The McLoud Standard. (McLoud, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 2, Ed. 1 Friday, January 15, 1904 Page: 4 of 8
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* OKLAHOMA’S SCHOOL LANDS |
DEFENSE OF A
LEASING POLICY
: +*^.++++++++.j.+*^+++*++++++++++'M-+++++++*++++++,m'+++
Frederick S. Elder, of Norman makes 1 f t tmlvr c-mU per ac^' 1J',*' ' V^iffTo
« strong address before the Oklahoma >il> endenme.d ol '. l^'t#
Bar Association at Guthrie, January «« "( ‘ ^ le« t u«n ten
(ith. He spoke as follows: >* perp«*t..«l lease s Itst than ten
...... ,ii u,„ r>u„. edits an aerc and a third townsmp oi
Mr. Chairman, Members of he OKI.. );((M(| acW() ml(lor p(.,petual lease at
homa liar Association ami t ittseiis I ^ ^ (ipn)s )|(M. ,H.rp> thousands
of Oklahoma: ! ,)f a<.n.„ ,Vere sold for fifty, twenty-live
I have a special sense of gratification I t tM) ,.pn(s per acre, but
1n appearing here today; first, heeanse; ^ v(|]st that the re
t helieie there ts no ""^Hen ! ku1«IiiK funnd- amounting to four and a
subject to command the ptesent atten . -* jMi (1„i]Hrrt Were lmrrowed
<»•» <-f this body than a fa.r .nmd d ; «•"« "»hlnal Ioiul 1(nd
discussion of a .....^iiuMent pols.-y ' • v instead of having an in
the n ■ " ■ cl,me from .‘heir lands, tin- people of
lahorna s (school Land Endow nient . s. urimling out >.v taxation a
ond, 1 feel that a body of met. whose , Ohto. a ^ ,/*■>,().u,|0 on this loan
business in life is to hear and weigh for ......
evidence is peculiarly well fitted to pass Michigan got l.ettei pn.es foi hei
i.uCment o’, the facts, argnments and lands but transferred the cash to the
conclusions whirl, make up the only general state fn";
presenting on this subject. • , ,M((lk< which reads $0.-
Two million flfly sIs thousand am* a , 0a«.41». The state treasurer, careful
»h* meaaure ot Oklahoma * present pul - s *, liuan,.ju| .standing of his state,
fie land endowment and writes me that this is ••,...1 in any sense
<een twentieths of tin, is expi. -s y re jll(1ebt<.d„c.s the state as the con
•erved for the support of education 1 vid(,M no, for „ payment of
su'd feel m,tilled in re erring to 1 „ hole or anv pari of the fund, but
•cure giant a- the 'tool lands ,lxi>s the amount as a basis upon which
i'k jnje.est is computed at Ihe rate of
Two untb<.« fifty ,i\ thousand *eres | aeven ]»•. cent per annum to, be paid
v Is-' * ft* or loss of les- ,,UUI : jIlt„ t|le ,eVP,al bettefieiary institutions.’'
Whether a debt or not. the fact re
mains tiiat Michigan in 1901 taxed lie.
self $4.13.:t4?.l4 to raise interest on this
fund It requires no very great powers
of penetration to see that a large enough
.»fund ot this »ort might easily
KawIkTUJ'1 a >lMx\
V, was .moo said of Ohio. "Though
v rsoe, iHiis bortxiwed by tlif state
V.*\t lessened taxation in the past
- n i< te present and alt future gen-
-s-are-ass ate issKeiuoi the burden is no
t ;; it xxoirkl Ivate l>eeu with-
t a t’isl of land Yet ihete »te
tvex-sawds ef -people in Mkhignn today
-.-.rk.'.x oagxre t f ey have a s-M
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the principle that chat 1* everybody’s
business is nobody’s business, aided or
suffered the mischief to be done.
The school lands of Illinois afford us
the best illustration to lx- had of the
surpassing advmitagt* to the stale of a
system of leasing, of the meaner in
which a land endowment increases lit
r»hie proportionately with tho growth
of population ami of the mvessity for a
periodic revaluuation o! the land, i
refer to the echo.>1 lands located in the
city of Chicago. The heart of the city
from Madison street south to Twelfth
and from State street west to Halstead
was once school section number sixteen.
Here is where the twelve and sixieen-
stoiy buildings stand. Here you find
the postoffice, the Rookery, the Board
of Trade, the Women's Tempi* and
scores of others like them. By some
st range fortune hardly understood a
block at State and Madison was reserved
from sale with certain other suiulry
lotx. These with a few more tracts ac-
quired later are held today by Ihe * hi-
capo Board of Education and the ground
lent amounting to half a million dol-
lars ’aimnull}-, is being turned into tnc
school fund for the payment of teachers
salaries. The leases arc for fifty or a
hundred years. The ground alone
leased and the lessees put up their own
buildings costing hundreds of thousands
of dollars. Of these the ( ,.uago Tri-
bune pays $80,000 a year for one-fifth
of an # ie. The Mc\ icker theater $27,-
000 for thirty-six hundredths of an acre,
Joseph K. Otis $25,000 for eighty eight
thousandths of an acre, this last being
1 . the yearly rate of $289,115 per acre;
and so on for others. Yet nobody is
wronged. It is a plain business propo-
sition. No sane man pays more rent
than lie ought.
Neither is tnc community nor any in-
dividual wronged any more by t he pay-
ment bv I lie Chicago Tribune of $80,000
into tin- School Board Treasury than by
the puymont by the Women's Temple
t ompuiiy of $40,000 a year into the pri-
vate pocket of Air. Marshall Field for
the use of lots ti.at were once a [.alt
of that same original section sixteen.
The stow of the Kansas school lands
1, a story of brutal and inexcusable in-
difference. and further confirms my pre-
vious stricture* on legislatures. For her
educational land grant of 8,000.000
acre* there has ueicr tiecn management,
s\ stent or poliev. (inventor Martin in
bis me—age of 1885 said to tin- legisla-
ture 'No interest of Kansas lias been
so reck.i"sly and iniprovidetitly managed
as the state school lands. *
\ more absurd system it would de ditti
cult to devise. I'ttder its malign infill
cnee the permanent school fund has
been deprived of probably one half the
amount tiiat should have been and under
n proper system would lime been real
i/rd (-mi. il.e lands already sold. Every
governor dining the past eight years
lots directed tin- attention of tin- l.-gis
bit in >i to tills re.Ulcss and Intprni blent
y still, lull lint long lias been dnile to
cnricrl Il.e ili'le. Is and aliHaea nor tc
10ille. I I be tinigiillleeili school diimaill
itf Hie I a I e fiutii deapohn t ion tie
III geil I lie eieatlon of a slate laud do-
I ut 11 nit’ll I to lie iimli'i tin’ control of a
enniiieloltl slate land t tiimiiiasiniioi.
Niillillig n ii n done. In I KM” lie repents
llllnoelf allowing lltul almost mi filet ■>’
billlig to llic lamia la ot in-old ill any
ilale iiepa11iiu'tll m llhei Hie amount
ot land sold, tin Him,tint unsold, lull' t lie
ii 1111,11111 n( pilm-lpal oi inleiesi due on
lands sold mi lime I lie di’leniilniitlini
ot (Ilia quest intt.“ lie .111-, "involves
plidinldi foin oi Hie million dollars,
ul it lm« tacn treated In even legi»
ittliue lot ten iciiis past HS If it were
a mnttri ol no Inletesl to tin’ state or
its people Xml nine.’ that time noth
ini' i el In.•* tiei’U done
I .on. Ilia '’ale of tin’ lands and other
HUUleea a bind of $7,000,11011 lias aiisen;
app.H.’iitly emumoua until one I’linalden
tlie magnitude .if the grant from wltieli
it i ame l lo-. is now held >" the (teas
inet ill (lie st.iie and imested In county,
clti nttd ulltei blinds, llepeatixl losses
to till-- fund lone tas-Ht-nsl llttoUgh cm
lie delin',tt I'.ol legislation att.l ttaodn
I,-nl ot ttniitsi- nnestment. nlitle the in
come teadlli suffered In the decline of
| Intet-est tati s mint tnelxe pet I’ettt to
live an.! font Besides (Xi* the tmlmest
i ,-d , ,-tsh iMilan, e of the eonnnon s.'hool
' fiuiil alone a, ciared move tlnttt $112,00.'
, wai fin tl twenty three year* e.nl
I (ng ivy thong)* happily II Ims •" <'
aged toidei s.itthtO siiu'e \liat time,
'loti-owi ilia fund winter" pci haps
fill)5,000 "f uotthless SC urtttes end
- nlsMtt s <xx' ott whieh intet-est has
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i of doubt till x elite
with e t~ mintntum price
had such trnfomtnete ex
h her eesh fond that in
ioned the ixtxlicx ot sales
.x' her |xoltey of twenty
•a For x cai - hei xni"'
v.owtxtei' to neat lx S- -d.'..VX'
cn mote xtntil ut tSs'T the
m Mirer ot M*’*' wnhepptly
bntsting pis"",tix' in (he
ex;, : > ■- ' • > *'N
wxt four y cars and a hall
•natx until txatxts'ncst tin
iVs - - N't 1'Vl Vw.', tho
. \Cv>’i in cthee lists, t e.1
atx test co-.W’s', on I
,sn $-:X,\V> ot the x. ,xot
■w*t g I',' x't ap.usspisai .n(
use esea.vsl the p\u ,.i
, by a (e.' nsoaht x cl t c
. s. Vcss’! land .v- - ss
-e daroieix '77, 'x*iX7, v*«d
1 -at has Kwsa alts. t,,x tc
> ed (Via stale ' *< ’.>•
as we can honestly aee tins method of
leasiug lias brought but little, if uny,
political difficulties into its leasing.
Bv recent, purchase of Massachusetts
state bonds there remains now almost
lio uninvested balance in Nebraska s
school fund, ller commissioner under
date of December 11, 1908. again writes
in<; “tho investments made lately draw
but three per cent. We are no"' reap-
praising tin- greater portion of the lands
I held under lease contract, and the val-
uutioii lias been raised from 100 to .00
per cent in the counties heard from,
the state thus getting the benefit of tlie
increase in the- advancement of its own
property.”
South Dakota with 2.150,480 acres
granted for common schools alone has
sold about one-eighth of this at an av-
erage of $14.00 per acre, the price stead-
ily advancing each year to $19232 per
„;.,-e for 1902. On June 30th, 1902, the
date of the school fund commissioners
last report, the school fund to then paid
in was $2.2-11,007. "ill, an "unvested
balance of $538,511, which was $288,..1
more than the state treasurers total
bond. In thin report (pp. X, Al;
XIII) the commissioner says: *• there
wan a large, demand lor our lands but m
consequence of the large amount of the
permanent school fund unloancd and the
prospects of this amount increasing, it
was thought advisable (o retain the
lands for rental purposes lather than to
sell them for money which could not lie
invested.” * ' * We believe it safe
to predict tiiat all our school lands could
be sold at n price at least equal to tlie
average of those already sold or $14.00
per acre, which would produce a fund of
$81,897,015. only a small part of which
could be loaned in our own state, thus
compelling investments in bonds at a
rate more titan three (ter rent, yielding
us only 48 3-5 cents for each acre sold
and this amount would he reduced by
more or less of such an enormous fund
remaining- uninvested. * " ith
one half of our lands sold we shall pos-
sess a fund of nearly $10,000,000, which
we sincerely believe xvouhl furnish far
less interest to tlie state than xvouhl
be obtained front rents on tlie balance
of tlie lands under lease contract.” The
tables in tin's report show 1,531,900 acres
of land tinder lease.
(Jentlemen of Hie Association, here is
a great state in present pangs of labor
over tlie very question that may he
thrust for solution upon the suffrages
of tlie people of Oklahoma in tlie next
six months. I beg your indulgence to
the'words of the next succeeding com-
missioner in this same office. In a let-
ter to me dated December Hi. 1903, lie
- says: "While xve have done better than
‘ many Oates our constitution framers
; were not aide to look far enough into
tlie future to avoid mistakes. Me first
could loan only $500 on a farm and
school bonds. "I lint xvasltt satisfactory,
MO lie increased it to $1,000. Finding
tliis not sufficient we took in 'county
and municipal bonds. After « year or
bn. we found timt would not do, the
money kept piling up in the treasury.
Me tlien reduced tlie rate from six to
live per cent.”
"Maieli 1st la«t, xve hud $700,000 lying
I idle in tlie treasury. Something had
to bn done. The commissioner conceived
tlie idea of traveling over lh« state,
I appealing to tlie people in every manner
' possible to borrow this money. By tin’
| baldest kind of work we did succeed hut
| it wa» a tleinendotis task and if we
| keep on selling our lands as xve have
in tlie past it will be utterly impos-
sible to keep till' money out et.'lt at
5 per cent. W this money is charged
to tin- several enmities which are he)!
responsible lor tlie principal, interest
ami collection it will bo rather difficult
lor us to get any bad paper. This sum-
mer, hoxvever, xve made a systematic ex
a min* I Inn of every mortgage and bond
hri.l by the counties in the name of tlie
state, and in a great nmnlter of cases
found « xery unsatisfactory state of
I affairs, M e had to force the counties to
make good quite a number of losses."
This then is one tiling to consider. If
i Oklahoma should get for her lands t lie
$7lt.<Xt(t.0tk1 or more timt a fair sale pries
I would yield how shall we iuxost tlie pro
j coeds te produce a public revenueV
shall xte in nur present enlightenment
I imitate Ohio, Michigan and Missouri
I amt betray all the generations of tho
future by -pending tlie proceeds on our-
-elves' Khali we tttxest in deferred pay-
ment* like Texas and contract to sell
onr land* at or below tlie prices of to-
day to be paid (nr at some period in
the dim and distant future when the
(and* themselxes -hull 'iaxe multiplied
in xalue nianv times* 1 can cite you
txt s,li.H'l land- in Mail county, r.-xa-.
sold at JM an a.re on forty year-' time
at 4 pet cent, ttoxx yielding the state
a eve.
the state forerer to a policy ot lous-
ing. Let the lands not be sold for
twentv-flve or fifty years, nor then with
out a vote of the people, let them be
i ......i f/»< noriml with nrovisioii^
out a vutc *>» r t—’ — . .
leased for such a period with provisions
for fair and impartial re valuations at
reasonable intervals of, say five or ken
tears and leave the future, unfettered
by the past, to settle and determine
policies of its own. And here I take
occasion to insist that the state is both
legally and morally entitled to make
its new appraisements, for it is the
presence of the public and not the act
of the individual that creates values in
land. Leave the lessees on the lands
and take away the railways and schools,
the bridges, the neighbors, the towns
and the markets and make certain they
would never return and xvlmt, value
would the school lands then retain^
But would leave all these lungs with tlie
promise of their increase and take axx’ny
the lessees and their improvements, tlie
lands xvouhl rent tomorrow at competi
live bids at fifty per cent more than
xve are getting today. Ur leaving them
vacant for a thousand years until out
population should become as dense as m
India they xvottld then if thrown on the
market, yield rent, strictly proportion-
ate to the density of the population.
SOCIAL ASPECTS.
Tints far I have spoken of this ques-
tion purely as one of public finance.
To the social aspect wltieli is no less im-
portant 1 must now refer.
Against the leasing system and state
retention of tlie lands but se\on aigu-
nients worth consideration or retuta-
tioii have been advanced so far as I am
aware. These 1 wish to quote fully
and fairly and endeavor to satisfy you
that there is a fallacy in each.
The first is that "A system of gov-
ernment tenantry is repugnant to a
republican form of government. A sec-
ond as it lias been worded is that:
“Ownership of the land is neccssaiy
to the best citizenship; thnt a tenant
can not feel the same patriotism, the
same interest in good government, the
same interest in the administration of
the state and the defense of Ins cotin
irv and his home; in fact, that the high-
est standard of free and independent
citizenship demands tiiat a man be the
owner and ruler of his own home and
fireside.”
These two arguments can he consid-
ered and answered together. In the
first place, 1 will agree that the theo-
retically ideal condition of cilizenship
will involve the ownership of his home
by every citizen of this country and of
tite world, but such a condition does not
and probably never will exist any place
in the world. The only imaginable sys-
tem that would be an improvement on
that would be one in which every man
in the xvorld could be a landlord hav-
ing a tenant under him who would pay
sufficient rent to keep himself (the land
lord) and family in luxury without the
necessity for labor on the landlord’s
part.
I deny that "A system of government
tenantry is repugnant to a republican
form of government.” It is merely an
unaccustomed thing and like every neiv
tiling must make its way against preju-
dice, passion and self-interest. The
theory of taxing all citizens and prop-
city for the maintenance of a public
school system was once a dangerous
thing to advocate and was fought as
bitterly as any innovation ever made.
As against a state system of leasing
1 wish to put some facts concerning the
system of private tenantry as it exists
in tlie United States today. Tlie last
two census reports show in these agrieul
turn 1 states tlie following percentage of
tenant farms:
Ohio ..........
1880
.. 19.3
1800
22.9
1900
27.5
Indiana .......
. . 23.7
25.4
28.0
1 llinoi* .......
.. 31.4
34.0
39.3
Iowa .........
. . 23.8
28.1
84.9
Kansas .......
.. 10.3
28.2
35.2
Nebraska .....
... 18.0
24.7
36.9
Georgia ......
. . 44.0
53.5
59.9
Alabama .....
.. 40.8
4S.0
57.7
Mississippi ....
. . . 48.8
52.8
02 4
Louisiana ... .
. 35.2
44.4
58.0
Texas .......
. 37.0
41.9
45.7
Entire U. $. ..
25 0
28 4
35 3
out tin' entire United {states is a tenant
farm, and yet the plan 1 propose would
place in state tenant system hut 8 per
cent of the lands of Oklahoma or about
one farm in twelve. Oklahoma can't
avoid a tenant system by selling these
lands, as witness Kansas witli 60.928
tenant farms util private) while Ne
Inaska with 26,000 state tenants of
: -chool land has a total of but 44,810
tenant farms of both kinds, and as for
the difference between the public and
me private systems ask any tenant of
| either kind tni.lei which system he
hold his lea-e. If any of
xxf IVxa- twelve eetita per am, and i ...
xi.-l.lmg theit pre-ent ownets th,.'.> to 1 | M ^^ j0^dnip'V avnqxatSctic
, Jo'.lats ,V, am ta pii, ate „ nt - £ ™ th„^ fate Of th* s.'uuil land
.IVtVxxta and sooner o, later thrust (hi* ....... ** ‘*,n« :* >w,<*
enormous fund on the market for in-
vestment at such terms as it can find or
| to touts ttt tt.tinx est od and take its
, hatxeos of rttil'C?:)* tiii'iit and frandtl
| tent tnxe-f nient' last think of a ea-’.
■ mve-tment fund of FNV.VV iKXt for whose
safety (he -tale xxxxnkt have to stand
good, and then think ot i!.’ jx'litkiatts
amt finaneiers t*i yet unbent and at
what beautiful dttek-* and drakes it
i ic.XiM enable them t,x play. If then we
ate veehtxvc investment where -hall we
vi-eV ,xt m a Nttex than -,Nat we no« lvv
have in the soil of Oklahoma ‘
My pntjNxxe in this adxt.-es* i- to d.
fend a leasing pehex hnd here 1 wis
to w.whs-itv that hx tht- 1 , o not utea
let,ant System,” endeavor t" restrain
j it until you di-coxer how big a bonus
he will demand ot anyone who wants to
tree him from hi- 'thralldont to the
- -tale” by buying up his lease.
It we are to attribute lack of jxatriot-
! ism and interest in gxwxt government to
sttvh as ate not “owners, ruler* ami
nroprietois of t 'e.r own he ., - and
and for the reason that they
me-til,-
are not. how great an iiidtetnwnl is
thereby drawn against the American
:t we 'earn by the census of
tn IS -rates oxer forty per
w lie
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The McLoud Standard. (McLoud, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 2, Ed. 1 Friday, January 15, 1904, newspaper, January 15, 1904; McLoud, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc859183/m1/4/: accessed March 19, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.