San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1882-12-14
Some Large Land Sales.
obs.pemoerat.

Two sales of very large tracts =,
land have been reported within a ~. "
days,and something has beenpublisbas
about the operations of the buyers y
q third domain. Each of these co.
veyances is typically un.Amer;csa
however greatprofitmay be made tbera
in by several parties.
One of the bargains was closed :,
Texas. Representatives of A svnd;
cate went to Austin and bought in .
lump, apparently without more ado
than two boys would display swappin0
jack knives, 100000 acres Of farmes
ing and grazing land; and the dispatch
adds, in matter-of-fact way: "This il
the largest sale ever made by the STATE
and closes out the large solid blocks
of State land" 1t is true that Teyas
is an empire in itself; it is true that
cattle kings need kingdoms for ranges
for their stock; but the sale in one
undivided area by State to a corpora.
ton or a partnership of tract Of
land one-third greater than all Con.
necticut, four-fifths as great as Mas.
sachusetts, one-third as great as In.
diana, and half as great as Belgium
the Netherlands or Denmark, is worth
noticing.
Of similar character, though EN-.
bracing only 100000 acres, is the
sale of nearly all of the land of the
Northern Pacific Railroad in Mime.
sofa and Dakota, east of the Missouri
River, to English and Boston capital.
lists. The price agreed on is 81 per
acre, to be paid in preferred stock of
the company, which will be retired.
This exchange strengthens the road
by reducing its dividend charges, and
will not perhaps prove disadvantage.
GUS to Minnesota and Dakota, mas.
much as the buyers will make special
efforts to colonize their purchase with
English farmers of the best class.
Rather more magnificent in proper
tions, as well as novel in features, are
the doings of the Atlantic and Gulf
Coast Canal and Okeechobee Land
Company and the Florida Land and
Improvement Company in Southern
Florida. The former bought two
years ago and is now developing H.
100000 acres of land and water; the
latter has secured a third as much.
The purchase of the Land and I'm.
provement Company costs only 80
cents an acre. Both of these enter
prises are to considerable extent
speculative, their profit depending in
part on the successful drainage of lakes
and marshes into the Gulf of Mexico,
and the opening in this way to cult
walton of the richest soil on the con-
tinent.
These mammoth schemes are I'M.
American in so far as they contem-
plate Representation Of these domains
substantially unbroken. Small farms
are, as rule, more profitable to cul-
tivate than great, and contribute In
finitely more than great ones to the
prosperity of a State, county or a
community. But in most cases OF
the sale of large blocks of land the
purpose of the buyer is to sell MS
holding in small lots to settlers. The
question then to be answered. is, wheth-
Ell a State will do better to sell Its
land at low price for settlers when
they come, or to turn it over to mid
dlemen who will resell to small farm,
ers only at an advance, but will exert
themselves to bring buyers to their
doors. The country Is growing SO
fast that the wiser policy for Texas
Florida or the Northern Pacific Rail
road would seem to be, as a rule, TO
hold it's property for actual settlers