Imperial Valley press and the Imperial press., April 07, 1906, Image 1

About Imperial Valley press and the Imperial press. (El Centro, Calif.) 1906-1907

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Imperial Valley Press.
VOL. V
LAND TROUBLES SETTLED
Commissioner of the General Land Office
Takes Proper Adion
Orders the Lands in this Valley Surveyed by Metes and Bounds,
Thus Giving Every Settler the Lands Actually
Settled Upon by Him. •
The subject of the Imperial resurvey.
which has agitated and troubled many
of our people for the past four years,
is now to be settled right. The follow
ing from the Los Angeles Times of
last Friday gives the information that
Commissioner of the General Land
office has acted on the request of the
settlers;
Washington, March 29,— [Exclusive
Dispatch.] The Commissioner of the
General Land ollice advises Senator
Flint that he has directed that land in
Imperial Valley beresurveyed in accord
ance with the request of settlers. The
land is to be surveyed in part* by n.t-tes
and bounds, in accordance with private
survey that was ma-le and thus give to
each "of the settlers the land located
upon and now occupied by him, rather
than carry out the original phms for
Eurveying ; lan.d which would have the
result in many instances of settlers los
ing part of their improvements.
It will be remembered that in the
first place, after the discovery of the
error in the surveys made by the Im
perial Land' company, and the Sunset
Commercial company, by which the
filings in the Valley have been made.
the people, in 1902. petitioned Con
gress to pass a bill for their relief.
Congress, therefore, on July Ist, 1902.
passed a bill ordering a resurvey made
of. the townships in this Valley, and
providing that none of the ''present' 1
bona fide occupants of the lands should
be molested in their holdings. In due
course of time the departmental red
tape was unwound and it came up t:>
the Commissioner of the General
Land office to issue the instructions to
the deputy surveyors, who are to do
the final work of surveying. And right
here the trouble rose. He interpreted
the word "present" in the bill where it
referred to the bona fide occupants of
the land to mean those who were such
at the time the bill was passed. July
Ist, 1902. and instructed the deputies
to ignore all entries made subse
quently. This action on his part was
not known here until the contracts were
let and the instructions actually arriv
ed. It was at once seen that a serious
mistake had been made and one that
required to be promptly rectified. We
at once prepared a petition to the Hon
orable Commissioner of the General
Land office setting forth tersely just
what the situation required and asking
that he Issue supplemental Instructions
to his deputy surveyors, instructing
them to survey every settler's claim
so as to give him the exact lands upon
which he has settled. We printed a
number of these petitions and distrib
uted them about the Valley for signa
ture. Meantime, we wrote to Sena
tors Flint and Perkins, and Congress
man Smith, sending them copies of
the 'petition and explaining In detail
what was needed to straighten the
matter out. Without waiting for the
petitions to arrive these gentlemen
took the matter up with the Honorable
Land Commissioner, and especially
Senator Flint has persistently followed
it up. In a letter to us replying to one
of ours, he says that our method of at
tack is the correct one. for the com
missioner can remedy the whole matter
with the stroke of a pen. Meantime,
while work was going ahead on this
line in Washington, others were agitat
ing to send someone to V/ashington
to urge Congress to pass another bill to
remedy the matter. A proposed bill
was published in the Standard, and
President Gleason and the manage
ment of Water company No. 1 got be
hind the move to send an agent to
Washington to work for it. Both Roy
McPherrln and A. H. Heber were
proposed for this agent and McPherrin
was appointed. However, his work as
claim agent for the California Develop
ment Co v . Interfered with his going, and
•a change was made, Paul H. « cPherrin
being substituted and the California
Development company meeting one
half the expenses of the journey.
Meantime the counter agitation in fa
vor of the proposed bill, and the cock
sure assurances "hat the Press was
wrong in appealing to the Commission
er of the General Land office, had
dissuaded many people from signing
the petitions and the work of circulat
ing them had lagged. However, we
refused to abandon our movement,
and insisted that whatever was done,
the Land Commissioner be labored
with first, and every effort made to get
him to issue appropriate instructions
to his deputy surveyors for the right
kind of a survey.
Mr. Paul McPherrin agreed to do
this when he was here in the Valley
before his departure for Washington.
He left Los Angeles on his journey
about the 15th of March. He went to
San Francisco first, and spent some
time there so that he could not have
been in Washington but a very few
days, if at all, until the Commissioner
told Senator Flint it was all right, he
would order the resurvey made to fit
the farms and give every settler the
land he occupied. The Commission
er's mind was already filled with the
peoples side of the matter when the pe
titions arrived, so he did not have to
pause and consider It very long. This
Is another and a striking Illustration of
the correctness of the Press' position
that the officials of the United States
are true friends to the actual settlers
in this Valley, and that they are ever
ready to do whatever they can to help
us and further our Interests.
In the case of the soil experts they
simply were mistaken. The conditions
were different to anything they had cv
er studied before and Mr. J. Garnett
Holmes did not understand thtm
In the case of the movement for
government ownership, we were asking
amiss, under the circumstances, and it
could not be granted. It is perfectly
apparent now, why It could not be
granted, and we are all well satisfied
with the reasons and willing the recla
mation fund should be expended for
constructing Irrigation works, and not
frittered away In buylW them at "hold
up" prices, \
AM) TMIi IMI'HKIAL I'RHSS
EL CENTRO," CALIFORNIA. APRIL 7, 1906
With the success of the movement
for the Honorable Commissioner of
the General Land office to rectify his
orders concerning the resurvey, the
last vestige of worry and uncertainty
on that score is removed. Everyone
can now proceed with security and as
surance that his.land lines will not be
molested nor his claim jeopardized, no
matter where the township and section
corners may be located. And the
Press congratulates the people of the
Valley on this fact, and on its connec
tion with li. And we congratulate our
selves that during the year that we
have guided Its policy the Press has
consistently upheld the rights of the
people of this Valley and labored in all
seasons for their advancement.
Through our efforts the question of
water rights and the subject of water
stock with relation thereto, is more
fully understood by the people of this
Valley, than ever before. Our voice
has always been for home rule and the
best interests of the farmers in all the
V/ater companies of the Valley. We
advised the construction of a powerful
levee along the north bank of New
river, from Calexico to a point three
miles northwest of Silsbee, as long ago
as last September- V/e presume no
one doubts the wisdom of this advice
now. And our opposition to the sale
of intoxicating liquor and fight for
morality and civic righteousness is en
dorsed by the best people, everywhere.
The Press Is loyal to the best inter
ests of the people of tb's Valley, at all
times and under all circumstances.
NO MORE FILINGS
Lands in Imperial Valley Withdrawn
From all Forms of Entry and all
Entries Suspended
Following the action of the Commis
sioner of the General Land office or
dering the Surveyor-General of Cali
fornia to survey the lands in this Val
ley by metes and bounds, and to
give every settler the identi
cal land he claims and occu
pies, came a telegram to Register
Prescott and Receiver Robinson of
the Los Angeles Land office, withdraw
ing the lands in this Valley from all
forms of entry. This telegram orders
that no more filings be accepted, on
any lands in Townships 13, 14, 15 and
16 South. Ranges 11. 12. 13. 14, 15
and 16 East, and fractional Townships
17 South. Range 15 and 16 East. San
Bernardino Meridian. Also that all
entries row on the books in those town
ships are suspended from final proof.
The suspended area is Identical with
that Included in the Imperial resurvey,
and the withdrawal of these lands is
done in order that the matter of locat
ing the settlers by the newly ordered
method can be done without trouble.
The instructions from the Surveyor-
General to the deputy surveyors will
doubtless be to survey every entry they
find by metes and bounds. That will
Include everyone up to the time of the
withdrawal of the lands. The suspen
sion of all entries in this part of the
country from final proof, has been In
effect for some time, but the Land
office has permitted the entrymen to
file their final proofs, pending the com
pletion of the resurvey. By this means
parties have continued to advertise
and make their final proofs after the
suspension, the Land office officials
merely taking their affidavits and dep.
ositlons In the matter and storing them
away In their office till the resurvey Is
made and the lands restored to final
entry. Then the owner will be notified
\ i
of the correct description by which the
new system will describe his lands,
and will be required to pay the sum of
one dollar per acre upon the lands in
cluded In their entry, and thus com
plete the proofs. They will also re
quire some kind of an affidavit from
the owner to show that he is the own
er, In order that the final receipt be
not Issued to the wrong man.
L This action of the Land Department
in withdrawing the lands Ir? this resur
veyed district from entry has been ex
pected for some time, and It his been
a mat er of surprise that It was delayed
so long. The Intention of the Com
missioners to compel all entrymen who
had filed on their land since July Ist
1902, to amend their entries or com
ply with the new survey, is the only
explanation of it. Now that the lands
are to be surveyed as occupied and
claimed, It Is but a matter of protec
tion to the government to stop all fur
ther filings till the resurvey is complet
ed. Just what effect this will have on
the real estate market is problemati
cal. All desert claims can still be
assigned, and of course patented lands
can be sold, but no relinquishing and
refiling nor any original filing will be
permitted. However, the settler who
actually occupies and resides upon a
tract of vacant land will have a sure
and lawful prior right to it when the
resurvey Is complete and filings are
again permitted.
As most of the desirable public
lands are either quite remote from
towns and transportation or else are
not provided with an irrigating system,
the withdrawal from entry will not In
convenience many actual homeseekers
and settlers. There is lots of room
for newcomers in the improved and
settled portions of the Valley and such
lands can be transferred the same as
ever.
Uncorrupted Texas
Even with the remarkable growth of
the cities, the increase in manufactures,
the expansion of railroad mileage from
500 miles in 18C7 to 12,000 miles last
year, the development of the oil fields
at Beaumont and elsewhere, Texas nev
er got out of the grip of the people into
the grasp of the corporations. If the
cattle kings and the big farmers have
power ami influence, as they do, they
yet do not rule the State. 1 If the oil
king!?, the lumber kings, the railroad
kings are deferred to as they are in other
States, yet they cannot dominate. I
asked a well-known Texan what kept
the State uneoiTupted.
"The boys from the folks of the creeks
and the heads of the cauvons," said he.
They need no referendum in Texas.
Public affairs are the personal business
of every man in the State, however re
mote from the cities, however humble.
The people elect representatives, senat
ors, governors, legislators of a kind that
do not need watching — and then they
watch them. — World's Work.
Work on the sidewalks wae! resumed
on Friday morning, the full crew going
at the job. Also construction work was
begun on the opera house and Valley
State Bank buildings, and on a foundry
and machine shop for 31 r. Heath. This
last building will ba of brick and will
be located near the railroad track and
across, west from the ice plant. Build
ing will take on renewed activity «\vith
the completion of the ice plant and ho
tel. The crew putting up the trans
mission line from lloltvillo will reach
Xl Centro about next Wednesday, and
it is expected that electric lights will be
burning in this town by April 10th.
320 acres. 3 1-2 miles from El
Centro, 160 acres In alfalfa\Bo acres
In barley, 15 acres in cantaloupes, all
fenced in forty acre fields, 2 h?, miles
hog fence, house. There IsjA
fee*d here to keep 800 hogs $ji
mer. Don't let this goJ&\\
looking Into it. Bert R. #\\\
ONLY A MOUTHPIECE
Big Companies Say L. M. Holt is Only
a Mouthpiece of the Chaf f()s
J. S. Chapman. Eugene S. Ivcriand
J, W. McKinley. attorneys for tha de
fendants in the case of L. M. Holt
against the California Development
company and the Southern raclflc
Railway, yesterday filed a demurer to
the suit in the Circuit Court. The
points on which they demur are that
by the plaintiff's own showing he s not
entitled to relief, that the court : .as no
jurisdiction, and that the suit \z -.'holly
without equity.
Attached to the demurrer ar<= a
number of affidavits, which go much
farthe"r than the demurrer. The prin
cipal one is by W. J. Doran, treasurer
of the Development company, it re
cites practically the statement: made
by the auditing company, whlc 1 ; vere
printed. exclusively in The T; ::: ::- of
December 20th. In addditlon .• goes
into some of the transaction- cf the
Delta Investment company, and :;.:eges
that the two Chaffeys entered Into a
conspiracy along v/ith A. H. richer
and N. W. Stowell to defraud the Cal
ifornia Development company.
The affidavit also alleges that _. M
Holt has no interest in bring: g the
suit that he was instigated the:*:?o by
the Chah.«ys, who are paying tJ.'e ex
penses of the suit, and that it was
brought as ai ccunter-chedr-tol'^AuiL..
insMtuted some time ago by the Cali
fornia Development company against
them with others to compel th* m to
pay back nearly $900,000, whlc • it is
said they abstracted from the ::nds
of the company.
It further states that the cofnplatnt
Is untrue in most of the allegations
concerning the Southern Pacific, which
Is said to be ready to relinquish its
contract as soon as the debt is ;-a!d.
and has not attempted to contrei the
board of the development company ex
cept as to the matter concern;: c the
means of stopping the flow at tre in
take, which are proper to It.
In connection with Holt, it states
that he was a party to the contract he
is now attacking, and directed that his
stock should be voted for the scheme,
and signed a proxy to that end, which
is now in the possession of the cf'xers
of the company.
Affidavits' by other persons ,-ailege
that Holt has begun this' suit at the
Instance of George Chaffey and A M.
Chaffey, and that they are paying for
it, and that he has no other interest In
the affair than to act as the mouth
piece of the Chaffeys, and also that he
himself has said this In conversation
with some of the persons makirg the
affidavits. These persons are H. W.
Blalsdell, W. T. Heffernon, F. C.
Paulln and W. J. Doran, who presents
two affidavits.
In one of the papers the sta'einent
Is made that Holt has offered to dis
miss his suit if the sultaga'r.st the
Chaffeys and others Is dropped — Los
Angeles Times.
Notice to Tax-payers
A statement of all property cwned
on the first Monday In March must be
rendered to the County Assef-er or
his deputy.
Where there is no title to real ts-ate
the personal and poll taxes, must bo
paid on demand,
If the poll tax, $2.00 is ndf pau :e- .
fore July Ist, 1906. one dolN^'^
added to tame. V
;.o 52