Salt Lake Tribune | 1912-02-18 | Page 28 | Fisher Expected to Defeat Borah Bill

FISHER EXPECTED TO DEFEAT BORAH BILL Special to Tho Tribune. WASHINGTON. Feb. 17. Secretary Fisher of tho Interior department has supplemented his oral testimony given boforo Iho houso public lands committee against tho Borah-Jones bill to reduce the term of a homestead entry to three years by a written report which reached the committee todav. The secretary says In his report. "Tho proposed bill, if passed, would lead to summer excursions on the part of those who desire lands for speculative purposes aim nut iui i.mua upon which to build homes. The bona fide settlor who desires land upon which to build a homo would suffer If tho bill should becomo a law, for tho land he seeks would be taken up by the speculator, specula-tor, lo whom tho settler would hav to pay money, either In the purchaso of tho land when patented or In 30curlng the abandonment of tho claim so that ho might have an opportunity to filo on It." The secrolai-y recommends thai t'no remaining re-maining vacant public lands bo classified classi-fied mid lands not agricultural In character char-acter should not be entered under the homestead law. Ho advocates more definite defi-nite requirements in regard to Improvements Improve-ments on homesteads and says that the Borah-Jones bill is copied from ihc moro leniont provisions of tho Canadian homestead home-stead law. while it omlls tho restrictive features of that law. Tho opposition of Secretary Fisher. It is believer, will serve to prevent the bill from passing Iho house.