Railroad Lands
By M. Buchanan
The Willamette Farmer
March 9, 1883

Hundreds of our readers, among whom is your humble servant, are residents on railroad land claims, or are settlers on lands held in reserve for railroads, under contracts with the railroad companies. This subject is one of vital importance to them, so they would be glad to find a true friend in you; an advocate of their interests. We need true friends of justice and equity, and not opposition to corporations or monopolies, to plead our cause for us. 

We ask only fair dealing towards the railroad companies and from the companies toward us. But what will be fair is the question. In order to determine this, we will review the question as connected with this section of the country. At the date of the passage of the N. P. R. R. land grant act, land in this section was worth little or nothing, but later settlers came in quite fast and government land was soon all occupied. Then settlers commenced taking claims on railroad land under contracts issued by the railroad company. 

I believe that the company issued these contracts in good faith, and, perhaps, they intend to keep them in good faith. They may keep them to the letter and yet a great injustice be done to the settler. Whether the prospect of a transcontinental railroad had any bearing on the settling of this section is very doubtful, but that the hopes of railroad lands being soon earned or falling back to the government and being subject to homestead and pre emption rights, had much to do with early settlement and occupation, is certain. 

The company commenced building at both ends, and this being near the western terminus it was confidently hoped that the lands here would be early in the market. Almost every tract of railroad land in this section was occupied by poor haul working pioneers who went to work with a will to make for themselves and families comfortable homes and to improve and build up the country. 

Years rolled slowly around to the anxious settlers, but the railroad did not advance. The time came for the completion of the road, the time long and anxiously looked for by the settlers whose homes were at stake. The country was improving rapidly and lands becoming very valuable everyday. That which was a source of gratification to the settler on government land, was a source of great uneasiness to the settler on railroad land. It was dampening their fondest hopes. 

They could not leave the only shelter and living for their wives and little ones, so they forged on, hoping that Congress would see their situation and grant them some relief. So they are still staying, but hoping no longer. Congress dilly-dallied with the question and proposed several plans to settle it, non of which would have done complete justice to all parties. It is not justice to the settlers to let the railroad company have unlimited right to these lands and improvements, for during all the years of failure to perform its contracts, these lands were steadily increasing in value. 

Owing in a great measure to the improvement of these lands, they are now worth ten times as much as at the date of the act and from three to five times as much as at the time set for its completion. We claim that the settler whose hard labor brought it about should benefit by it and not the railroad company (benefit) by its failure to perform its contracts. Neither would it be doing justice to the company or its creditors to revert these lands to the government, as the company honestly and faithfully tried to fulfill its contracts.

The spirit of these contracts, if not the letter, was that the settler was to have the right to purchase, as soon as the corresponding section of road was completed, at the price of raw land in the vicinity. If Congress would limit them to this price, as near as could be ascertained, and also limit them to sell to actual settlers who have first made, a bona fide settlement and improvement, justice would have been done all parties in interest.

But the question assumes its greatest importance to the poor settler, where we ask; Will they sell to them, even at the completion of the road, or hold on to it for years, or sell to speculators who will do so, for the purpose of speculation? This would compel the settlers to give up their hard earned improvements and sacrifice of labor in order to end an uncertainty. This question is of great importance, not only to the settlers themselves, but to the whole country through which the railroads pass, inasmuch as an injustice to a part is an injustice to all. As to railroad companies, they will find, whatever cause they may pursue, that "honesty is the best policy."