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Show 462 HISTORY OF PUBLIC LAND LAW DEVELOPMENT temporarily suspended-the only way land could subsequently be acquired there was through homesteading, as had been the case between 1866 and 1876. These acts were followed on March 2, 1889, by one ending all cash or private sales of land, except in Missouri where the remaining lands were scattered fragments. Thus the right of unlimited purchase, which dated from 1820, was terminated. Finally, the General Revision Act of March 3, 1891, repealed the Timber Culture and Preemption Acts while preserving equities already established, required more specific information showing improvements and their value on desert land entries, denied the right of homestead to persons owning more than 160 acres, extended the commutation period to 14 months, ordered no further public auctions of lands except for military reservations and scattered tracts, and authorized the President to set aside public lands for forest reservations. Never before had Congress pruned out so many obsolete and incongruous provisions of past laws that had become subject to enormous abuses and provided additional safeguards to prevent laws still on the statute books from being misused."3 After most of the arable, grazing, and forest resources of significant value had gone into private hands, frequently in large tracts, it was now possible for the Commissioner of the General Land Office to say, "The great object of the Government is to dispose of the public lands to actual settlers only-to bona fide tillers of the soil . . ." 64 63 25 Stat. 622, 626, 854-55; 26 Stat. 391, 1095-1103. M GLO Annual Report, 1890, p. 3. |
