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THE REAL STORY OF THE
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OREGON LAND MONOPOLY
How the S P, and S O. Companies Procured Their Present Hold
ings and Why the People Have Been Helpless As Told
By a Coos Bay Attorney
How to force tho Oregon & Cali
fornia railroad and the Southern Pa
clUc to dl3gorgo their land-grant
areas In Western Oregon at $2.50 an
acre, in accordance with tho terms
under which tho railroad accepted
tho lands from the National Govern
ment, is a norilexlng question, and
lawyers have many , diverging opin
ions as to the solution. Meanwhile
seekors of tho land are resorting to
tho method nearest within their
reach, of seizing the lands and thus
forcing tho railroads into the courts
to oust them or bring suit in tho
courts themselves to compel the rail
road to sell.
The lands were granted "by the acts
of Congress passed In 1SCG-70, aa a
subsidy for aiding construction of
linos of railroads from Portland to
California and from Portland to Mc
Mlnnville, and for guaranteeing con
struction bonds. Congress gave, in
stead of cash boniii, a land bonus,
which it Intended should be convert
ed Into cash, under specified terms.
Theso terms were contained in the
following provlslo of an act of May
10, lSG9:"Provlded further, that the
lands granted by tho acts aforesaid
shall bo sold to actual settlers only,
in quantities not greater than one
quarter section (1G0 acres) to one
purchaser, and for a price not ex
ceeding $2.50 an acre;" and also in
section 4 of a congressional act of
May 4, 1870, as follows: "And bo it
further enacted, that the said
alternate sections of land grant
ed by this net, excepting only
such as are necessary for the
company to reserve as depots,
stations, sidetracks, wood yards,
Btandlng ground and other needful
uses, in operating the road, shall be
sold by tho company only to actual
settlers, and at a price not exceeding
?2.50 an acre."
The rallrodas accepted theso terms,
and their acceptance Is on record,
that tho Oregon & California have
been filed with the Interior Depart
ment April 9, 1870, as to the act of
April 10, 1SG0, under which moro
than nine-tenths of tho granted
lands now hold by tho Oregon & Cal
ifornia and Southern Pacific were ob
tained from tho government about
0,000,000 acres. An additional 500,
000 was obtained by the Oregon Cen-
t tral railroad (West Side), under tho
iact of May 4, 1870. Several years
, lator the Oregon Central assigned its
rights and claims to tho Oregon &
? California.
Tho lailJa wore rc;el.-wd by the two
railroads f.-om th3 national govern
ment, on condition that they should
bo disposed of according to certain
specified terms. The terms virtually
t4'Put tho lands in trust with tho rail-
,8 rnnrfa nn trnstnns n creed to dlSDOSO of
them to actual sottlers at not more
: than $2.50 an aero.
St The national government uui not,
llvi'then.'-'give-'tho'-rallroads fee simple
' "titlO'to the-lands, or absolute owner-
V' t.fl. .. tl.A.-. n .. (tin olliml nHir.
HIU1I ill lllUUl, ilO UlU ltwn ttvvu.
Jnles noV, claim!; JUmado tho rail
roads its agbnV'foi" disposing of tho
lands. It could itself, havo sold tho
lands and turned th'o proceeds over to
tho railroads as bonds, but, for obvi-
IjIoub reasons allowed tho railroads to
.take tho lands and dispose of them.
In trust tho government placed the
jdd-numbored sections twonyt miles
m each side of tho tracts, retaining
Iho even numbered sections. Iho
ailroad lands woro not to bo sold for
Inoro than $2.50 an aero. And the
rovornment declared that tho lands
detained in tho public domain should
t bo sold less than $2.50 an ncre
Kmaklng for tho obvious purposo
Efcssplng up tho price of tho rail-
lands and protecting tho rail
roads. Tho original grantlug act of
Pily 25, 18GG, undor which tho Ore-
'.on & California obtained Its bonus
V'.-' eclared: "And tho sections and
C,1" . nA..n r lmwl wlilnli clinll
UVIS Ol SUUUUUB UL 1UI1U " "ivu u......
jQmain in tho United States, within
fio. limits of tho aforesaid grants,
ihll not bo sold for less than doublo
fio minimum prlco ($1.25) of public
irids When sold." Tho act of May 1,
V70, undor which tho Oregon Cou-
il (West Side) obtained its grants,
iclared that its lands "shnll bo dls-
isod of only to actual sottlers at
jublo tho minimum prlco for such
Ma"
LTho clear purposo oi tno acts or
ngross was to promote tho settlo-
mt of tll country. Congress
uted to put the land Into tho hands
I Actual sottlers. It tried to avoid
fiatlng monopoly In tho lands. It
alod to tho railroads tho right to
Ifposo of them as thoy ehoso. It
JiJiheUl from thorn tho right to col-
V-Mu jmvu Biuuiur mini $..uu an
ivr-iuuD iiuiu3iui; uu iiiu rciuiuuu
faa. tho sumo or similar terms as
upon the railroad lands.
In the fighting efforts of tho would
bo settlers to obtain the lands, tho
Southern Pacific will contend that It
holds absolute title, which gave It
tho right either to sell whatever
price It wished or to refuse to sell at
all.
itailroad attorueys'wlll put up a
mass of subterfuge and sophistry to
defeat the effort3 of such persons to
obtala lands. They will Insist that
land grants. Up to this time tho
possessors of tho granted land havo
managed to ward off other- attempts
to compel them to conform to these
terms. They havo been so success
ful at this that thoy nave grown con
fident of their ability to repudiate
perpetually the original terms of iho
giants and establish absolute title
for themselves.
Tho Coos Bay lands, amounting to
a total variously giver between C0,-
nn .nr.n..n1 settlor can bo only a ucrson I 000 and 90,000 acres, were awa-dod
who resided on tho lands at the time July 25, 1SGG, and tho acts amonda-
IM
vn
uUU
that the grant was made, and that
such persons havo ceased to exist
slnco that time.
The many applicants for railroad
land throughout Western Oregon are
pursuing a course thoy should have
taken years ago. The question will
go to the courts for adjudication. It
may go there In various ways in
suit of the railroad to oust trespass
ers; In action of would-be purchasers
to compel tho railroads to sell at
$2.50 an aero; In action by tho Gov
ernment to compel observance of the
terms of the grant or wrest tho un
sold lands from the grasp of the rail
road; or by suit of tho Government,
undor an act of Congress yet to bo
passed, to restrain the railroads from
selling on any other terms than
those prescribed by the terms of the
original acts and reiterated by the
now law.
The Oregonlan of recent date says
In a leading editorial: "The pur
poso of Congress and of the people of
Oregon, who besought Congress to
pass tho granting acts, has been
thwarted many years, by flagrant
breach of railroad faith. The reign
of broken pledges and greedy grab
of non-resident landlords should end.
Oregon aspires to a nobler destiny
than striving for tho pleasure and
profit of those barons. Congress
and tho people mapped out a brighter
future Tho blight has lain too
long," etc.
Repudiating the $2.50 an aero
price limit, fixed by Congress on sale
of lands granted to tho Oregon &
California Railroad Company as
bonus for a road from Marysvllle,
California, to Portland, Oregon, tho
company claim tho right to charge
In excess of that figure, whatever
thoy wish. Tho railroad magnates
refuse to sell at the $2.50 fixed price,
claim feo slmplo title In tho lands to
do with as they please, and deny tho
claim of would-bo purchasers that
tho acts of Congress give such per
sons tho right to acquire any part of I
tne lanu at any price wnatever, un
less tho possessors are willing to
sell.
Tho land Is now In possession of
the Oregon & California Railroad
Company, a corporation organized
and existing under and by virtue of
tho laws of tho state of Oregon.
Their repudiation of tho terms of tho
grant has continued many years.
Now finally more than 200 residents
of tho Coos Bay region havo started
suits to release tho monopolist grip
and admit sottlers and others desir
ous of acquiring tho land, as tho
granting acts Intended they should,
and of developing tho country.
Tho would-bo purchasers are join
ing in tho general movement
throughout Westorn Oregon for tho
enforcement of tho original terms of
tory thereto. Tho lands were a sub
sidy for construction of a railroad
from Marysvllle, California to Port
land, Oregon, In order to open com
munication between Portland and
San Francisco.
The grant consisted of three ser
tions of land, or 1920 acres, for every
mile of road, being odd-numbered
sections "to the extent of threo sec
tions in width on each side of said
road."
The land was given in lieu of cash
bonus, and was to bo converted into
cash, by selling to settlers. The sell
ing prlco of tho granted lands was
limited by tho following proviso In
Section 1 of tho Constitutional act:
"Provided further, that the grant of
lands hereby made, shall be upon the
condition that tho lands shall be sold
to any one person, only In quantities
not greator'thnn one quarter section,
for a price not exceeding $2.50 an
acre."
Bills Killed in Senate.
At the last session of the Oregon
legislature, bills to confer on any In
dividual tho right of the state to sue
for compliance with the granting acts
and to require the Circuit Court, af
ter duo legal process to order con
veyance of title to applicants for land
within ten days, were Introduced In
tho Senate by Malarkey of Multno
mah, and In tho House by Chase, of
Coos. Tho two bills were both
slain in the Senate by Elijah Smith
and allied corporation interests.
Tho Malarkey bill died In the Sen
ato commltteo on public lands con
sisting of Slchol, Scholfleld, Beach
and M. A. Miller, of Linn. The
Chase bill, after passing tho House
against but ono negative vote, was
adversely reported by tho Senate
commltteo and Indefinitely post
poned. When Congress passed the grant
ing act, the country lying between
Marysvllle, California, and Portland,
Orogon, was not settled, and con
tained no roads leading either to
San Francisco, where there was com
munication with tho outside world,
or to Portland, whore there was
ocean commerce A road was need
ed, therefore, through this great
intervening area, In order to open It
up for settlement nnd to establish
communication between two Import
ant parts of the country.
Reason for the Giant.
No few settlors could afford to
open a road either way, but a largo
number of thorn, by contributing a
small sum of money each, could ralso
suillclont funds to do tho work. Tho
schemo was devised by having Con
gross withdraw from entry half the
lands on each side or tho road, desig
nated by odd numbers, in a strip
(Continued on pago 7.)
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NO
IARDWA1
TORE
A Complete Line
Hardware
Builders Harch
HouseholcMS-oods
Plumbing a Specialty
Reberg (k Smith
North Bend
W. J, SMITH
P, N. REBERG
3E
IC SALE OF LADIES'
FOR. ENTIRE WEEK
The coming week we will be offering some exceedingly great values in Ladies'
Summer Shirtwaist Suits. The reductions cover the entire line, and any woman
thinking of buying one or more of these handsome garments, should not fail to attend
this sale. They all go on sale Monday morning. So come out promptly.
ENTICING PRICES ON
Ladies' Fisie Shirtwaist, Suits
$3 Shirtwaist Suits of sood aualitv lawiT, Nicely trimmed with
' 1 1 i . ' ".n.. TU iimn nnw
lace ana emoroiaery, veiy pituiy, nuo weo uu.
$3.50 Shirtwaist Suits of embroidered lawn, Beautifully trimmed J.
with lace, Suit only ---
$2 Shirtwaist Suits of linen finished suiting, Neatly made, For J
coming week, only
$5 Shirtwaist Suits, made of fine lawn and India linen, Lace
trimmed, Suit, only
sa shirtwaist Suits nf fine Persian lawn, Trimmed handsomely
v .; I I!... I ! ;!.nJnliir.W)lU fill W H
wmi good quaniy iace mseiuun aim oiuoioi iuo,xou, w,,.j
$12.50 Shirtwaist Suits in dotted Swiss, Elaborately trimmed . 0
with lace and embroidery. For coming week, only
$3 Value only $1.25
100 Ladies' Beautiful Lawn Shirtwaists, Trimmed with fine lace insertion and
dainty embroidery, Regular prices were $2,25 to $3. This j 5
season's styles. Short and long sleeves, Choice of entire lot, only fcy
Silk Shirtwaist Suits
The remainder of our handsome Sumrrjer Silk Shirtwaist Suits must go, Some of
the most exquisite productions arfe still in the lotand the assortment is large
enough to suit all. The regularprices were $25 to $35,
For the coming week, you may taKe your cnoice ot any oiik h o a j
Qhirtiunlct Suit, nt A - -
JL
.12c
27c
Shirtwaist Suit, at.
Ladies' Sleeveless Vests
I adifis' Sleeveless Vests, formerly jselliag at 18c, in sizes 4 to
fc . -lit a r-i v lllV irft n
O, gU Lilt! UUIIIIII& WCCIS, CU,
Fine Sleeveless Vests, sizes 4 to f formerly selling at 35c, go
the coming week at, each.
Values up to $1.25, choice 9c.
A great saving awaits you in the belt section the coming week, About 100 Ladies'
Belts, of this season, regular values as high as $1,25, go Q
at, choice -
35c Boys' Wash Pants 12c
An interesting item in the boys' clothing section this week will be the Wash Pants
at 12c, The sizes range from 4 to 1 5 years, They are made of good quality
material, well sewed and especially full, This represents one of the best buys
of the season, and you should not fail to get several pairs 1 O
for your boy, Worth 35c, the coming week, pair '
Boys9 Two-Piece Suits
This week we will have placed on a table in the men's section about 30 Boys' Two
Piece Suits, sizes 3 to 15 years, regular prices ranging from $1 to $8 suit,
These suits are well made, run full for the marked sizes, and come in good
quality worsted, For the coming week you may take your choice of the
entire lot, at, the regular price less
exactly --
35c. Boys' Negligee Shirts 20c
These Negligei "s are made out of a good quality cotton cheviot, in neat stripes,
Sizes run fi to 14 years, ana tne regular price was 9n
ui
35c, The c
week they go, each
CO.QiBAYfteATfST STORE.
. . i .
NORTH BEND, OREGON
5 1
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