DISTRIBUTION OF PUBLIC LANDS. 293 



land monopoly, and has probably done more to retard the de 

 velopment of California, than any other single cause. The 

 benefits have accrued mainly to speculators, while the evil ef 

 fects extend throughout the whole social organism. 



Had the proceeds of the sale of lands granted by the United 

 States for educational purposes, been kept in the treasury, and 

 the interest thereon annually paid to the proper officers of States 

 or institutions, according to the provisions of Merrill s Congres 

 sional Bill for the further endowment of Agricultural Colleges, 

 (1872,) millions would have been saved to the educational in 

 terest, and many of these evils obviated. 



The relations of all our industries, and our very existence as 

 a republican government, are bound up in the freedom of land. 

 Not an acre of our public domain should ever have been parted 

 with, except for homestead purposes, for actual settlement 

 and use, and for national parks, or conservatories of native 

 animals and plants. 



The public domain is distributed throughout the States of the 

 interior, and especially those west of the Mississippi. Texas 

 owns her own land; California contained 100,000,000 acres in 

 1870; the rest is to be found mainly in the territories, as fol 

 lows : 



Territories. Total Acres. Acres Unappro 



priated. 



Washington, .44,796,160.00 40,976,976.60 



New Mexico, 77,568,640.00 70,677,735.83 



Utah, 54,065,043.20 48,659,916.27 



Dakota, 96,596,128.50. 90,567,020.47 



Colorado, 66,880,000.00 62,382,773.26 



Montana 92,016,640.00 86,768,100.09 



Arizona, 72,906,240.00 68,855,730.00 



Idaho, 55,228,160.00 52,103,783.04 



Wyoming, . . . 62,645,068.00 59,163,834.49 



Indian, 44,154,240.00 44,154,240.00 



The amount not disposed of on the 30th of June, 1870, 

 was 1,387,732,209 acres. From this must be deducted, for 

 water surface, at least 80,000,000 acres; Alaska, 369,000,000 

 acres; grants to railroad and other corporations, 200,000,000 

 acres. 



Senator Stewart puts the amount of the public domain which 

 is fit for homestead purposes, at 332,000,000 of acres. Of the 

 447,000,000 of acres disposed of by the government, he says 



