The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-07-29

While this debate Is going a, !.
is interesting to delve into histo.s
and ascertain when and hov ~
federal government acquired ~.
to all the lands that compris. ~
public domain, BY the Article. !,
Confederation agreed to in cns
gress November Is. 1777, and rst;
fled by the several states in n.
four subsequent years, the eov.,.
ment Of the United States !,
America was organized and uur.n
ant to that action took posses,ic.
Of the Incorporated Crown lans.
of Great Britain as the success.
to that government. The treaty ~
1888 was England's formal rel,s.
Quishment Of all proprietary ana F
territorial rights in this countr,
Naying the ownership Of the Upitss
States and the individual states I'M.
disputed.
The Continental Congress n.,t |
passed a resolution recommendin. |
that the several states should sur.
render all their waste and unan.
propriated lands to the centr,I
government, as a measure tovars
paying the debt incurred BY tn
War OF the Revolution. Each Of ths
states held or claimed vast acre.
ages outside their own geographi.
cal boundar4As Virginia, for e..
ample, had almost 100000, 900 acre,
in the territory lying north Of the
Ohio river and east of the Missh.
sippi; Massachusetts had million,
of acres now included in Michig,n
Illinois and Wisconsin; Connect.
cut had a territory almost as lsrre
as what is now northern Ohio, In.
diana and Illinois; South CAROLYN
held strip Is miles wide which
now forms the northern part Of
Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi:
North Carolina claimed what is tn
present state of Tennessee and
Georgia had 56,000,000 acres 4
what are now the states Of Al
bama and Mississippi.
One by one these holdings wen
coded to the federal government II
| some instances subject to certain
financial obligations, until event.
! ually' the United States had &C.
Quired in this manner some 500.
900 square miles or 320,000,0Oa
acres, at a cost of $22,000,0OO.
Then came a series of treaties
through which we took over hold.
ings of foreign governments as Z
result of purchase or war, or 4
combination of the two. First Of
these was the transaction with
France in 1903 whereby the United
States came into possession Of 7s7r
$751; 800 acres, now known as the
Louisiana Purchase, constituting q
part of Mississippi, Alabama, Tex
as, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana,
and the states lying between them
and the Mississippi river. The pur-
chase price was $15,000,000, but BY
1.-THE time the deal was consummated
interest charges, claims, etc, haa
brought this amount up to ST.
267,621.
From spain we purchased what
is now the state of Florida in 1915
and in 1S4S Mexico ceded Us 1884,.
l443,520 acres, comprising the pres
ent states of California, Nevada
Utah and parts of New Mexico, Al
iona, Colorado and Wyoming. IN
years later Texas gave US title 7
some 60-odd million acres, no,
constituting a part of New Mexicl
Oklahoma, and Colorado, and the
came the Gadsden Purchase frol
Mexico of 30,000,000 acres now Il
cluded in New Mexico and Arizon'
One of our biggest real esta
deals was the purchase Of Alasl
from Russia in 1867, when we pal
S7,200,000 for 37S,165,760 acre
. Hawaii was not so large a transal
ton, but a very important one, TO
, lowing which came our trouble
with Spain as a result Of which Y
acquired Porto Rico, Guam and Il
Philippines, in 1898. The year TO
lowing, by treaty with Germal
[ and Great Britain, we took over Il
tuila and other small Samoan i
t lands by annexation. The Oregt
) country embracing more than lSo
: 100000 acres was claimed by IN
r government through discovery al
3 exploration, and this claim vi
} recognized by treaty with Englal
: and Spain. More recently we pu
E chased the Virgin Islands fro
1 Denmark.
: In all, the area which the Unit
| States has acquired from foreie
f governments in one way and a
e other amounts to about 2,4OO,0
t square miles, or $500, 000,0 900 acre
4 The total cost was slightly le
= than s66,00O,0 900, or a little mo
than 4 cents per acre, which a
r real estate agent will tell the wor
was a good investment.