DEPARTMENT OF LABOR OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY. DISPOSITION OF THE BLIC LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO WAGE-EARNING LABOR By LEIFUR MAGNUSSON WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1919 DEPARTMENT OF LABOR OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY DISPOSITION OF THE PUBLIC LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO WAGE-EARNING LABOR By LEIFUR MAGNUSSON WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1910 IRLF URL PREFATORY NOTE. Department of Labor, Office of the Secretary, WasMngton, D. C, June 28, 1919. This condensed account of the public-land policy of the United States, with particular reference to its bearing upon wage-earning labor, has been prepared as part of a general investigation of land as an opportunity for workers, which was begun in the autumn of 1915, pursuant to general instructions from the Secretary of Labor. The object of this investigation has been to survey the possibilities in this country of obtaining, for returned soldiers and other workei-s, per- manent and profitable employment through the settlement and development of our unused lands. The present report is designed to give, in brief space, some historical background of the questions in- volved, and to provide a better understanding of the problem of developing (or extending) public-land policies to meet the needs of American wage earners. Another publication being issued by the Department of Labor at this time, as part of the above investigation, is a report by Mr. Benton MacKaye on "Employment and Natural Resources." This presents an introduction to the general subject of utilizing, as an op- portunity for labor, the land and resources of the United States, and takes up in some detail the use of agricultural and of forest areas. W. B. Wilson, Secretary of Labor, (3) CONTENTS. Page. Introductory 7 Land policies of the American colonies 8 Periods in the history of American land policy 8 Sales by contract 9 Credit system 10 Sales to suit purchasers 10 Preemption system 11 Land-grants period 11 Homestead period 14 Reform period 20 Conservation and reclamation period 22 Disposition of the public lands 24 (5) DISPOSITION OF THE PUBLIC LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO WAGE- EARNING UBOR. INTRODUCTORY. The public domain has at one time or another covered three-fourths of continental United States, or all of the territory outside of the 13 original States, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas. The area of this territory is 1,442,200,000 acres. In addition, the public domain included, when Alaska was purchased in 1867, the whole of that Territory — 378,000,000 acres. The public domain developed by a process of gradual accession, having its origin in concessions made by the States of the early Confederation. It was then extended by the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the Florida Concession in 1819, Oregon Territory in 1846, the Mexican Purchases and Cessions made between 1848 and 1853, and the Alaskan Purchase of 1867. No public land over which the Federal Government has proprietary jurisdiction was acquired with the annexation of the Philippines, the Canal Zone, and the lesser islands of the Pacific, and the purchase of the Virgin Islands. There is national park land in Hawaii and in Porto Rico certain Spanish Crown lands were made mto a national forest. When the Confederation was organized in 1781, the Federal Gov- ernment did not own or control any land; all the land was claimed b}' various States. The conflicting land claims of the different States had been a persistent source of dispute among them, and very largely in order to secure an amicable adjustment of these disputes the government of the Confederation succeeded in having the States cede their lands to the Federal Government. On March 1, 1784, Virginia relinquished its claims in the region north of the Ohio River; cessions from New York, Massaclmsetts, and Connecticut in 1785 and 1786 gave complete title to the territory of what became known as the "sixth northwest State." Soutli Carolina made a cession of land in 1787, North Carolina in 1790, and Georgia in 1802. Out of these were created the vStates of Alabama and Mississi])j)i. In making these cessions the States usually retained a certain amount of land for their own use. (7) 8 LAND POLICIES OF THE AMERICAN COLONIES. The settlers of the American colonies had applied to the new country the practices of their English ancestors. In formulating its general land policy the Confederation, in turn, followed closely the practices of the colonial governments. Among the purposes for which public lands were set aside were the support of common schools, of the ministry, of seminaries and colleges, and of public officials; the encouraging of the settle- ment of armed men on exposed frontiers; the rewarding of soldiers for military service and of other men for noted public service; and the promoting of industries, including grants of land for the estab- lisliment of flour and lumber mills, for the erection of brickyards, and for wharves and harbors,^ Following out these ideas and prac- tices, the Continental Congress passed an ordinance May 20, 1785, setting aside a part of every township for the maintenance of public schools — an idea which originated with Timothy Pickering. ^ Subse- quently, in 1787, the northwest ordinance, which set up a government for the northwest territories, contained a similar provision. Thus there was early established the New England colonial policy of public land grants for both public and private purposes. Our early land policy naturally had little reference to the needs of wage labor as such. It was governed mainly by considerations of public finance and the needs of agriculture. There was no recognized labor problem in the United States until 1850, and it is significant that about that time our public-land policy became a factor in the labor movement. This policy previous to 1850, therefore, had been determined practically without reference to the labor movement. Subsequently, however, it came to be influenced by the growing importance of labor, and it may be said, as agreed to by practically all authorities on the subject, that at all times the existence of a vast public domain in the country served to offset the evil effects of exces- sive industrialization and unemployment. PERIODS IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN LAND POLICY. In the development of the land policy of the Federal Government, certain wfU marked, though overlapping, periods stand out: (1) 1784-1801. Contract sales by the Federal Government of large areas. (2) 1800-1820. Period of credit sales in small lots. (3) 1820-1841. Period of cash sales, usually in areas to suit pur- chasers. > Federal Land Grants to the States, with Special Reference to Minnesota, by M. N. Orfield, Minneapolis, 1915, Part I, chapters 1-5. » Op. cit., p. 37. (4) 1841 -1891.. Preemption system, or sale at low prices to indi- vidual settlers. (5) 1841-1871. Land grants period. (6) 1862 to date. Homestead period. (7) 1880 to 1900. Period of reforms. (8) 1901 to date. Conservation and reclamation period. The statement of these different periods suggests on the surface a lack of continuity in the Government's land policy which is some- what misleading. As a matter of fact, the changes indicated in the outline had only a minor effect. The more fundamental and essential features of the land policy of the United States have not altered very greatly. The first important change occurred with the inception of the homestead idea — free land for the landless; the second hio- change came %vith the conservation and reclamation period which marks the beginning of larger governmental control over the disposi- tion and development of the land. Prior to the latter period the policy had been one based on extreme individualism and without regard to the ultimate disposition of the land beyond the first taker. Although, therefore, the bona fide landless settler received the land direct from the Government, provisions like the commutation clause in the homestead law facilitated the ultimate disposal of the land into the hands of the speculator and future monopolist. SALES BY CONTRACT— 1784-1801. It was the policy of the government of the early Confederation to sell land to secure revenue for paying off the Revolutionary debt, as well as for meeting current expenses. This view of public lands as sources of future revenue is emphasized by the fact that in 1785 Congress issued a proclamation forbidding settlement on the public domain.^ The act of 1804 was of similar intent, while that of 1807 gave power to remove settlers from public land pending sale. The ordinance of May 20, 1785, which established a system of rectangular surveys, provided for unlimited sales of the public lands in minimum amounts of 640 acres at $1 per acre, later reduced to 66^ cents. These sales wore made at public auction after advertisement. Under this system of sales three important dispositions were made: (1 ) To the Ohio Co., 2,000,000 acres (sul)sequently reduced to 822,900) ; (2) to Symmes and his associates, 1,000,000 acres on the Ohio River; (3) to Pennsylvania, the Erie tract, now in Erie County, Pa., 202,187 acres. The first and third of these sales wore made at 66 § cents per acre. The right of preemption to settlers, i. e., the first right of pur- chase to those already on the land, was inserted in the Symmes pur- chase, the land being sold at $2 per acre. • Robert Tudor IIIll: The Public Domain and Democracy, 1910, p. 30. Donaldson: The I'ublic Domain, rev. ed., Washington, 1881, p. 197. 124523°— 19 2 10 It can not bo said that those sales wore a conspicuous success, either as sources of revenue or as moans of settling the domain. Subsequently litigation as to titles arose and Congress was forced to pass a series of relief acts for the settlers. THE CREDIT SYSTEM— 1800 1820. The credit system for the disposition of the public domain has been generally characterized as a failure.' It increased the number of debtors to the Federal Government, and encouraged speculation by its system of sale at auction. The debt due by individuals to the Government in 1818 was about $17,000,000; in the seven years ending September 30, 1817, over 698,000 acres had reverted to the Government, and the reversions in 1819 alone were over 365,000 acres. Relief acts were passed yearly. In 1820 Congress discontinued the system and made provision for the liquidation of all debts. The quantity sold under this method was 19,399,158 acres.^ SALES TO SUIT PURCHASERS— 1820 1841. Between the years 1786 and 1820 the unit areas of public land which were offered for sale to individuals and companies were reduced grad- ually from township and eight-section areas to single sections (640 acres), half sections (320 acres), quarter sections (160 acres), and half quarter sections (80' acres). ^ This reduction was intended to en- courage the taking of small holdings and to attract the individual settler. The price was reduced from the prevailing one of $2 per acre to $1.25. The sales were both public and private and payment was by cash. They were consummated without sjecial proclama- tion and proceeded after the fashion of ordinary private real estate transfers. Further legislation was necessary to reach the actual settler. In 1854, the graduation act was passed for the purpose of hastening the disposal of lands which had been on the market for 10 years and over.* This act inured only to the benefit of actual settlers who might desire to increase their holdings. The price was reduced gradually for each five-year period during which any particular piece of land had been on the market; the charge was $1 an acre for land which had been on the market five years, with further reductions quinquenniaUy down to a minimum of 12^ cents an acre for land that had been on the market for 30 years. The act was repealed in 1862. About 26,000,000 acres were disposed of under this act. 10. F. Emerick: The Credit System and the Public Domain, Nashville, Tenn., 1899. (Publications of the Vanderbilt Southern History Society, No. 3.) 2 Donaldson, rev. ed., Washington, 1884, p. 203. «Ibid.,pp.205, 206. * Ibid., p. 291. 11 THE PREEMPTION SYSTEM— 1841-1891. Although the credit system of public land disposal was ostensibly abolished in 1820, it was, for all purposes, continued in the preemption system which was in reality a credit sale to private persons as dis- tinguished from a public sale for cash. The first preemption act was a special law passed in 1801 and originated as a relief measure for settlers in the above-mentioned S3'mmes purchase, who had found the titles to their lands valueless. The first general preem]:)tion law was enacted May 29, 1830, but was merely a temporary measure.^ The system gave a preference to existing settlers on the public domain by enab- ling them to purchase land at the price of $1.25 an acre. Credit was granted in the sale which was by private contract and not at public auction. The S3'stem early developed great abuses and brought about wide speculation. It was not abolished finally till 1891. The amount of public land disposed of under the preemption act is not ascertainable, as it was carried into the general sales entries of the General Land Office. LAND-GRANTS PERIOD— 1841-1871. Although the land-grants period in American public-land policy may be said to include only the period from 1841 to 1871, it should not be understood that land grants were unknown prior thereto. For in this instance and in other points of policy, as already noted, the system of public land grants to individuals and companies was known and practiced by the colonial government.- The early Confedera- tion accepted the policy as a convenient means of rewarding Revolu- tionary soldiers for their services. Later the Federal Government handed over public lands to the States for their services in the Revo- lution, in return for the furnishing of supplies. Bounties in land were provided by Congress to carry out promises made to officers and enlisted men in the War of 1812, and in the Mexican War. These promises were enlarged in the acts of 1850 and 1855. Liberal pro- visions are contained in the homestead acts in the interests of re- tired soldiers of the Civil War. In 1842, 1850, 1853, and 1854, donations were made to individual settlers in Florida, Oregon, Washington, and New Mexico, aggregating over 3,000,000 acres. Land grants have been made to the States since 1 785 for the support of the common schools and higher institutions of education, and for inter- nal improvements. In 1802 the policy of an educational grant became a fixed feature connected with the achnission of States to the Union. At that time Ohio received section 16 in each township as school land. •Shosuke Sato: The Land Question In the United States, naltlinoro, 1886, pp. 137, 14fi, fl. (Johns Hopkins University Studies.) ' Cf. Orfield, M. X., on, fit., chap. 1. Hart, Albert nushnoll: Disposition of tlio I'ubilc Domain. (Quar- terly Journal of Kconomlcs, Cambridge, Harvard University, 1887, vol. 1, pp. 169-183.) 12 States subsequently admitted received varying amounts of land. Grants for higher education also were made. The system of grants was changed and much enlarged in 1862; each State was granted, in support of special institutions, 30,000 acres for each Senator and Representative in Congress. Larger higher-education grants were made to States admitted later. If any of the land granted to the State is mineral in character, or is already included m another valid group, or is in a reservation — forest, Indian, military, or other — ^^the State may select an equal area else- where, known as indemnity land. Usually indemnity selections are not made at once by the States, but are selected as the need for the land arises.^ Although the grant is through the State, it is usually to some corporation which is authorized to carry out the actual improve- ments. Land grants to States for internal improvements became an issue in party politics. The first aid for internal improvement was authorized by the act of 1802, already cited, admitting Ohio to the Union. One- twentieth of the proceeds of the sale of public lands in Ohio was to be used for building public roads within the vState. The first land grant, made in 182S, was to the State of Ohio to aid in the construc- tion of a wagon road.^ Grants in the aid of canal construction were made to the States of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin.' About 5,000,000 acres were thus parted with by the Federal Govern- ment. Swamp-land grants have been made with the expectation that the States would drain the swamps, but in a great many instances this has not been done. The land office for some years now has recom- mended the cessation of swamp-land grants for the future on account of failure of the States actually to employ the land so as to secure their drainage, and because of confusion in claims and titles through lapse of time.* No land grants for internal improvements have been made since 1869.^ It is true, however, that land for improvement by the States is still granted under the Carey Act, 1894, in certain of the arid land States. The first Federal land grant in aid of a railroad is said to be that of 1833, which authorized the State of Illmois ® to dispose of the canal grant of 1827 and to construct a railroad with the proceeds. The State did not take advantage of the authorization. In 1835 Congress gave a company in Florida a right of way over the public domain, 30 'U.S. Geological Survey. The Classification of the Public Lands, Washington, 1913, p. 29. (Bullethi No. 537.) « Ibid., p. 30. 'Donaldson, rev. ed., 1884, p. 258. * Annual report of the Secretary of the Interior for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1916. Washington, 1916, p. 20; 1918, p. 60. 6 U. S. Geological Survey. The Classification of the Public Lands. Washington, 1916, p. 30. (Bulletin No. 537.) « Donaldson, rev. ed., 1884, p. 261. 13 feet on each side of its line, with the use of timber within 300 feet on either side of the track, and 10 acres at each terminal. Railroad land grants were novv an established practice. The first transcontmental railroad grant was made in 1S62. Tliis changed the policy of the Government. Plitherto it had made its grants through the States, which acted in a way as trustees. Henceforth grants were made directly to the corporations. These grants usually included the amount of land immediately necessary for the right of way, and an additional subsidy of every other section of land in a prescribed area on either side of this right of way. The grants are described in such general terms that the actual area is largely a matter of rough estimation. Ilarely does the amount actually granted accrue to the corporation affectea, although in some instances the area fuially patented under the grant exceeds the amount of the original grant. Of the claims adjusted and closed by June 30, 1915, about 95 per cent of the area of the grant had been patented to the beneficiaries. In some mstances the grants were made without conditions, workmg forfeiture under certain circum- stances; in other cases limitations of various sorts were inserted.^ In the California & Oregon Railroad grant, recently under litigation, the covenant in the grant to the effect that the railroad must sell its land to settlers at not exceeding $2.50 an acre, was construed by the Supreme Court as a condition subsequent which forfeited the lands when not complied with. This decree of the court and the subsequent supplementary legislation by Congress restored to the public domain 3,200,000 acres of land.^ Eight railroad grants direct to the corporations have been made.^ Four of these, including approximately 109,000,000 acres, were made to corporations created by Congress for the purpose of building the roads subsidized. Of the four grants to State corporations, two were declared forfeited by Congress in 1874. The last railroad grant was made in 1871." All the railroad grants were of land free of minerals other than coal and iron. The justification for this exception is said to have been the need of the railroads for those minerals in their construction work. If the lands granted to the railroads are found to contain other minerals, or are within reservation, or are ah'eady covered by valid titles, the companies are permitted to make selection of other lands in lieu thereof. This right of selection the roads usually sell in the form of "scrip" which may be filed on any vacant nonmineral Government land. « U. 8. Geological Survey. The Classlficutloii of the Public Lands. WashinBton, 1913, p. 32. (Bulletin No. .W7.) » Report of the Corantlssloner of the General Land Office for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1916, p. 48. •U. S. Geological Survey. Op. cit., p. 31. « Ibid., p. 32. 14 THE HOMESTEAD PERIOD— 1862 TO DATE. The homestead movement in the United States was a by-product of the labor movement of the fifties.^ The "industrial revolution" came later to the United States than in Europe; the development of machinery was slower in the United States than in Europe in effect- ing a displacement of labor. This was so, first, because America was primarily an agricultural country and therefore manufacturing, even in the handicraft stage, was not so highly developed; and, second, be- cause there was always at hand the great Northwest — the frontier offering its opportunities for a livelihood. The influence of land in American economic history has been a controlling one. "Unoccu- pied land drank up liquid capital as thirstily as a desert, and its call for labor was the primal command to human effort." ^ The existence of unoccupied land acted as an outlet for whatever pressure excess numbers of population might from time to time pro- duce. The evil effects of the financial panics, 1813, 1837, 1857, and particularly 1873, were minimized by reason of the uncultivated lands of the West acting as a refuge to those ruined in business or thrown out of employment. Even in time of ordinary prosperity "the attractions of independent life as a landowner drew skilled im- migrants away from their traditional occupations to agriculture."^ Land, too, being the predominant form of wealth in our early history, there came to be associated with it a social prestige which acted adversely upon the progress of commercial and manufacturing pursuits. Agriculture, therefore, attracted a more abundant supply of labor^ "Even where they were equally remunerative, it was more difficult in America than in England to divert men from farming to industrial pursuits." * Immigrant labor came to this country in colonial days, and during and after the Revolutionary period, because of the attractions ot un- limited land at a low cost,^ it did not come primarily as industrial or handicraft labor. Cotton mill operators in New England had small success in keeping immigrant labor because of its withdrawal to agri- culture. They were compelled to employ native skilled labor, the wages of which were not relatively as high as those of unskilled work- ers who had access to agricultural pursuits. It was therefore cheaper to employ more skilled help than to employ the relatively higher paid unskilled immigrant labor. The proprietors of the 1 Hookstadt, Carl: History and Analysis of the Homestead Movement, 1840-1862. (Author's unpub- lished manuscript.) » Clark, Victor S.: History of Manufactures in the United States, 1607-1860. Washington, Carnegie In- stitution of Washington, 1916, p. 364. » Ibid., p. 155. « Ibid., p. 155. ' Ibid., p. 399; alsoCarver, T. N.: International Phases of the Land Question, -Vnnals of the American Academy of PoUtical and Social Science, Philadelphia, 1918 (May, pp. 16-21). 15 Beverly (Mass.) cotton mill in 1791 stated that "here the demand for labor is chiefly agricultural and the wages seem to be regulated by it," ^ a view concurred in by other local observers. It agreed also with the views of Tench Coxe, a traveler and observer of eco- nomic conditions both in Europe and America.^ Thus wages of un- skilled labor in America tended to approach more nearly those of skilled labor in Europe because it was always in demand for the harder work in mines and furnaces, and because of its access to cheap land "which caused its remuneration to be measured by the rewards and advantages of independent agriculture." ^ When industry and manufacturing advanced and called into existence tlie labor movement, the land question continued to affect their relations. The manufacturing interests of the East generally opposed the proposals for a free grant of the public domain, but the laboring interests made the proposal one of the chief demands of their program.'' The intensity of their demand grew as the effects of the introduction of labor-saving machinery increased, particularly at the times of the industrial panics. Among the early land reformers was George Henry Evans (1805- 185G), a man of English birth who came to America in 1820. He edited and published, about two years after his arrival, the first labor paper in America. He was the son of a Shaker elder active in the propaganda of his cause. Evans's doctrines rested upon the ideas of the natural rights of man set forth in the Declaration of Independence. The inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were applied by him to the concrete problems of his day. His principle was that the "use of the earth, a portion sufficient to live u])on, is man's natural right." ^ He developed this doctrine to its extremest application in the course of continued controversy through his own jiaper and through the public press of New York City. (He worked frequently in cooperation with Horace Greeley, of the New York Tribune.) ' ' No man ever had a right to more land than was necessary for his sub- sistence, or an equivalent ])ortion with every other man ; conseciuently no man ever had a right to give or take a mortgage on land. The people have a right to take what belongs to them." His scheme of reform and land settlement was worked out in detail, and contained some of the princi])les of the "garden city" of to-day as applied to rural life. It accepted the township idea as the basis. 'Clark, op. cit., p. 389. 2 Tench Coxe: A view of the United States of America, Philadelphia, 1794. 'Clark, op. cit., p. 390. ossible the accumulation of large areas in few hands. The (consequence has ])cen the growth of land monopoly and of an extensive tenant class on the former public domain. As a matter of fact, as finally enacted the homestead law became not primarily a measure to elevate the condition of labor in the East by reducing its numbers by removal to the West, but an instrument for the rapid exploitation of western resources. The western desire 1 Donaldson, rev. ed., 1884, p. 344. 20 for rapid development controlled the final form of the legislation and the labor interests of the East lost in the struggle. The passage of the homestead act naturally marked the beginning of a period of rapid disposal of the public domain. The legislation made no distinction between difTerent classes of land. The same laws and privileges of disposal were applied to agricultural lands, timber lands, grazing areas, and mineral deposits. As if, however, further to hasten the alienation of natural resources, coal lands were made subject to a special law in 1864, the first mineral act applicable to the gold fields of California was passed in 1866, the timber-culture act of 1873 made free disposal of areas deemed suitable for timber raising, and the timber and stone act in 1878 added still more to the possible disposable land areas. The desert-land act was passed in 1877, permitting irrigation and reclamation work through private individual effort. These acts, coupled with the fact that the rail- roads were selling lands to settlers on their vast grants, all made for rapid alienation of the public domain. The tide of immigration, too, was setting in, and an eager population was at hand to seize the opportunities offered. The result has been that the public domain, mstead of lasting 700 years, as forecast by Andrew Jackson, was practically exhausted by 1890. After that began the agitation for reform. REFORM PERIOD— 1880-1900. Under the authority of the various acts noted, it was possible for a citizen of the United States to acquire in his own name 1,120 acres of Government land' — 160 acres under the homestead law, 160 acres by preemption, 160 acres under the timber culture law, and 640 acres under the desert land law. It was possible, also, to secure under various other acts large quantities of timber, coal, and mineral lands. This state of affairs was, however, changed in 1890 so that the maximum which could be taken by any individual under all laws was i-educed to 320 acres. The period of reform began with the appointment of a commis- sion, in 1879,^ the report of which, in 1880, made several recom- mendations for changes in the policy of public-land disposal. The commission prepared a bill which was practically a public-land code for the United States. This recommended, among others, the fol- lowing changes: (1) Classification of the lands as agricultural, grazing, timber, and mineral, with a view to the application of different legislation to each class; (2) repeal of preemption rights, or 1 Treat, Payson J.: Public Lands and Public Land Policy. (In Cyclopedia of American Government, New York and London, 1914, Vol. Ill, p. 95.) 2 The Public Land Commission, 1879. Preliminary report, with testimony. Washington, 1880. As part of this commission's report were two volumes of compilations of the land laws, and a third volume on The Public Domain, its History with Statistics, by Thomas Donaldson, of the commission. Three editions of the last appeared, the latest in 1884. One of the most interesting books on the western lands, in which the need of land classification is recognized, is Maj. J. W. Powell's Report on the Arid Region of the United States, 187S. 21 the squatter's privilege of first right to purchase; (3) disposal of western hinds through the homestead law exclusively; (4) reduction of residence requirement on homesteads from five to three years; (5) withdrawal of right of commutation, or right to buy homestead after 14 months' residence — a potent source of speculation and monopoly; (6) sale of grazing land at a low price; (7) sale of timber apart from surface. Some of these reforms and other changes proposed by later com- missions have since been accepted, instances being the repeal of the preemption law, the repeal of the timber-culture act, the classifica- tion of the public lands,' the reduction of the homesteading period to three years, the sale of timber apart from the land (on national forests), repeal of the sj^stem of private land sales and of public sale (except in special cases), and the authorization of the creation of national forests and other reservations. Other commissions have investigated and proposed reforms — the Public Lands Commission of 1903 (which reported in 1905),^ the National Waterways Commission of 1907,^ and the National Conser- vation Commission of 1909.* The Public Lands Commission of 1903 called attention to our system of antiquated land laws in the follow- ing terms: The information obtained by the commission, through the conferences in the West and the hearings in Wasliington, discloses a prevailing opinion that the present land laws' do not fit the conditions of the remaining public lands. Most of these laws and the departmental practices wliich have grown up imder them were framed to suit the lands of the humid region. The public lands which now remain are chiefly arid in character. Hence these laws and practices are no longer suited for the most eco- nomical and effective disposal of lands to actual settlers. (Report, p. v.) The Conservation Commission of 1909 recommended the repeal of the timber and stone act, on the ground that it had made possible speculation in timber lands; limitation to 160 acres of land taken under the desert land law, and repeal of commutation of such land, with added conditions as to residence, cultivation, etc.; restric- tions on the use of the remaining public domain for grazing purposes, involving abolition of free entry upon land for grazing; retirement of public land scrip, fixing a reasonable time within which all such rights to public lands must be located, after which redemption must be in cash. (Scrip is the right to select public lands generally in place of other lands granted but subsequently found to have been taken under valid title or subject to reservation under special laws.) ' U. S. Geological Survey. The Classification of the Public Lands, by George Otis Smith and others, Washington, 1913, 197 pp. 2 Report of the Public Land Commission, with appendix, Washington, 1905, 373 pp. (58th Cong., 3d sess., S. Doc. No. 1S9.) « Preliminary Report of the National Waterways Commission, Washington, 1910, 71 pp. (61st Cong., 2d sess., S. Doc. No. 301); also final report, 1912, .Wg pp. (f)2d Cong,, 2d sess., S. Doc. No. 109.) < Report of the National Conservation Commission, February, 1909. Washington, 1909, 3 vols. (COth Cong., 2d sess., S. Doc. No. 676.) 22 Reform of the land laws has been a slow process at all times. "It was the old difficulty — ^western Congressmen advocated a liberal land system, while men from the East were too much interested in other questions to worry about the public domain.'' ^ But the struggle for reform is still in progress and continues to find its expres- sion in what is known as the "conservation movement." CONSERVATION AND RECLAMATION PERIOD— 1901 TO DATE. The conservation movement is an expression of the effort to pre- serve for the use both of the present and future generations the natural resources of the country, and to prevent their wasteful dis- position and monopolization. The rapid disposal of the public domain had resulted in widespread land monopoly and speculation. Attention has already been called to the rapid disappearance of the domain by the great rush to get land whenever new areas, or reserva- tions, were opened up.^ The appearance of a large and growing ten- ant population; the decline in the proportion of persons engaged in agriculture; the difficulties in getting an adecjuate agricultural labor supply; the mounting prices of practically all commodities of con- sumption, particularly farm products; rapid increases in farm-land values — all these had served to call attention to the fact that the pop- ulation in this country had been in all likelihood increasing more rapidly than available natural resources could permit, provided pres- ent standards of consumption were to be maintained. The familiar results of the pressure of population upon natural resources were emerging — economic rent, monopoly value, and unearned increment.^ Statesmen called attention to the importance of conservation. "The conservation of our natural resources and their proper use," President Roosevelt stated before the conference of State governors at Washington in 1908, " constitutes the fundamental problem which underlies almost every other problem of our national life." Action had been taken as early as 1891 in setting aside forest reserves at the time when the timber-culture act was repealed. Recognition was thus given to the fact that the preservation and use of the forests is a long-range task and one best suited to Government enterprise. Some 155,000,000 acres have been reserved as national forest land, of which 20,000,000 acres are in Alaska. The coal lands of this Terri- tory are also to be held permanently by the Government. Their development has been provided for by the law of October 20, 1914, 1 Treat, Payson J.: Public Lands and Public Land Policy. (In Cyclopedia of American Government New York and London, 1914, Vol. Ill, p. 95.) 2 For the 4,000 homesteads to be opened on the Rosebud Indian Reservation of South Dakota in Octo- ber, 1908, there were 114,769 applicants, or nearly 30 for each homestead. (Fred Dennett, Commissioner of the General Land Office, Report of the National Conservation Commission, 1909, Vol. Ill, p. 411.) 'See, in this connection, an economist's discussion of population growth in this country: E. Dana Durand: Some Problems of Population Growth. (In American Statistical Association Quarterly Pub- ications, June, 1916.) 23 whereb}" a portion of the coal lands may be reserved for possible Gov- ernment operation, the remainder to be handled under a leasing sys- tem. Legislation for opening not only the coal fields but the other resources of Alaska was enacted the same year by auth(^rizing tlie building of a Government railroad from the southern coast into the Yukon Valley. One very significant piece of legislation resulting from the conserva- tion movement was the reclamation law of June 17, 1902. This definitely brought the Government into the field of action in a posi- tive and constructive fashion. The act gave force to the contention that the reclaiming of arid lands by irrigation, the preservation of the large streams and sources of water supply, were matters of large- scale execution, and so vital to the Nation's economic strength as to justify the exercise of the taxing power to guarantee continued and orderly development.^ Unfortunately, however, due to the fact that the lands irrigated were disposedof under the usual unrestricted titles, the advantages of large-scale Government enterprise under this act have gone not so much to the individual user of the lands as to those who were able to speculate in such lands. Prior to 1902, the interest and activity of the Government in the reclamation of uncultivated land was only indirect. The swamp-land act of 1849, already mentioned, granted the State of 'Ijouisiana all swamp areas within its borders, with the provision that the State would reclaim these lands by the construction of levees and (h-ain- age canals. As early as 1826 a similar grant had been requested for Missouri and Illinois by the Senator from Missouri.^ In 1850 a similar grant was made to Arkansas, and subsequently extended to other States. The reasons assigned in justification of these grants were (1) the worthless character of the land in question, (2) the increased area rendered cultivable, (3) improvement in sanitary conditions, and (4) enhancement in value of adjoining Government land. The States, however, did not make the required improvements, although grants are still being patented to them. Already about 65,000,000 acres have been thus alienated. In 1894 the Federal Government undertook indirectly, througli the Carey Act, to encourage the reclaiming of arid lands. I^ntU^r this act there were granted to each of the Western or arid-land States a million acres for withdrawal for the purpose of reclamation, settlement, cultivation, and sale to actual settlers. The land is at first temporarily segregated and a reclamation project is approved by the Federal Government when the land is found actually arid and the water supply sufficient, and the operating company with which the iCf. Coman, Kathcrinc: Some Unsettled Problems of Irrigation; American Kconomic Review, ('»m- brldne, Ma-ss., 1911 (vol. I, pp. 1-19). Newell, V. II.: Irrigation Management, New York, Appleton, 1910, X, :w< pp., iUii.s. » Donaldson, rev. od., 1884, p. 219. 24 State has contracted to have the work of irrigation done is found to be financially responsible. When the irrigation work is completed and the area ready for settlement, patent is issued by the Federal Government to the State or its assigns. The Federal Government also acts not through the vStates but directly thi'ough irrigation companies in encouraging the reclaiming of arid lands. By an act passed in 1891 canal and ditch companies were granted rights of way for irrigation purposes, for canals, ditches and reservou's across public lands. These canals may be used for transportation purposes, and power development is permitted under more recent legislation. The reclamation act of 1902 brought the Government directly into the field of irrigation. A reclamation fund was established from the sale and disposal of the public lands in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas (1906), Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Five per cent of the proceeds of these sales, however, continued to go to the States under existent legisla- tion, for educational purposes. Other moneys, such as receipts from the sale of temporary works which may have been put up, rent for water furnished, fees, commissions, etc., also are made part of the fund. The Government cooperates to a limited extent with State Care}^- Act projects by leasing water rights to corporations. Irrigation works are also built on Indian reservations for the reclamation of Indian lands. Land irrigated under the reclamation law is disposed of under the homestead act; the area which is, therefore, from time to time pat- ented to settlers, is found included in disposals under that act. The Reclamation Service also gives the results of operations under all reclamation legislation. DISPOSITION OF THE PUBLIC LANDS. The public lands in continental United States have at one time or another included an area of 1,442,200,320 acres. The public domain has also included Alaska, with its 378,165,760 acres, making in all a total of 1,820,366,080. Of the area of Alaska, about 23,900,000 acres, or 6.3 per cent, has been reserved from entry. Of the total public domain in continental United States (1,442,- 200,320 acres) there had been alienated to private owmership or to the States up to June 30, 1915, an area of 953,597,523 acres, or 66 per cent, leaving 488,602,797 acres, or 34 per cent. About 209,000,000 acres, or 14.5 per cent, was reserved from entry, principally in national forests and Indian lands. The remaining 279,000,000-odd acres (19.5 per cent) was unappropriated and unreserved. 25 The disposition of the piibhc domain, by States, in 1898 and in 1915 is shown in two tables which follow, both compiled from records of the General Land Ofhce. The first table shows the dispo- sition of the domain in 1898 and is taken from the Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture, 1898. Correction has been matle in it, however, by omitting the areas of other than public-land States. While the tables are comparable, there should be noted a slight discrepancy in the last columns showing total areas in each State. The slight differences in areas shown are due to resurve3's which have been made since 1898. The discrepancies in no way affect the relative disposition of the public domain at the two dates in question. 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