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Show BORAH'SHOMESTEAD BILL. I.t is .a pity that Secretary Fisher should oppose, as ho is reported to be opposing. Senator Borah's bill reducing reduc-ing to three years' the time required for proving up on a homestead entry, and , permitting the cntryninn to take six months leave of absence from his entry each year. The evident purpose of .the bill is to enable a genuine homesteader to have a practical opportunity to prove up on his claim when it is found impossible .to make profit from it during .lhe time of opening. Under the present law. t 'hat with the required five, yours residence and .Mic constant afflictions iimposed upon homesteaders by the officials of-ficials of tho Government, who seem to be anxious to prove, that every "homesteader is. a thief, it has come, to lhe pass that scarcely anything is more difficult Mian ,o obtain a patent for laud from 'the United Stales". So groat ds the difficulty, that Americans by the hundreds of thousands arc driven to Canada in order to get homes. And yet. Secretary Fisher is reported as advising the House committee to reject the bill, appearing before that body against it. fn this Secretary Fisher is acting directly against the hoiiie.rtcadcis and against tho interests of the United" States. JTc is fostering lhe continuance of the conditions which drive Americans out of thoir owu counntry to locato in Canada. 'But, even so. the passage of the Borah bill by the Scna.'.o has had the good effect of stirring. Secretary Fisher Fish-er up to agree that he will instruct his subordinat es I hat all contests against entries must bp .taken up and disposed of within-a. year of tho date of filing. A year 'is "a very long time indeed for a man who is depending for the .making .mak-ing of his future home upon a homestead filing, to wait for each point of adverse ad-verse contest thaj; may be filed. And yet. as shown by Sona.tor Borah, those contests arc now hold up indefinitely, and the homesteaders have no means to bringing tho question to iseuc. They arc delayed and hampered 3'ear after j-oar bv petty object ious and obstructions, obstruc-tions, apparently in ,thc hopo that the homesteader will abandon his claim and allow some favorite of the service to get in and take it, or else that it maj' be returned. to the. public domain as part. oft some forestry or other reservation. res-ervation. Senator Borah is doing excellent work against the obstructive policies of tho Interior Department, which are so stimulating to the development of Canada Can-ada and so paralyzing to tho development develop-ment of the Western and Mountain States. Every time that a. homesteader is bluffed out of his claim, every time that an honest homese.eker is driven away, tho Western State in which he wished to settle is by .that much retarded re-tarded in its development. And it is time that' all the Western Senators and Representatives united in a determined determ-ined effort to do awav with this official offi-cial nagcing obstruction to their pro gi'css. |