Fertilizer is Still Just Fertilizer

[Right to public domain disclaimed -- Taxation of lands -- Exemption.]

     Second: -- “The people inhabiting this State do affirm and declare that they forever disclaim all right and title to the unappropriated public lands lying within the boundaries hereof, and to all lands lying within said limits owned or held by any Indian or Indian tribes, and that until the title thereto shall have been extinguished by the United States, the same shall be and remain subject to the disposition of the United States, and said Indian lands shall remain under the absolute jurisdiction and control of the Congress of the United States. The lands belonging to citizens of the United States, residing without this State shall never be taxed at a higher rate than the lands belonging to residents of this State; but nothing in this ordinance shall preclude this state from taxing, as other lands are taxed, any lands owned or held by any Indian who has severed his tribal relations, and has obtained from the United States or from any person, by patent or other grant, a title thereto, save and except such lands as have been or may be granted to any Indian or Indians under any act of Congress, containing a provision exempting the lands thus granted from taxation, which last mentioned lands shall be exempt from taxation so long, and to such extent, as is or may be provided in the act of Congress granting the same.”

       I know, “What the hell is this?” It is the reason Amon Bundy and his scofflaw father Cliven are really little more than common criminals. This selection is verbatim from the Utah State Constitution – drafted by, almost exclusively, Mormons in 1895 for, almost exclusively, (at the time) Mormons, which the Bundys are. I mention this because those who support the Bundy’s oft repeated claim that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) illegally controls grazing lands within the state imply that somehow it's illegal and the "Gummint" has usurped power which it doesn't possess. Obviously in the words of their state's constitution, that is diametrically incorrect. 

  

        Utah actually applied for statehood as early as 1849, but that pesky polygamy thing was an obstacle in six earlier versions which, for all the talk of religious freedom, the “Gentile” US Senate wasn’t about to condone or allow to be legal. The current one specifically outlaws plural marriage. Oddly enough, counter to the Bundys' claims, there was zero difficulty with the language I posted above at the time.

        I only bring this up because I’m really tired of the Bundys and others of their ilk, like Ted Cruz, for example, who promised in 2016, that if elected President he’d help the people of Utah “get their land back.” News flash Ted – It was never theirs. Cliven Bundy just refused to pay the BLM the grazing fees he agreed to, so apparently, since he can’t give back the grass, he’s giving back its end product – bullshit.