OUK LAND PEERAGE. 601 



government, to keep such colleges above board, in many 

 cases not over fifty cents an acre, the grant has been a 

 questionable blessing; it may be considered as a tax put upon 

 the settlers of the new States to support the colleges of the 

 older and richer ones. The Agricultural College Scrip of Cal 

 ifornia was located under special privileges, and has been sold 

 for five dollars an acre. Who w r ere the holders of this scrip, 

 or to whom some of the best timbered lands in Humboldt and 

 other counties have been sold for five dollars an acre, the pub 

 lic have never been informed, the property of the University 

 being administered as a private trust. The University has a 

 special officer in charge of these lands, given solely &quot; for the 

 benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts.&quot; 



The grants made to railroads of California have been as fol 

 lows: To the Western and Central Pacific of ten alternate sec 

 tions, on each side, per mile, (12,800 acres;) to the Southern 

 Pacific, ditto, with ten miles on each side, from which to make 

 up deficiencies; to the Stockton and Copperopolis of five alter 

 nate sections on each side, and twenty miles on each side, in 

 which to make up deficiencies; to the Texas Pacific, and to the 

 connecting branch of the Southern Pacific, ten alternate sec 

 tions, with ten miles for deficiencies, made in the year 1871. 

 The greater part of this land is unsurveyed, and the settler upon 

 the government sections must take his chances whether he -gets 

 upon it or not. Settlers who have purchased of the railroad 

 are few; the best farming lands having been sold to &quot;Land 

 Companies,&quot; who, it is asserted, stand in peculiar relations to 

 the railroad. The railroads are in no haste to sell, foreseeing 

 the inevitable rise in the value of their immense property. 



The effect of all these monopolies is to keep lands out of the 

 hands of the army of industrialists who would flock to God s 

 country by hundreds of thousands, could this pressure be re 

 moved. 



The following list, or &quot; Blue Book,&quot; of our Land Peerage, is 

 taken from Hittell s Eesources of California, and other reliable 

 sources. The reader is referred to the reports of the Board of 

 Equalization for further details : 



Those who own from 100,000 to 500,000 acres (some of which is in scattered 

 tracts) : 



Wm. S. Chapman _. 350,000 



Miller & Lux, from 228,000 to 450,000 



