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Show HOMESTEADING, 1862-1882 though repeal would have removed one of the procedures by which much land was being fraudulently acquired for nonagri-cultural purposes, it would also have taken some of the desired flexibility from the land system. To attract capital to irrigation, the commission recommended that irrigable land be sold in unlimited quantities, thus making it feasible for construction of large and costly dams and reservoirs that would irrigate many thousands of acres. It considered the possibility of the Federal government building such large structures that might cost a million dollars or more, but dropped the notion as "not in consonance •vith the traditions of the American people" -an interesting position in light of the fact frhat a generation later Congress was to veer •harply from these prevalent traditions in •dopting the Newlands Reclamation Act •»+' 1902. For the pasture or grazing lands, he location of which the commission did ^iot make clear, homestead units of 2,560 acres were suggested, to be sold at graduated prices. With timberlands the commission had difficulty, but finally recommended the sale of stumpage on alternate sections, with the buyers required to preserve the younger trees. Much testimony had been presented respecting the local regulations governing mineral lands, showing that they had worked badly and should be superseded by Federal laws. This was certain to raise the hackles of many but the reasons for the change seem to have been well presented. Debris deposited on farmland by hydraulic mining was sufficiently important to be the subject of investigation by a special commission appointed for that purpose. A final recommendation of the commission that would have permitted the government and railroads to exchange land in order to consolidate ownership pointed the way for later exchanges that were to 429 be among the most regrettable steps taken by Congress in land matters.81 Five volumes, essential for every historian of public land policies, were published for the Public Land Commission. The first contained what was called a "Preliminary Report" but was in fact the only statement of the commission's conclusions and recommendations. It ran to 47 pages and was signed by all five members of the commission, but Powell added to it a two-page qualifying statement in which he offered modifications in the recommendations concerning water and mineral rights. Accompanying the report were proposed statutes to carry into effect the recommendations. The proposed statutes were more concrete than the recommendations. A sore point with the Justice and Interior officials for years had been their inability to subpoena witnesses in trials of contested or questionable entries. This was to be taken care of by authorizing the registers to subpoena witnesses. Heavy penalties were to be assessed against registers who "knowingly and falsely" declared that tracts had already been entered when they had not, an evil against which there had been many complaints. Mineral lands and timberlands were to be excluded from the homestead privilege and were not to be sold. Instead, standing timber was to be sold after classification and grading into three groups according to quantity and quality. Pasturage lands were to be open to purchase in unlimited amounts at $1.25 an acre until 1886, when they were to be lowered in price to $1, in 1890 to 75 cents and thereafter were to be reduced 1214 cents an acre each 3 years until they reached the minimum of 12i/2 cents. Pasturage homesteads of 2,560 acres were to be available on sur- 81 Taken seriatim from the "Preliminary Report of the Public Land Commission," and signed by all five members of the Commission, ibid., pp. v-xlvii. |