HISTORY AND LEGAL BASIS. 31 



tiers or under the mining laws, unsurveyed lands occupied with a 

 view to entry under the desert-land laws, and lands containing val- 

 uable deposits of minerals other than coal are not subject to segrega- 

 tion. Coal lands (in Utah oil and gas lands also) may be segre- 

 gated, but when patent is issued it must contain a reservation of these 

 minerals to the United States. 



The usual procedure under the Carey Act is about as follows : 

 A corporation or individual applies to the State for the with- 

 drawal of certain public lands proposed for irrigation. The State 

 thereupon submits to the Interior Department an application for 

 their withdrawal. On the approval of this application the State is 

 allowed one year in which to investigate the project and prepare 

 satisfactory plans for reclamation. The proposing company con- 

 ducts the investigations and if a project that is considered feasible 

 is developed makes application to the State for the segregation of 

 the irrigable lands and offers to contract with the State for their 

 reclamation. The State thereupon applies to the Interior Depart- 

 ment for the segregation of the lands under the terms of the Carey 

 Act and its amendments. If the plan of irrigation is found to be 

 feasible, the irrigation company responsible, and the available water 

 supply adequate, the lands are segregated and the contract for their 

 reclamation is entered into between the United States and the State. 

 ^Vhen the irrigation works are completed to the satisfaction of the 

 Government, patent is issued to the State or to its assigns. The 

 State receives payment for the lands from the settler, and the irriga- 

 tion company, either directly or through the State, receives payment 

 from each settler for his proportionate share of the irrigation works 

 and water rights involved. 



bahiBOai} GBAirrs. 



As already indicated, most grants of public lands in aid of internal 

 improvements have been made through the States. Eight grants, 

 however, have been made by Congress directly to corporations, to en- 

 courage the building of railroads. Four of these grants, aggregating 

 approximately 109,000,000 acres, were made to Federal corporations 

 created by Congress for the purpose of building the roads subsidized, 

 and four were made to State corporations. Of the four grants to State 

 'corporations, two were declared forfeited by Congress in 1874, the two 

 remaining aggregating approximately 6,000,000 acres. The first of the 

 grants made directly to corporations was the Pacific railroads bill of 

 July 1, 1862 (12 Stat., 489), which provided for the building of the 

 Union Pacific-Central Pacific line from Missouri Kiver to the Pa- 

 cific coast. This act granted to the rpiJroad every alternate section 

 for 20 miles on either side of the ri^?^; of way. The Northern Pa- 

 cific grant of July 2, 1864 (13 Stat., 365), conveyed every alternate 



