given. Each will immediately furnish the other with copy of any extension of time that may be granted.

"9. The State Engineer will furnish the District Forester with a copy of all water power permits, of all notices of beginning of construction, of prosecution of work with diligence, of completion of construction, and of the complete application of water and of all final water right certificates in water power cases affecting National Forest land.

"10. The District Forester will furnish the State Engineer with copies of the semi-annual construction and operation reports on power cases in the State of Oregon, with sets of blue prints of maps and plans of such power projects after completion of construction, except such as may have been filed as confidential information, and with proclamation diagrams of the National Forests in Oregon as such are issued.

"11. If either the District Forester or the State Engineer shall fail to give notification of any action as contemplated herein, within sixty (60) days of the receipt of written report of applications pending, the officer or office so reporting may take action without waiting further for such notification.

"12. It is understood that the execution of this agreement shall not affect, and is not intended to affect, in any degree, the legal rights either of the United States or of the State of Oregon with respect to the ownership or control of the public lands or waters, within the State of Oregon.

"13. This agreement shall be indeterminate in duration but may be terminated by either party hereto upon due notice to the other.

"In witness whereof, this cooperative agreement has been executed at Salem, Oregon, by the State Engineer of Oregon on the thirteenth day of May, 1915. "JOHN H. LEWIS,

"State Engineer of Oregon.

"And at Washington, D. C., by the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, on the twenty-first day of May, 1913.

"CARL VROOMAN,

"Acting Secretary of Agriculture."

It is to be anticipated that other states having laws which permit cooperation, as outlined above, will see the advantages that accrue to all parties concerned and will, accordingly, enter into similar agreements.

It has been the aim of this article to give documentary evidence of the fact that cooperative control over public lands and public waters can be and is being exercised in complete harmony by the state and national governments, to their mutual advantage and without the surrender of any rights which either may possess.

Vacant Lands in Oregon

BY LOUIS L. SHARP, CHIEF OF PORTLAND FIELD DIVISION OF THE
GENERAL LAND OFFICE

Through the courtesy of the Chairman of this Conference, a place has been given me on the program, for which high compliment I desire to express my appreciation. As some of you are aware, I hold an official position under the Government of the United States, being Chief of the Portland Field Division of the General Land Office, which office administers the public land laws, and, therefore, is interested in the subject assigned to me.

Before commencing my remarks, let me impress upon you that my appearance here is not as a representative of the United States, and that what I may say here is but the expression of my personal views.

I am proud of my western nativity. Born in the Territory of Washington before its admission to the Union, I spent my youth, with the exception of very short periods, in the Northwestern States. My grandfather crossed the great plains in 1852, and the following year settled on a donation claim near the city of Eugene. My father, shortly after reaching his majority, became a pioneer in the State of Washington. I was born on a homestead, raised on a homestead, and since 1901 have been employed in the Field Service of the General Land Office as a special agent and chief supervising officer. My field work as such special agent has taken me to practically every frontier settlement in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana, and to a lesser extent I am acquainted with adjoining states. My experience has brought me in personal contact with the development and settlement of the territory I have just described, in view of which I presume I have been asked to express an opinion as to the needs of the present day respecting the disposition of the remaining public lands and the settlement of this State, and to give some ideas as to how the best possible results along this line may be accomplished.

OBSOLETE LAWS

Confining myself to the laws relating to the disposition of agricultural lands as distinguished from lands valuable for mineral, power and other purposes, I believe that the fundamental laws authorizing the settlement of all forms of agricultural lands are wholly inapplicable to present conditions. It is true that in recent years modifications have been made which greatly relieve the situation, but as the foundation for all of our homestead laws we have the same law that was originally enacted. This law was designed and intended to cover entirely different conditions. At the time of the passage of the original pre-emption law, the lands subject to entry thereunder were situated in the level and fertile regions in the Middle and Middle Western States. Also at this time there was a different class of settlers to take advantage of these laws; the standard of living of the people had not reached the high point that it is at present and they were accustomed to more hardships and were satisfied and contented with less of the luxuries of life. The homestead law was intended to provide these people with homes and it served its purpose in an admirable manner, but the Middle West was soon occupied, when the settlement and development of the Far West commenced.

Here the conditions respecting the lands are entirely different from those obtaining in the Middle and Middle Western States. Of the lands yet remaining subject to disposition, a comparatively small area in its natural condition is suitable for immediate occupancy and cultivation with profitable results. Our lands may be divided generally into the following classes:

(1) Level agricultural lands, devoid of timber, with climatic conditions and sufficient moisture to produce profitable crops.

(2) Agricultural lands of the same character described in the foregoing class, with the exception that they are covered with timber of varied character and density.

(3) Desert or arid lands subject to irrigation and reclamation.

(4) Semi-arid dry farming lands, either level or rolling in character.

(5) Rolling grazing lands, timbered and non-timbered.

Of the remaining public lands only a small percentage is of the class first mentioned, the larger portion being dry farming and grazing lands covered by the last two classifications, of which we have approximately 5,000,000 acres in this state. What is now being done is to make the homestead or preemption law, originally provided to cover land of one general character and entirely different conditions, apply to the widely different classes of land to be found in the Northwestern States, particularly in Oregon. No one will seriously contend that there is any similarity between the timbered agricultural lands of Western Oregon and the non-timbered rolling prairie lands of Eastern Oregon, but we have the same general law covering the appropriation of both, the only essential difference in the requirements being that in the eastern part of the state entries of 320 acres are permitted, while in the western part of the state the size of the entry is limited to 160 acres. What is needed, in order that any practical and satisfactory results may be obtained, is a classification of the lands in this state and the enactment of laws especially designed to cover each classification.

CLASSIFICATION

The agricultural lands of this state, leaving out of consideration the arid lands, can be divided into three general classes, as follows:

(1) Non-timbered agricultural lands.

(2) Timbered agricultural lands.

(3) Grazing lands.

A law should be enacted, in my opinion, especially designed to cover the entry and disposition of each of the above general classifications.

SUGGESTIONS AS TO A 640 ACRE HOMESTEAD LAW

Without going into details as to the provisions and requirements of the proposed act itself, I believe that a law should be enacted to authorize the disposition of non-timbered agricultural lands which should have the following features:

(1) That the area of the entries allowed should range from 160 to 640 acres, dependent upon the character of the lands.

(2) That entries of agricultural lands which will produce profitable crops, either with or without irrigation, be limited to 160 acres.

(3) That entries of semi-arid lands, or lands which will produce crops only by the employment of so called dry farming methods, be limited to 320 acres.

(4) That entries of lands chiefly valuable for grazing purposes be limited to 640 acres, provided that there are not to exceed 160 acres of tillable lands interspersed throughout the tract.

(5) That there be a strict requirement as to residence on all entries.

(6) That the present requirements as to cultivation contained in the Enlarged and Three Year Homestead Laws be followed in all entries of the 160 and 320 acre classes.

(7) That in the 640 acre entry of grazing lands the entryman be required to utilize the pasture by the grazing of his own stock and that he be required to demonstrate his good faith by the cultivation of so much of his entry as is suitable for the growing of crops.

(8) That annual proofs be required of all homestead entrymen in the same general manner as is now required of the desert land claimants.

(9) That there be a rigid enforcement of the law and the cancellation of the entry upon the failure of the entryman to comply therewith without a good and reasonable excuse.

It is my belief that there should be a more rigid enforcement of the law and a greater penalty for default, and my purpose in suggesting rigid requirements as to residence, cultivation and improvement, and a greater penalty for failure to comply with the law, is to place the remaining lands in the hands of actual settlers who will enter thereon, proceed to cultivate and improve, to make the place their actual home, and thus reduce the percentage of speculative entries. We have more land hungry people who desire and need homes than we have places to put them on. It is a detriment to the