| Show POLICY OF government QUITE WRONG san francisco newspaper discusses decision of federal judge lewis and alleged coal land frauds during the last summer a large number of persons in different mountain Voun tain states vere indicted by federal grand juries for conspiring to acquire coal lands 4 as individuals with the intent to pass them on into the hands of corporations or other large holders 0 or for other acts in connection with the processes process ei which had that result all these indictments have been quashed by the united stated 4 district judge at denser denner but the announcement is made the department of justic justi cwill will at once carry the cases to the supreme courtna the united states in order to get a final decision on some questions tiona upon which th elower courts have disagreed for example several district judges have held that it A no crime to violate a department regulation which a depar department ament by is authorized to make judge lewis so rules in these land casts cast s that point will now be authoritatively determined says the san francisco chronicle 0 As to our policy with reference to ini mineral forest ind grazing lands it t can only be called idiotic these lands have usually almost no novalus kalua in small tracts such ag 84 could be acquired by a single these entry men have not the capital to develop them nor if capital were abundant would it pay to develop knall tracts the only possible use which an tryman cn could usually inaki i of such land waa to sell it to 0 wn n person who owned ado adjoining 1 in ibal laws etire en cou raged such entries 9 with the full fall knowledge of the lawmakers that before use they must be sold and at the same time making or ati tempting to m make ake criminal the only process by which the land could pass from front public ownership ownen hip into the hands of private owners who could make ube u of it the tile united states might have retained these lands and leased them in tracts of sufficient size to he be utilized there is no other way ba b which the whole people can be enabled to derive benefit from the common own ownership enship or the public retain any control over the price at which the products shall bo be sold that howe however vcr has not been the national poll 7 that policy has been to get rid of the public domain as its rapidly as possible if that was wm the policy the proper way imy was to explore the lands survey them into tracts of corn con eilent size for exploitation and sell them to the highest bidder what we have done isto is to invite poor pen ron to enter upon the land of which they could make use only by a violation ola tion of the law and then when the law in due course was violated to P prosecute prosecute rose cute the of fenders |
