The End of the Wild West Land Grab

Under the new management, the General Land Office is finally carrying out the good work of protecting the public lands from fraud and greed. The latest order provides that maps are to be furnished only to the applicants, who must swear to their personal land office filings. This order is designed to prevent the frauds which have been rendered possible by the general practice of furnishing maps in large quantities to attorneys and land men. This is effectively another step on the part of the Interior Department in the direction of ending the way in which speculators are accustomed to prey upon the public lands. The Land Office in particular was sadly in need of the change which was made when Mr. Cleveland became President. Past years the public lands had been looked upon by the officials of the Interior Department as the miserable and legal perquisites of railroads, stock-raising corporations, and land speculators, rather than as the heritage of the people, held in trust for the benefits of present and future generations. The word of a railroad king was law, and the feeble complaint of a settler was laughed to scorn. But the new officials are approaching their task in the right spirit, and it is not too sanguine for honest settlers to hope that hereafter they will be protected against the notorious and unjust claims of land-grabbing corporations and monopolists.