THE STORY OF OUR PUBLIC DOMAIN 61 



ing industry would have to contend, instead of one 

 law applying everywhere. Some prospectors have 

 already expressed alarm over the development of 

 such a situation. I present this phase of the situa- 

 tion for the consideration of miners in the Western 

 country whose interests are directly affected/' 



Secretary Work's assumption that, upon trans- 

 fer of Public Lands to states, ownership and min- 

 erals would still remain with the nation is not that 

 of many thinkers in the states themselves. It is not 

 merely administration of these lands that local in- 

 terests desire, but the lands themselves in sole pos- 

 session. This is not, mark you, the mental attitude 

 of state populations, but of those business interests 

 only which deal in national resources. To-day, 

 thinking nationally is spreading through the West 

 with great rapidity. It is this which will save our 

 national possessions. 



In computing the losses of the Interior Depart- 

 ment, however, it is only fair to consider money put 

 into reclamation as investment. The total loss to 

 this fund over the reclamation period of twenty-five 

 years has not exceeded ten per cent, and the immense 

 increase in wealth in these areas has more than com- 

 pensated the Federal Treasury in income taxes since 

 the adoption of that method of taxation. 



When the nation equipped each new state witH 

 lands, it turned over one or more sections in each 

 township for schools irrespective of fitness for that 

 purpose. They were known as "school lands." But 



