El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-05-20

wisdom Of the policy has been vindi-
Gated by the results. ] commend the
utmost Hberality in dealing with
them
The legislature. following his recon-
mendatiOn, made more liberal prOvi-
sions for land grants, and railroad
construction pushed rapidly forward
me legislature IN 1892 passed a law
granting land subsidies, which policy
continued with slight interruption un-
III 1917, when II was found that all
lands available for this purpose were
used up ana the law was repealed Dur
Ing this period Il railroad companies
were organized and received approx
mately 36,000,0O0 acres of land, and
b,OUO miles Of railroad was built
Explanation Of the Map.
We are unable to reproduce absolute
i accurate records Of the land actual
y donated 10 the railroads and the
number of miles Of railroad built by
land subsidy. Some Of the roads re-
ceiviug lands were unable to fulfill
the provisions OF their grants and for
telted their lands. No authoritative
road built each year was kept prior to
1891, when the railroad commission was
established, but bulletin No. 119, issued
by Prof c s Potts OF the State uni
TerEity, shows the mileage in 1892 at
the time the land subsidy act was re-
pealed as 6.OO9; but a portion Of this
mileage may have been log roads, and
a pOEuOn OF 1t did not receive state
aid. the Southern Pacific from san An
tCnio to FL Paso being in the latter
class During a period Of four years
from 1859 TO 1873, as near as can be
determined a total mileage Of 1906 was
constructed under land grants and S.
tbB,S1S acres Of land was donated to
the railroads This acreage, however
includes forfeitures which the state Sc.
cured by lawsuit and otherwise. An
attempt was made to trace the land
1Or1eitures and locate the railroad
mileage affected BY It. but the task
. Mnn for 2 ha 4
ties at hand and the effort had to be
abandoned It was the legislative GUS
tom TO give 10 sections Of land for one
mile. Of railroad, but no general rule
applies.
The land donated for railroad mile
age is shown by the shaded portion Of
the map and the railroad mileage
built by land donations IS shown by
the lines on the map. No effort Is
made TO correctly locate the land with
In each county; in fact, the land was
usually given in alternate sections and
In many instances otherwise discOn-
nected and the shaded portions Of the
map merely indicate the total area do
mated IN each county.
Distribution Of Mileage.
The area center Of Texas is indicated
BY a star in McCullOch county, near
Brady. Draw {, line north and south
through the center Of the star and the I
territory east Of the line secured 1926 !
miles Of railroad built under the sub
sidy acts and the western portion $50 I
miles only one line entered the west !
ern half Of the state, the Texas & Pa
cific, a trunk line seeking a pathway !
to the Pacific coast without particular /
reference TO rendering local service to
the community through which II
passed OF the total acreage donated 4
3O,0OO,O0O acres were located in the Z
western half Of the state and 5,76S,918 !
lie the eastern half Of the state. When I
the law as repealed in 1882, west Texas /
had given "a percent OF the land and 1
received 10 per cent Of the railroad /
east Texas had given 16 per 4
cent Of the land and received 80 per \
cent OF the railroad mileage.
The lines on the map indicate the /
mileage actually built by land dona- |
tons. No other mileage is shown. ]
These roads were built by Al cOmpa,-
MES; an effort to show the names OF |
the roads on the map resulted in con-
fusion. The foregoing table is sub
nitted as a substitute and the rail- I
-Oads classified by sytems, which, ac-
,Ording to university bulletin No. 119,
hey are now a part. In many in
stances the roads passed through. sew
.ra1 receivershfps and sales before fl
2ally becoming a part Of the larger
ines
As we have previously stated, this