GRANTS TO THE STATE. 297 



and thirty-sixth sections in each township, or indemnity there 

 for in cases where the State cannot perfect her title on account 

 of Spanish grants, or prior sales by the United States. This 

 grant comprises one-eighteenth of the land in the State, or an 

 aggregate of about six millions of acres. About one third, or 

 two millions of acres of this land is located within the mineral 

 belt. 



Under Section IV. of Act of September 28, 1850, the State is 

 granted all the swamp and overflowed lands within her border. 



Under Section VIII. of Act of September 4, 1841, the State is 

 granted five hundred thousand acres for the purposes of inter 

 nal improvement. 



Under Section XII. of Act of March 3, 1853, the State is 

 granted seventy-two sections, or 46,080 acres, for the use of a 

 seminary of learning. 



Under Section XIII. of the same Act, ten sections -for the 

 purpose of the erection of public buildings. 



Under the Act of July 2, 1862, one hundred and fifty thou 

 sand acres for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts. 



By virtue of her sovereignty the State is owner of all the 

 salt, marsh and tide-lands within her borders. 



Had the State of California, on the receipt of these magnifi 

 cent gifts, protected the settler instead of the speculator, our 

 newspapers Avould hot be asking to-day, &quot;What shall we do 

 with the immigrants ?&quot; But she appears to have offered, through 

 her land laws, a premium to speculation, which is unexampled 

 in the history of States. The floating titles of her Mexican 

 grants, the floating character of swamp lands, and the large 

 floating grant of &quot;lieu,&quot; or indemnity lands, which may be 

 located on any unappropriated government land, have made the 

 Golden State the paradise of lawyers. Capital was not needed 

 where a combination between lawyers, legislators, and specula 

 tors would enrich all three at the expense of the settler and 

 the great future of the State. 



The machinery was so well oiled that though a Governor 

 could say in his message, &quot; Our land system seems to be mainly 

 framed to facilitate the acquisition of large bodies of land by 

 capitalists or corporations, either as donations or at nominal 

 prices,&quot; no effectual remedy has ever been applied. One illus 

 tration of the system must suffice : &quot;To purchase land of the 

 State, an application must be filed in the State Land Office, 



