Evening star., 1937-07-11
Reversal of Government
Land Policy
BY FREDERIC J. H4SKIN.

Whereas throughout all the years from
the founding OF the republic the policy
mas been one OF announcement Of land
settlement within the last half-dozen
years the policy has tended toward dis
couragement. From a lolg-range point
OF view this may be regarded as per-
haps the most fundamental alteration
in public policy in American history.
The colonial period in America vas
marked by vast land grants made by
the Crown either to individuals such as
Lord Baltimore, the Duke of York and
William Penn, or to companies such as
the Virginia Co., or the Carolina en-
terprise. In turn, the proprietors adopted
policy of encouragement of settlement.
For example. Lord Baltimore would give
outright 1000 acres to a settler who
could give assurances that he would farm
the land. With a vast continent to peo-
Pile, wilderness to subdue, such q policv
was but natural. The policy was not
confined to the English. During the
Dutch control of New York, extensive
grants were made to the patrons, and
remnants of some of those domains are
in the same families to this day.
When the United States had achieved
It's independence, the new Government
adopted similar and-settlement policy.
Grants were made to distinguished per-
sons like Washington and Lafayette,
and Revolutionary War veterans received
lands practically for the taking. A Gov
ernment which did not know exactly
how vast its territory was, a Govern
ment needing the support of national
development. could well be expected to
adopt prodigal policy.
In the earlier days. any one who dared
venture into the wilderness merely took
up land by sort of individual conquest
and held it by adverse possession. He
created his own title by his enterprise.
The Federal Government was eager to
sell public lands at very low prices Not
only was it desired to get the land set
tied, but proceeds of public land sales
constituted major source Of revenue
From 1876 down to the present, receipts
from sales of public lands have been an
item in the Treasury accounts In such
year as 1896, when the first land fever
was at its height receipts from sales
OF public lands were greater than receipts
from customs, these two being the chief
sources of Federal revenue for manv
years. Indeed, the land receipts
amount to nearly half the entire Fed
eral revenue
Land grants were made to colleges and
to railroads. In 1862 the homestead act
was passed. This provided that anv
citizen 2l years of age or more-or less
II he were the head of family-could
have as a gift 160 acres OF land, pro-
Vlded he would live on his claim for
three years. Before this there had be-
gun the westward movement. settlers
going West and picking out likely sites
OF any extent and claiming them. Later
these persons were required to paw for
the land, but only the nominal sum of
81 Is an acre. Civil War veterans were
especially favored in receiving grants of
Western lands.
This system OF easy distribution of
land bore the seeds OF the difficulty
which has caused the United States to
reverse its land-settlement policy That
difficulty was primarily speculation;
secondarily, the condition of land ten
ancy to which speculation led
From the days of the first land rushes.
the speculator was present. George
Washington was land speculator. and
luton, became probably the largest in
dividual land owner the country has ever
known. 1t has been estimated that he
owned more than 100000 acres of land,
chiefly in Western New York, in Vir-
ginia and the Carolinas. He also bought
5000 lots in the new Capital, Wash
ington.
The spectators, having money. pro-
ceeded to buy up strategic locations in
anticipation of the westward movement
OF population. Speculation reached an
especially high pitch after the Louisiana
Purchase. 1t is doubtful whether even
the revenuers were ever SO unpopular a
set Of men as the land spectators In
many cases, where pioneers at great per-
sonal peril had taken up lands in the
belief that conquest of the wilderness
gave them sufficient title, spectators,
having advance knowledge of the Gov
ernment's intention to put price on all
lands, bought the tracts which already
had been settled, where houses had been
built, the forest cleared, and tillage be-
gun. They would appear with their evi-
dence OF title and threaten eviction II
the pioneer who had done all the work
did not pay price which would give
the spectators huge profit In ONE
places mobs gathered and drove out
spectators by force.
1t was the first ideal of the American
people that here was country where
every man could own his own land and
produce his own living. That ideal lived
in the hearts Of Americans and attracted
millions from older countries, where such
opportunities did not exist This being
the case, the American people were
startled when the Genus of 1880 gathered
figures on land tenure and showed that
ne-fourth of all American farmers were
not owners but tenants. The census OF
1890, incidentally, showed that the per-
centage had grown to 424.
Individual spectators, land companies
and various types of promoters have
caused many waves Of speculation in the
United States. Some have been hectic
in the extreme. When farm prices were
so high during the war. there was active
speculation in Middle Western farm
lands and there have been such hectic
chapters as the Florida land boom, where
parcel might change hands half
dozen times day, each time at a
higher price.
All such activity leaves more land in
the hands of people who are absentee
landlords and not producers, and there
Is progressive increase in tenancy.
Tenancy rather than ownership results
often in degeneration Of the land. It
was Arthur Young who said that II q
man became possessed of q desert he