coup, instead of
piecemeal, as It is now done. The purpose
and intention of the government from it
foundation have been to retain control of
Its own estate, regardless of state lines.
The supreme court, recognizing this pur
pose, has held that "no state formed out
of the territory ot the United States has a
right to the public lands within its limits
or can exercise any power whatsoever over
them." Fortunately congress, within the
past two years, has adopted this view with
considerable emphasis and the energies ot
those who desire to secure the public land
for purposes other than home-making have
been transferred to the effort to prevent
such legislation as would check their opera
tion. It needs but a most casual investigation
of the operation of the present system ol
laws governing the disposal of the public
domain to bring conviction that a clean
sweep and a new start are absolutely neces
sary to meet peculiar conditions brought
about by rapid settlement. There Is not
a land law in effect which applies intelli
gently to the public agricultural domain as
it is now to be found and each and every
law which is In force Is used daily as a
means for the fraudulent segregation of
land from the public domain by those whom
the law did not contemplate as possible
beneficiaries.
A Lesson for Women
House cleaning is the dread of most
women, but by consulting the Pantorlum
you can save yourself a great deal of bard
work, and at the same time have your laer
and chenille curtains, tapestry, draperies,
rugs and carpets look like new when put
back in their usual places, instead of
being half-cleaned, as they often are when
you do them yourself. By having all cleaned
at one time we can make you a very low
rate.
Telephone 963 and our representative will
call and give you estimates.
THE PANTORIUM,
407 S. l'jth St.
P. S. We are headquarters for all kinds
of cleaning and dyeing. Ask for price list.
Colonial Costume
When the young man appeared on the
floor of the ballroom clad in a flour sack
and a smile, reports the Baltimore Ameri
can, the host rushed up to him with an
angry countenance and exclaimed:
"What does this mean, sir? How dare
you appear before my gin sis In such a cos
tume, when our Invitatiuns expressly stated
that It was to be a colonial cotillion?"
"Well," asserted the young man, "this l:
colonial all right. It Is a costume that
came direct from the Philippines."
Soft
Harness
Too emo make your har-
U Sell as glove
and aa tough u wire by
uml'HEKA Uar.
eaa Oil, You can
irngititn li life-make K
luat iwlra aa lung as 11
ordiaaxUy would.
EUREKA
Harness Oil
makes a poor looklnc bar
tra ilka new. llk,m ,,f
pure, hearjr txHlleU oil, ea
pwmlly prepared to wlife.
laud Ui weaiber.
Bold everywhere
u 'anil all a
Made fcj STANOARO OIL CO.
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to
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1
WORK DONE UY THE ALFRED RLOOM CO.
ALFRED IILOOM, PRESIDENT. IN II'.S PRIVATE OFFICE.
TalLt
U II. III! I
THE ALFRED BLOOM CO. MILL AT 1002-1-6-8 CALIFORNIA ST., OMAHA.
T. H. .WEIRICH, SECRETARY OF THE ALFRED BLOOM CO.
The Alfred Bloom Co. are manufacturers of bank, store and office fixures, fine hardwood interior finish, stairs, show cases
and grill work. A visit to their mill at 1502-4-6-8 California street will convince anone that they have one of the most com
plete establishments in the state.
The Best is Good Enough for
the American People
. . That Means . .
GREEN RIVER
The Whiskey Without a Headache.
Try It and You'll Know Why
Adopted and used exclusively in all U. S. Marine Hospitals.
AWARDED GOLD MEDAL AT PARIS EXPOSITION. At all
rirst-class bars and hotels. Family trade supplied by
CHICAGO LIQUOR IIOU.SK,
402 N. 16th St., Omaha. 2610 N. St., South Omaha.
B3S Broadway. Council Bluffs, Iowa.
M. WOLLSTEIN & CO., Distributors,
A22-A2 S. 13th Street, Omaha.
BLACK IS BACK-BACK 13 BLACK.
S 111 SO YOUR N13W Sl'HIXCi HAT
RIGHT NOW.
Always $2-AO -No More, No Ltss.
. -. BLACK . . .
The "Up-to-the-Minute" Hatter and Furnisher.
107 South !6th Street.
THE HI HI) ARD-HODMAN-ELY SAFE
Is a new design and make. It consists ot
a solid piece ot round-cornered manganese
steel, mounted on a carriage. It Is an
al solutely burglar-proof safe. The storage
cpace is a cavity In the center of a steel .
block. The door and its locking mechan
ism is an important feature. The door
fits in, the fitting being so close that the
joining is barely visible. It being ground
down so finely. There is no possibility of
air or liquid being forced into any cracks,
for there are none. The combinations slip
oft and leave only a surface aa tightly fit
ting as the door Itself. These sates are
manufactured by the Hibbard-Kodman-Ely
Sufe company ot New York, tor which J. J.
Dc-right & Co., 1119 Farnam street, are the
agents. The manufacturers claim that nitro
glycerine by the quart can be employed
against them and no material damage done.
Numerous tests have been made by In
credulous purchasers and never has the
u ft; been opened by the explosion process.
Prominent banks In Chicago, New York,
Pittsburg, Albany, Cleveland, Toledo, Phila
delphia, Seattle, Los Angeles, In fact nearly
all the leading banks in the United States
are now using these safes. Mr. Derlgbt
secured the agency for these wonderful
burglar-proof Bates last August and since
then has sold over fifty to bankers In this
territory.
7.
Bellamy & Hornung.
Fine Plumbing, Gas Fitting,
Steam and Hot Water,
Complete line of plumbing goods
TKLKl'HOXE 1051.
1614 Capitol Avenue, Omaha
in a n
X-':
JrAMUCA
TOOTH SOAP
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