St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-11-26

w II. IL.
Total sig, 40. 05
A summary of the lands that have
passed into the hands of railroads in
| this state is as follows:
Congressional grants. ,0s1, 209.T
swamp lands. SIC, lOO5
Total railroad lands. $780, GIG 81
From this it will be seen that more
than half of the lands given to the va
riOus railroads have been disposed of
by them and large proportion of them
are now occupied by actual farmers. All
| of these companies have expended large
! amounts of money to advertise these
lands, and have in that way done a
great work for the state as we'll as
themselves. At the offices of the North
ern Pacific, Great Northern, st. Paul
IL Duluth, and to certain extent or
| other roads. regular Immigration ou-
/, reauS are maintained and the most val
liable results are being obtained.
State Lands.
Next to the general government and
tine railroads the state of Minnesota
ranks as land owner. The state now
| possesses the title to school, swamp, uni
versity, indemnity and internal i'm
| prOvement lands to the amount of 81
96,526.84 acres yet unsold, In detail as
| follows:
Acres.
School lands. sections 1o and &c.
and indemnity school lands. -. /, 47o, 900. SO
| University lands. 5,971.15
| Agricultural college,, .......... 3,72l.30
Internal improvement lands. $500. a
Swamp lands 150, 067. 62
Total state lands. SOC, $50. 81
Since 1860 the state has appraised and
sold about l, 400. 900 of school lands, 90. 900
acres of agricultural college lands, 81, 900
] acres of university lands, and 426, 774.90
| acres of internal improvement lands,
making total of state lands sold of
about 100000 acres. Or these lands,
as well as of those disposed of by the
railroad companies, at least so per cent
| remains in the hands of spectators and
! other investors, and are really in the
market.
! How can settlers secure these lands,
/ so fertile and so plentiful, and where
are they located?
The Government aRj1
vet unoccupied are principally In
| Northern and Western Minnesota. East
of the Red river valley, for example.
| there are thousands of acres of fine farm,
! pasture and timber land, and all that it
| is necessary to do to secure this land is
|
| choice of that which suits best, settle
upon it, and it belongs to the chosen.
Any citizen of the United States or per-
sons who have declared their intention
of becoming citizens, can take
government land; besides this,
any head of family, though
under age, can also have the privilege
| accorded to citizens over age. Unmar-
! ried women have the same rights as
men in taking vacant land. After max
ing selection papers stating so must be
! filed before the officials of a government
| land office, any United States commits
| siOner or judge or clerk of any court of
record at the nearest county seat. This
| will cost from s. to SO for each 100 acres
and is all the expense necessary. Five
years residence Is necessary to perfect
title.
Now, as to the railroad lands: They,
| like the state lands, are not free, but
are sold at from 81 to IS per acre ana on
| the most liberal terms, time up to ten
years being given in some cases, and up
TO seven in any event, with low rates of
interest on the deferred payments.
These lands are, of necessity, near rail-
roads, and are very desirable on that
account. Any of the roads having lands
are always ready and anxious to fur
niSh information to intending purchas-
ers. besides making reductions i'll the
cost of transportation in case purchases
are made.
The most liberal land dealer in Min
neSota is the commonwealth herself.
The school. internal improvement and
other lands are sold on terms that are SO
liberal that it is not surprising that
nearly 100000 acres have sos far
been sold. The laws of the state pro-
vide that all lands sold must bring at
least s. per acre, the appraised value,
and no lower bid can be accepted.
OF this Is per cent and one
years interest on the remainder of the
principal must be paid down; the bal
ance then can stand for thirty years at
per cent Interest. This gives the set
tier splendid opportunity to pay for
his lands and provides the school fund
with desirable Understanding securi-
ties. For the benefit of those who desire
to look into this subject with view to
purchasing, list of the number OF
acres yet unsold of the state school
lands in each county is given. 1t follows: