| Show MR lae stayner BEFORE THE lahd tbt TDA mule mom by congress to travel and obtain information forma tien as to the needed changes in j n lan jan landane d dand and timber laws lave nave held a session cession eva every fay day jay during the past week weeke and mady many suggestions have been presented by gentlemen representing inter nsf of the territory yesterday morning mr chas W stayner Bt ayner attorney of this city furnished fuini luini bhea abed the tho commission with the follo following wint wink weil well digested statement and was promised at ani an I 1 interview iu in the afternoon that I 1 due consideration would bo be given kobis to his suggestions therein contained the document is well worth the reading aa as it contains matters in which the residents of thiis this territory are generally interested it the ideas advanced should become embodied in our national laws much good will result especially to our farmers and the on public lands throughout the territory the representations on the timber question as well as on the land laud laws are strictly correct and demand immediate relief for our population but whether the amendments amend monia menta suggested are adopted or not mr stayner stay ner may rest as at assured that his efforts in behalf of 0 the people of mah utah will be duly appreciated by them as a disinterested action in their behalf following is the state statement mentz SALT lake CITY U 7 ta T september Kep 11 1879 to tha hon son iland land commissioners now in session at salt sall lake city U T gentlemen en As an attorney teeing in utah and having some experience in land cases as well as some knowledge of the tha difficulties difficult lea iea under which the in this thia territory have to labor both as regards land jaud and timber I 1 herewith present for fur your consideration a few lew suggestions which are the re sult balt not only of my own observation but of others who have constituted me their representative in these matters first in regard to the homestead and preemption pre emption laws I 1 would respectfully call your attention to a mu memorial morial of the governor aud and legislative isla tive assembly ot of the territory of c utan ulan approved feb yeb 22 1878 and lo 10 ba round found en on pages and j of the printed laws memorials and resolutions passed at the last sies ries session siou sion of the assembly this memorial shows list tuat i settlers gett fett fers upon opan public lands in tala lala territory are frequently distressed aby by the lack of water for tor domestic purposes or the tho bracki brack brackish lah ih and un nature of the water there obtained from wells wella until by the construction of canals for irrigation water is brought 0 through such land laud suitable for general use aud the document proceeds to ak ahl a hl K for legislation that shall extend to bona fide builders of canals and itches atio brine dit fit of existing lawa laws a manner that so much means or labor expended on buch fauch canals canall may ba counted equivalent to a given residence on the tho land under the homestead act proper and adequate to be given before the local land land officers cers I 1 would urge your consideration of this subject as sat forth in eald eaid memoria land also suggest that the legislation be extended to include sett kett settlers iera lera under the tho preemption pre emption act and to provide that a portion of the money or labor expended on mild said ditched ditches and canals be allowed on the purchase money for lor bald eaid jaud land ana I 1 would further rf rt present that in numerous instances being compelled to make actual residence on their claims for at least elz six months montha aro are put to the expense of building a dwelling of some kind and of moving their families on to the tracts and anti durin daning daring geald eald eaid period and until the land is paid for are limited ifor dally daily use to the unwholesome water that prevails valls vails on land more or 01 less impregnated with alkali that ome some do when practicable haul water in barrels from the settlements or from the nearest creeks that these settlers sett iera lera are subjected to this and expense without any good resulting either cither to the settler or the public as in most cases if not in all he will as soon as the six months expire if possible make his cash entry and immediately mediate mediately Jy remove to a more healthy and comfortable neighborhood he has in the meantime expended money and risked health and in some cases life itself to fill the law and yet made no permanent improvement pro except the cultivation of part pait of the land laud which could have been done with greater ease and to a wider t extent if the building and moving had bad not been requited required I 1 think that the making of irrigating ditches and canal canala 3 the building of fences and a gener general all zil improvement of the tracts b by cultivation would result in far greater good to the settler and to lne the public at large than the building of a which is removed as soon as the law will permit that made it a necessity furthermore ther more families are in many instances taue ts removed mills mils away from 1 the settlements where they have congregated to protect themselves f from indians and are compelled to live out on an open prairie where they are subjected to continual dread ihnot if not actual danger and are deprived of medical ali aid in cases of sickness 39 which is at times quite prevalent here as elsewhere especially among children the younger members of the family are also de do barred from flom the advantages of school education and thus lose months and perhaps two or three years schooling owing to the poverty of the settler who frequently cannot raise laiso means meana to pay up for hla hia land at the end ot six months and must remain a resident upon it till he can and does do BO so his opportunities for raising the purchase money are also curtailed through his being compelled to remain on the tract aa as he ia Is de barted from working for money which he might do were he permitted to retain his residence in the he settlement ett ement thus his payment ia is retarded sometimes till the ex pira piza tion llon of ot the blotted period ol 01 50 30 months and the government nt is a loser loveras as well as the bettler settler the land is filed on by some other claimant and the original settler is regarded as having abandoned and forfeited his preemption pre emption claim notwithstanding his residence and his improvements which may be very extensive and valuable secondly in relation to the desert act acts this law evidently should be modified so as to provide that when parties have expended a certain amount of means or labor in turning streams of water from their natural channels in order to reclaim a tract and have not at the expiration of the three years bears allotted thoroughly accomplished the reclamation of the land as required they may on proper show showing lue luv and proof before the lacal officers obtain an extension of time to complete their work and furthermore some portion of their expenditure should in my opinion be allowed op the price of the land unless the general price caunder under uhla thia act be reduced which would be preferable and probably more just to rich and poor alike in that case the price ought i not to exe exceed e ed 25 cents at time of entry and 25 cents additional at time of 0 final proof for in nearly all cases of desert land in this territory the land Is very inferior and the expense needed to reclaim lit it by irrigation is exceedingly heavy thirdly would call your youn honors attention to the anomalous condition of this thia territory regarding timber differently situated in many respects from other parts of the country the agricultural classes of ol 01 which the inhabitants of this territory principally con buffering suffering under the exacting provisions of laws made for other regions and for different objects from those which prevail here on observing the mountain sides bides it is 14 palpably manifest that no timber grows upon tuena but in order to reach the limer llmer timer limber or even firewood the bett sett leis leia must go far into the the recesses of the carians ca and the spots where timber ia Is usually found are frequently it not always outside the limits of mining districts and of lands claimed by the government as mineral consequently the cutting of timber and wood as generally ene one rally raily carried on la Is not authorized by but bulis bulls Is in direct violation ol 01 the law authorizing residents to fell arld and remove timber for building agricultural mining and other domestic purposes approved june 33 3 1878 which limits such buch privileges tom to mineral bettler lands landa only and the bettler settler so using the timber is liable to criminal prosecution under section 2 2461 U B S revised statutes ites which was evidently passed to protect timber for the use of the navy and not in any manner to affect people in this thia inland territory these two laws should be so amended as to permit timber to ba be cut in our caf canons lons ions on lands other than mineral I 1 would also represent that a provision forbidding dejl g the cutting of timber measuring lebs lees than eight inches in diameter and contained in the rules and regulations issued by the commissioner of the general land office is too general in its character in that it may be construed te to restrict the cutting of scrub brush which is only fit nit for fl fIrewood 3 andl which never measures more than eight inches in diameter this brush constitutes the principal fuel fuei in some parts of the territory is no to the timber required for other purposes would never grow into timber of any useful size and yet the settler ia Is unwittingly liable bable ro to harassing suits for an infraction of the united states law above referred to or a prospective tax upon every load of such wood hauled by him and which has cost him in labor on the canyon roads and in time spent in hauling it all that the wood when hauled could possibly be worth your honors will perceive that the above suggestions are offered chiefly in the interest of the farmer and the working workingman mang in whose behalf beh alfI 1 I solicit your consideration and influence I 1 lam iam am gentlemen very respectfully yours CHAS W stayne R |
