THE INFLUENCE OF LAND POLICIES 121 



was consumed in discussing the policy of land grants 

 to railroads. A wide difference of opinion developed 

 in Congress with reference to these grants. In 1838 

 a bill was passed by the Senate making a land grant 

 to Indiana for building a railroad, but the House of 

 Representatives defeated the measure. From 1845 

 to 1850 the Senate authorized several land grants for 

 this purpose, but the House of Representatives re- 

 fused to pass any of these acts. The hostile attitude 

 of the representatives in Congress is probably ex- 

 plained by the controlling power of eastern members 

 who were alarmed over the rapid development of the 

 Middle West. The mutual advantage of better 

 transportation between the rural West and the 

 rapidly developing industrial East was not fully 

 understood at this time. 



But in 1850 a land grant bill in favor of aiding 

 railroad construction was proposed, received favor- 

 able consideration by both houses of Congress, and 

 became a law. This act provided for a land grant to 

 Illinois, Alabama, and Mississippi. The geographi- 

 cal area affected would indicate that the benefits 

 were sufficiently distributed throughout the country 

 to enlist the support of a majority of both houses of 

 Congress. 



This act marks the beginning of land grants for 

 railroad construction. "An analysis of the final vote 

 on this measure in the Senate/' says Orfield, "shows 

 that the line of cleavage was rather between the 

 states that contained no public land and the public 



