LAND FOR THE LANDLESS 207 



Neb., was published in the Boston Transcript.^ 

 It states that more than 150,000,000 acres have 

 been illegally or collusively appropriated from the 

 public domains- 

 Official investigations have recently been made 

 in California of the large land holdings in twenty- 

 one counties in that State. The investigation did 

 not include 5,000,000 acres owned by the Southern 

 Pacific Railroad or the immensely valuable Spanish 

 land grants in San Diego and Los Angeles Counties. 

 In San Diego County there is the Santa Margarita 

 grant of 240,000 acres and the Irvine holding of 

 nearly 200,000 acres. The report showed that four 

 men in Kern County owned nearly 1,500,000 acres. 

 All told, 292 men owned 2,339,315 acres and 433 

 men owned 5,968,556 acres. This investigation only 

 included holdings in excess of 2,000 acres; whereas, 

 if estates in excess of 1,000 acres had been taken, 

 the exhibit would have shown a far larger portion 

 of the State to be in monopoly holdings. 



The United States census gives some indication 

 of the extent of these great estates and the land 

 monopoly which prevails. From the census re- 

 turns of 1900 it appears that of the 841,000,000 

 acres of land under cultivation 200,000,000 acres 

 are in farms whose average size is 4,230 acres. These 

 farms are owned by 47,276 persons. One-fourth of 

 the total agricultural acreage of the United States 



1 Issues May 20 to July, 1905. 



