36 HISTORY OF THE GRANGE MOVEMENT; OR, 



in one case, Congress could not refuse it in others, and 

 the result was that the greater portion of the public 

 domain was given away to railway corporations, 

 the people of the country practically receiving no 

 valuable consideration for the grants. These grants 

 were made to the States and by them conveyed to 

 the respective railways. Congress conveyed to each of 

 the applicants "six alternate sections of public lands 

 of 640 acres each (and equalling 3480 acres to the 

 mile), to be taken by the odd numbers within six miles 

 of the line of the road proposed. In case such a num- 

 ber of sections of odd numbers of public lands could 

 not be found within six miles of such line (in con- 

 sequence of previous sale), then the grant was to be 

 enlarged so as to apply to the odd sections within 

 fifteen miles of the line on either side, so as to make up 

 the full amount intended to be granted. Many of the 

 grants were subsequently further enlarged so as to 

 apply to sections of odd numbers within twenty miles 

 of the line." 



So common has the custom of giving the public land 

 to a railway corporation, to enable it to build its road, 

 become, that at present, the first care of the directors 

 of a new enterprise of this kind is to obtain, from the 

 Government, land enough to defray the cost of the 

 road. In other words, men forming a corporation to 

 build a road for their own profit, are shrewd enough to 

 throw the expense of their enterprise upon the people 

 of the country at large. The people pay for the roads ; 

 the stockholders receive the profits. Members of Con- 

 gress seem to agree thoroughly with the railway direc- 

 tors of the present day in the belief that it is the duty 

 of the General Government to make the tax-payers 



