The Beatrice Daily Express

BIG FIGHT DUE OVER SALE OF STATE LAND
Next Legislature Will Be Battle Ground--Present Contracts in Doubt
Lincoln, Oct. 22. State Land Commissioner Dan Swanson will consult the attorney general in regard to the effect of the new constitutional amendment which provides that after January 1 of next year no state lands shall be sold except at public auction. Under the present constitution and statutes state lands are sold at their appraised values. Appraisements are made by county commissioners. This fixes the price unless the state board of educational lands and funds refuses to sell at the price set by county officers.

Land Under Contract
According to a compilation by Land Commissioner Swanson the state originally acquired 2,977,802.30 acres of land. It has sold 1,184,123.34 acres.
The state still owns 1,793,670.21.
This land is classified as follows: Acres under sale contract, 193,091.87; acres under lease, 1,599,114.10; unclassified, 1,472.24.

Whether the new constitution prohibits the completion of the sale of 193,091 acres now under sale contract under the terms of the old constitution or requires this land to be sold under auction is one of the questions to be determined. The new constitution sets aside all laws requiring sale by appraisement and in lieu requires sale at public auction. Some contend that the new constitution cannot affect sale contracts already made.

Leases Become Sales
More than one and a half million acres now under lease can be sold under the new constitution, at public auction. If the next legislature can be induced to pass a law for that purpose. A lease upon state land, if dated prior to June, 1897, can be converted into a sale contract. Holders of leases who have not asked leave to buy the land under lease may have no right which the legislature is bound to respect. Those who have converted leases into sale contracts are now paying under the method of appraisement. Can they continue to do this or must they commence over again and buy at public auction? Is a lease a contract for sale that cannot be abrogated? These are some of the many questions that are now being asked.

It is said great pressure will be brought to bear upon the next legislature to pass an act for the sale of all state land subject to sale.
The new constitution wipes out the minimum price of $7 an acre. Some of the sand hill lands are worth very little and the legislature will be asked to make a low minimum price or none whatever.