Speech #490051305

In the mean time the claimants must wait without remedy. and their grants. which would be valuable if the title were completed by a United States confirmation or patesnt. must remain comparatively worthless. as is all property where the vendor ofrers for sale an incomplete title and prospective legislation. The settler dares not settle and improve land lest it be subsequently found to be within the limits of some unconfirmed and unsorveyed grant. and the United States. by such delay. not only loses the sale of its land. but. &e. This statement was repeated in the annual report of the Commissioner for 1876 with this addition: "In addition to the foregoing I might add that while these private land claims remain in their present unsettled condition it will continue to retard emigration to and settlement in said Territories. for until the titles thereto are ascertained and the land segregated from the public domain it will be impossible to determine which is public land subject to appropriation and settlement under the publicland laws and which is not. therefore. settlement made with a view of acquiring title under the publicland system is necessarily at the risk of finding in the future the land settled upon included within the limit of a private land claim aull the improvements lost to the party who made them. There have already occurred manycases of hardship in this respect." Again. in his annual report for 1877 the Commissioner of the General Land Office called attention to the condition of these private land claims. and urged upon Congress the necessity of some suitable legislation for the removal of the cloud resting upon land titles in the Territories. The surveyorgeneral of New Mexico. in his annual report for 1878. uses the following strong language: I have little hope that Congress will act upon any of these suggestions. as they have twice been presented heretofore and no action taken thereon. but the magnitude of the Government interest involved with the title to millionsof acres in question impels me to again call attention to the criminally lax method and imperfect means of investigating and adjusting these Spanish and Mexican titles. The uncertain condition of things is retarding settlement. and until all these titles are segregated from the public domain that uncertainty of title will continue. to the serious detriment of the citizens generally. The special land commission appointed by act of Congress said in 1880 in their report. after having investigated the condition of private land claims in States and Territories containing treaty claimsThe time has arrived when the States and Territories containing these treaty claims are no longer on the. frontier. and they have ceased to be populated exclusively by a foreign population. Lines of transcontinental railroadsare piercing them in every direction. the restless activity of American civilization is sprcadIjig towns and farms over the plains. and hasexposed thehidden treasures of the mniountains. emigration is flowing in with magical rapidity. and industry and industry and thrift are exploring every avenue for development and fivestment. - . But at the foundation of all permanent growth lies the security and certainty of land titles. and no discussion isrequired to prove that this is unattainable in communities covered with claims to title of foreign derivation and of unasce tained boundaries. Even the Government is ignorant of the lines of demarkation between its public lands and these treaty claims. and uncertainty and insecurity taint the titles of purchasers.