In keeping with the magnitude of the sub- 

 ject and the law under which it acted, the 

 commission concerned itself primarily with the 

 vast : body of "unused" lands in the northern 

 half of the state, and particularly the part 

 which for more than a quarter of a century 

 has formed our tax lands, or lands delinquent 

 for non-payment of taxes. The inquiry in 

 this direction is most thorough and complete. 

 The use of these lands, their possibilities and 

 their history all were carefully looked into, 

 and the recommendations concerning these 

 lands take into consideration most fully the 

 utilization, settlement, improvement and pro- 

 tection of them from the standpoint, not 

 only of the locality, but of the state of Michi- 

 gan in its entirety. 



According to the report, there are in the 

 northern half of our state vast bodies of lands 

 which were logged, burned over, and now 

 form th "cut-over" lands of the state. Of 

 these lands large areas are delinquent for 

 taxes every year, and a goodly part of these 

 delinquent lands is never redeemed, but be- 

 comes state land, or, as it is officially termed, 

 "tax homestead land." In the past these lands 

 were sold as fast as possible, with a view 

 to getting them back on the tax roll and also 

 to encourage their settlement. 



The extent of these lands is reported in 

 the following table: 



Area, in Acres, of Lands Delinquent for Taxes. 



1875 9,111,000 



1880 7,395,000 



1885 7,421,000 



1890 7,967,000 



1897 8,970,000 



1901 7,022,000 



1902 6,077,000 



1903.. . 6,310,000 



