LANDS, PUBLIC. 



469 



no land-offices are entered under act of March 

 3, 1877, at the General Land-Office. Land dis- 

 tricts are made, abolished, consolidated, or re- 

 duced in area by Congress ; mineral districts 

 by the President. They are in nowise con- 

 nected in boundary with surveying districts. 

 Prior to April 20, 1820, all sales of public land 

 were ordered by special acts of Congress, and 

 the minimum price, except under contracts, 

 was $2 an acre. By act of that date the min- 

 imum price was fixed at $1.25 an acre (except 

 in cases of alternate sections reserved on line 

 of railroads, by later provision) ; public lands 

 were to be offered for sale by proclamation of 

 the President, and those remaining unsold were 

 to be opened to private entry at the minimum 

 rate. Lands at present are disposed of by 

 public sale and private entry, and under the 

 pre-emption, homestead, and timber-culture 

 laws. The following are the characters of 

 lands disposable : agricultural ; mineral ; coal ; 

 desert, or lands requiring irrigation to produce 

 crops ; saline, or those containing salt springs ; 

 and timber and stone. There are special laws 

 relating to each. 



Sate. By the policy of the Government all 

 Western lands are held for settlement. Lands 

 within the five Southern States of Alabama, Ar- 

 kansas, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi, re- 

 served for settlement under the homestead act 

 of May 20, 1862, were by act of June 22, 1876, 

 brought into market by proclamation. These 

 lands, containing timber, coal, iron, and other 

 valuable deposits, having been technically of- 

 fered for sale, are entered at minimum rates, 

 and are the only public lands df moment that 

 can be purchased for cash without settlement. 

 The act of March 3, 1881, excluded public 

 lands in Alabama from operation of laws re- 

 latins to mineral lands. Lands such as are 

 valuable in Western States and Territories at 

 $2.50, $5, $10, and $20 an acre, are sold in this 

 State in unlimited quantities for $1.25. The 

 area of public lands within the five Southern 

 States, June 30, 1883, was 18,620,645-93 acres. 

 Of these there had been disposed of by public 

 sale and private entry to June 30, 1887, 2,136,- 

 640-92 acres, for $2,695,541. 



Settlement. Those only are legal settlers upon 

 the public lands, male or female, who are citi- 

 zens of the United States, or who have declared 

 their intention to become such, who are heads 

 of families, or are over twenty-one years of age. 

 Proclamation of Congress in 1785 forbade set- 

 tlement upon the public lands. Authority to 

 remove settlers by force of arms was granted 

 to the President at that time and later. The 

 first pre-emption or preference right to pur- 

 chase land, in view of prior settlement and 

 improvement, was accorded March 3, 1801, to 

 contractors for lands included in the purchase 

 of John Cleves Symmes. but outlying the pat- 

 ent obtained by him. Subsequent legislation 

 culminated, Sept. 4, 1841. in the passage of the 

 act allowing pre-emption of 160 acres with 

 credit of from 12 to 33 months, to be paid for 



at the minimum rate of $1.25 an acre. No per- 

 son is allowed to pre-empt land who owns 820 

 acres of land within the United States, or who 

 has removed from land of his own. The num- 

 ber of patents issued for pre-empted lands dur- 

 ing 1888 is 12,403. Pre-emption filings are 

 merged into cash sales upon making of final 

 proof and payment, so that it is impossible to 

 give the number or acreage of such filings for 

 extensive periods. The filings so merged in 

 1887 numbered 23,151. The amount of land 

 disposed of by pre-emption to June 30, 1887, 

 is estimated at 185,969,023 acres. Pre-emption 

 is allowed upon unsurveyed as surveyed lands, 

 where not reserved or selected for town-site 

 purposes, and where not saline or mineral. 



The homestead law of May 20, 1862, origin- 

 ated in the Free-Soil movement ten years pre- 

 vious, and was the subject of animated discus- 

 sion in Congress from that date. A bill passed 

 by both Houses was vetoed by President Bu- 

 chanan, June 23, 1860, but the measure finally 

 received Executive sanction at the hands of 

 President Lincoln. By its provisions, a home 

 of 160 acres of the public lands is secured, 

 without payment, upon condition of residence 

 and improvement for a period of five years. 

 Land thus acquired is not liable for debt con- 

 tracted prior to the issuance of patent. Full 

 citizenship is requisite for final title. Section 8 

 of the act allows commutation of homestead, 

 or payment for the land as in pre-emption entry 

 at any period within the term of five years 

 after six months' settlement. This feature is 

 open to the same objections as the pre-emption 

 laws, and its repeal has been advised. Amend- 

 ment to the homestead law provide for entries 

 of homes of 160 acres by soldiers and sailors 

 honorably discharged, their term of service in 

 the civil war to be deducted from the five years 

 of residence required by law. Actual residence 

 for one year, however, is required. A claim 

 may be filed by an agent or attorney, but entry 

 can be made only by the soldier or sailor. Addi- 

 tional homestead and adjoining farm provisions 

 are for entry of land to fill the limit of 160 

 acres, in cases where the right has been exer- 

 cised for a smaller amount. Non-mineral affida- 

 vits are required previous to entry of lands 

 within mineral districts. The total number of 

 entries under the homestead law, to June 30, 

 1888, is 874.501, covering 113,878.601-43 acres. 

 Of these 319,030 were final, covering 38,483,- 

 434-22 acres ; and 16,077 homesteads were pat- 

 ented for the year 1888. Commutations of 

 homesteads are merged in cash sales in the 

 keeping of Government accounts; 5,835 home- 

 steads were commuted during 1888. The act 

 of March 3, 1875, extended the homestead 

 privilege to Indian settlers. But commuta- 

 tion is denied them, nor are their titles sub- 

 ject to alienation or incumbrance for a period 

 of twenty years. Commissions and fees are 

 payable at times of making entry and final 

 proof under homestead laws, and vary accord- 

 ing to States, and number and value of acres< 



