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[[preprint]] 176 [[/preprint]]

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clearly of the opinion that 80 acres agricultural land ^[[and double of grazing land]] should be given every man & woman, & child in his or her own [[strikeout]] law [[/strikeout]] name, irrespective of their relation to each other. The allotment of land is the division among the individuals of their common inheritance of the realty received from their fore-fathers. All are equal shares, age nor sex should control the amt. The giving of 160 ^[[acres]] to old people, & 40 acres to the child at school who chances to be under 18, is making a [[strikethrough]] great [[/strikethrough]] inverse ratio of benefit to the individual not the community. The 160 acres is of no use to the old person nor the community, if it lies idle, while the educated lad finds his 40 acres too small a farm to make a living upon. 80 acres is a fair sized farm. A man can live off that amt, & if the land were divided equally, the young people would all have a chance, and the inheritance would be more evenly divided. Then too by the present allotment, the women are losers. They own nothing in their own right, & yet they are as truly heirs to the tribal heritage as the men. Divorces are easy [[every????]] leave the woman stripped of her land.