Show the land question editor of abo EK QUIRE ft 1 am a subscriber to your valuable paper the and admire the candor and good judgment manifested mani tested in its columns in defense of the right there is a matter I 1 wish to call your attention to that is creating a great deal of bad feeling among the people I 1 allude to the way we treat each other in obtaining titles to our land and if I 1 can only hold the mirror so that we can look at ourselves in the light of justice I 1 will accomplish all that I 1 desire it is well known how this territory has been settled that fields have been taken up by the people who owned from five to twenty acrea in joint enclosures under the circumstances it could not leave been otherwise if men could not have taken less than acres they never would have made the dams and ditches necessary to water their land neither could they have defended themselves against the indians at the time of their first settlement tl in obtaining titles to our land under these circumstances I 1 want to speak of the wrongs as I 1 view them that are being perpetrated by a few individuals divi duals they charge from two to six dollars or even more per acre why this difference but the greatest wrong iq in the matter of streets running through our fields the field that I 1 have particular reference to lias four rod streets running north and south eighty rods apart besides this there is a iwo rod street running the centre of the field east and west iao you see there is about eight acres of street in every acrea now these streets have cost the oeners of land as much per acre as any other part of the field for they have certainly made the fences and ditches that much longer I 1 want it distinctly understood eliat the travel on aliese streets in list not and cannot be interfered with if these four rod streets are divided in lie centre the owners of land in the field set just exactly alie proportion of street according to alie amount of land owned these streets being so wide would raise a great deal of weeds if they ore not cultivated but as a general tiling they have cultivated ever since the field was opened now come the arn who have entered this land and chum the street either to cultivate or soil to any one that will buy but the worst of all are those that take the land and refuse 10 let the owners men that have farmed it fur fifteen years or more have it at any price if I 1 understand alie land laws the title belongs to him who first cultivates the land but as we cant go to tho land office with less than 80 or acres all these wrongs are the result who would be the owners of aliese streets if each man could go to the laud office to get deeds for their small barcela parcela 0 land I 1 will conclude with a couple of appropriate prop quotations if we could only ace ourselves as others see us burns have we adopted the advice of lago to roderigo Ko derigo pu money in thy purse honestly if thou canet but put money in thy purse N B |