The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-10-10
TIE PUBLIC DOMAIN.

THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.
sales of Public Lands During the Yoar-
Dakota Heads tho Column.
wAsHrSeToy, October 2.---One hundred
and fifty thousand new and happy homes is
the record of the Land Office in the year
Just ended. Uncle Sam seems to continue
"rich enough to give us all farm in spite
of the cry that we have been hearing for
years that the public lands are nearly ex.
hausted. The lands disposed of in the
years ended June 80, 1884, amounted to
over twenty-six million acres, or allowing
a quarter of section to each farm, over
100, 600 farms. Nearly eight million acres
of this was in homesteads, and as many of
these lin the sections where there are rail-
road grants) are but eighty acres, it Is safe
to say that $1,000 of these have been given
away to those who no W occupy them. Dakota
has been the great attraction to those
seeking new homes this year. Over eleven
million acres have been disposed of in this
way in that Territory alone in the past year,
while in no other State or Territory does the
amount reach One-third OF that total. The
next in amount of land disposed of is Ne
braska. where the total is 5000 000, 900
acres OF the II ZOO. 600, 600 acres disposed
ct in Dakota, 1000, 00O, 900 were In home
steads, 1000, 100000 more by cash sales,
nearly 1000, 000.0O0 more by the climber
culture act" and 5000, 100000 set aside by
selection of the railroad companies. This
does not, however, mean that this quantity
has been granted the companies On the
contrary. they get none of it until the CUES
ton of their right to it has been settled by
Congress or the courts. The lands which
they select, however, are setaaside by the
Land Office, withdrawn from settlement or
the right of purchase or homestead until
this question is settled. If the decisions are
averse to the railroad companies the lands
will then be thrown open to settlement I'M
der the homestead and other laws. The
amount of land selected by the railroad
companies during the past year, which they
claim to be due them under the acts grant
ing them land to aid in the construction Of
roads, is over 100000 acres. OF this,
however, only 647.423 acres were 'pa-
tented" or absolutely granted to the rail-
ways claiming it, and this amount was to
roads where there was no claim that they
had failed fully to comply with the require
ments of the original act, which granted
them the lands. The large proportion of
the lands thus claimed in the past pear by
having been selected" by the repre-
sentatives of the companies are in
Dakota, where over 100000 acres
were so selected and are set aside to await
the action of Congress or the courts,
not single acre in the Territory having
been patented to the railroads in the year
Just ended. In Minnesota the cash sales
amounted in the year to 397.973 acres, the
original homesteads to 444, 25S, entries to
o., 1913, and miscellaneous" which is
mostly made up of
TIE RAILROAD SELECTIONS,
to 70s. 592. making total amount of land
withdrawn from the public domain i'm the
State during the year, including the rail-
road claims, 1,646. 46S acres. In Wisconsin
the total was 306,9l0 acres, 100, 900 being by
purchase, and 133, 900 by homestead entries,
the final hOmesteads' amounting to &C, 900
acres. 1t is curious fact that land was
disposed of in no less than twenty-seven Of
the forty-seven States and Territories during
the past year. 1t will be sur
prise, doubtless, to many persons to know
that any Government lands still remain
subject to purchase or homestead in such
old States as Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Mis-
souri,. Arkansas, Louisiana. Alabama and
Florida, vet it is fact that lands were
homesteaded in every one of these States
during the past year, and that there was one
sale of Government lands in Ohio during
the year. There was an original homestead
entry of forty acres in Indiana; one of 1874
acres in Illinois, while in Iowa there was
over six thousand acres of Government land
disposed of during the year. and in the
States bordering. on the Gulf of Mexico
over three million acres, including some
pretty large claims by railroads in Louisiana
mr. r-af 10 hob lx-
not generally recognized that there are sew
eral million acres of land in the Southern
States yet belonging to the Government,
though the quantity in some of them has
been materially reduced by the claims of
certain railroads. There has been
a general rush for lands in
Louisiana by railways that claim to
have rights to certain grants made wears ago
and the terms recently complied with.
Whether their claims will he recognized is
uncertain. They have, however, made n
tremendous grab. filing on every available
acre of land in the State. so that instead of
their being nearly two million acres of land
in Louisiana subject to presumption or home.
steading there is now none. the claims upon
the land by the railway companies reQuir.
ing their withdrawal from the market until
the validity of the demand is decided upon.
There are some facts about the ''pHbic do.
MAIN not generally understood, but very
interesting. 1t is not generally understood
for instance. that it has cost more than has
been realized for it. Yet such is the
fact. The public domain contains in
round numbers. 1000. O00 900 acres. and has
cost $685., DOC, 900, or about nineteen cents
per acre. There has been disposed of in
various ways 645.000.000 acres, for total
of S23T,GO0,000. So that the cost has been
over one hundred millions of dollars more
than the receipts for land sold thus far. 1t
is also a common assertion that the bulk of
the public lands have been disposed OF.
The fact is that CAS-. DOC. 900 acres out of
1000, 000,0 900 acres hare been disposed of,
though in this operation the best lands have
been selected. but little purely agricultural
lands remaining in the hands of the Gov
ernment Over four hundred million acres
IF that remaining is counted dessert lands"
though it is probable that much of it will be
cultivated a century hence.
Establishing n Prime Meridian.