Page:The History of Oregon Bancroft 1888.djvu/779

 the views of the governor, and presented it to the legislature with a recommendation that it.or something

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very like it, should be enacted into a law. It declared void all certificates of sale made in defiance of the law of 1878, but provided that actual settlers on 320 acres or less should be allowed to perfect title without reclaiming the land, upon payment of the remaining 80 per cent before January 1, 1879. Upon the sur render of void certificates the amount paid thereon should be refunded ; and a special tax of one mill on a dollar of all taxable property in the state should be levied, and the proceeds applied to the payment of outstanding warrants made payable by the act. Suit should be brought to set aside any deed issued by the board upon fraudulent representation. The reclama tion requirement of the law of 1870 was dispensed with, and any legal applicant who had complied with the provisions of that act, including the 20 per cent of the purchase price, prior to January 1879, should be entitled to a deed to not more than 640 acres, if paid for before 1889. All swamp and overflowed lands reverting to the state under the provisions of the act should be sold as provided by the act of 1878; but only to actual settlers, and not exceeding 320 acres to one person, Any settler who had purchased from the holder of a void certificate should be en titled to receive the amount of money paid by him to the original holder, which should be deducted from the amount repaid on the surrender of the illegal cer tificate. Such an example of justice had not sur prised the people of Oregon since the days of its founders. According to the report of the board for 1887 the school fund will save nearly, if not quite, a million dollars by the rescue of these lands from fraud ulent claimants,

several previous terras. McBride was a republican and had been speaker of the house in 1885. He was the younger son of James McBride the pioneer, and brother of James McBride of Wis., John R. McBride of Utah, and Thomas McBride, attorney of the 4th judicial district of Or. An up right and talented young