enjoyment of comfortable, and thousands of them of luxurious homes, acquired from the government under the operation of this benign policy. But the liberality in public gratuities has been even more munificent than that towards individuals. More than 7,000,000 acres have been given to the states to aid in educating the people, thereby giving strength and vigor to the elements of a free government. Then Congress conceded to certain states the "swamp lands" within their limits, the aggregate selections thus far reaching 60,246,532 of acres. Upwards of sixty-five millions of acres have been granted for military services in the revolutionary war and the war with Great Britain, Mexico, etc. Five hundred thousand acres have been granted to each of the land states for internal improvements, grants to universities, and to aid in the building of railroads. Finally, Congress, in 1863, granted 150,000,000 of acres to aid in building the Pacific Railroad, a scheme which is destincd at no very distant day to consolidate the industrial and commercial interests of the country, open up and people the vast empire beyond the western limits of the present frequented paths of civilization, and bind together the Atlantic and Pacific States, with their intermediate links, in a bond of union which internal conspiracies or foreign cupidity and avarice shall never be able to break, but which the lapse of ages shall weld stronger and stronger while time lasts. The policy of Congress with reference to the public domain, as indicated by their acts, appears to be not to look to the public lands as a source of direct revenue, but rather by encouraging bona fide settlements and aiding important works of internal improvement and institutions for the education of the people, to quicken the settlement of the country and the development of its resources, and, by increasing individual wealth and educa according to the kind of line to be run and the locality in which the survey is to be made. The following are the surveying rates authorized by law for the respective states and territories: The prices in the foregoing table are the maximum rates allowed by law, but the full prices are not always paid. In some localities surveying can be done at less than these rates, and still afford a fair compensation to the surveyor for his labor. In the more remote districts, where the cost of provisions and labor is greater, the full rates are allowed, and in some instances higher rates than those named are paid, where the appropriation is based upon estimates at greater prices. When the field work is completed, the field notes are returned to the office of the Surveyor-General, where they are examined and tested, and plats* and transcripts are prepared and transmitted to the General Land Office, * The plats are uniformly constructed on a scale of 40 chains to an inch. approved by the Surveyor-General in his official capacity, together with the surveying account of the deputy; and no surveys are paid for until such plats and transcripts are examined at the General Land Office and found correct. The plats and transcripts are prepared without cost to the deputy surveyors. Ohio.......... Michigan....... Wisconsin Iowa....... 25,576,960 25,576,960 Maine......... 21,637,760 21,637,760 New Hampshire 36,128,640 36,128,640 Vermont....... 35,462,400 35,462,400 Massachusetts.. 34,511,360 34,511,360 Rhode Island.... 35,630,898 35,228,800 Connecticut...... 53,459,840 22,045,867 New York........ 41,824,000 41,824,000 New Jersey...... 33,406,720 33,406,720 Pennsylvania.... Mississippi.... 30,179,840 30,179,840 Delaware.... Louisiana...... 26,461,440 23,461,440 Maryland.... Minnesota..... Missouri..... Arkansas... 22,400,000 5,939,200 6,535,680 4,992,000 835,840 3,040,000 30,080,000 5,324,800 29,440,000 1,356,800 7,119,360 * Russian America, acquired by purchase in 1867, is estimated to contain 369,529,600 acres. The following is a comparative statement of the land measures of the United States and the French measures formerly used in the late Province of Louisiana. These proportions were adopted by the Surveyor-General's Office of St. Louis, Missouri, and are considered in all surveys as the true proportions between said measures. A league square contains 7056 arpents or 6002 50 acres. A mile square contains 725 arpents and 32-64 perches, or 640 acres. 12 arpents=35 chains lineal. |