CHAPTER XXXII. PUBLIC LANDS.

 1. ALL the land in the United States, to which individuals or corporations have not acquired a legal title, is held by the general government. This includes the land, or the part of it not under special reservation, belonging to the Indians. As the settlements push on into the territory roamed over by the thinly scattered¹ Indian tribes, an equitable² arrangement is made with them, by which certain Reservations, large enough for their purposes are set aside for their occupation; and an indemnity³, commonly in the form of an annuity⁴, is made them for the lands to which they renounce⁵ their right. As they are gradually melting away, their lands will soon become all, or nearly all, the property of the government.

2. The lands free for settlement are sold under certain regulations; and given to certain classes—to soldiers, to actual settlers for Homesteads, to corporations to aid in promoting the public welfare—as Railroads and Colleges—and to support education in various ways; and the remainder held until required for use in the expansion of the country.

Nearly 200,000,000 acres have been given to assist in building railroads through unsettled parts of the country. A large part of this, however, has been only conditionally⁶ given, and not yet appropriated by the corporations. Many millions more have been given to the States as a fund in aid of public schools and collegiate institutions—and one thirty-sixth part is reserved, in every new township surveyed, for the benefit of public schools in that township. The rest is sold, at very low rates, to any who will buy.

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3. To manage this property a bureau was established by act of Congress, in 1812, called The General Land Office. It was under the oversight⁷ of the Secretary of the Treasury⁸ until 1849, when the Department of the Interior was established, to which it was then transferred. Its head is called

COMMISSIONER⁹ OF THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE.

 

4. He is appointed by the President and Senate, must take the usual official oath before entering on his duties, and must give the usual official bond. He keeps the seal of his office, and fixes an impression of it upon all papers emanating¹⁰ from the Land Office. He, with his clerks and assistants, forms the bureau, keeps all the records and papers pertaining¹¹ to the public lands, and performs all duties relating thereto. He receives reports from surveyors and from the district land officers, gives them their instructions, and reports to the President and to Congress when required to do so.

He issues all patents for lands granted by the United States, and sends and receives by mail all papers and documents relating to his official business, at public expense. Every patent for land is issued in the name of the United States, is signed by the President and by the Commissioner of the Land Office, and is then recorded in books kept for that purpose.

SURVEYORS GENERAL AND DEPUTY SURVEYORS.

 

5. When it is deemed necessary and expedient¹² to bring the lands in any particular State or section of the country into market, a surveyor general is appointed for that State or section, and also a sufficient number of deputy or assistant surveyors to perform the work; which is done under the direction of the surveyor general, who is himself directed by law as to the manner of procedure. He is appointed for four years, taking the usual oath, and gives bonds for the faithful performance of his duties.

MODE OF SURVEYING THE PUBLIC LANDS.

 

6. The law directs how the lands shall be surveyed and mapped. Where it is practicable, they are laid out into[324] square miles, each of which contains 640 acres, and is called a section.

These sections are then sub-divided into halves, quarters, and eighths of sections; that is, into lots of 320, 160, and 80 acres. The boundary lines are all run north and south, and east and west. Thirty-six of these sections, which make a plat of six miles square, are put into a township. These townships are designated by numbers, but when inhabited are named by the inhabitants as their fancy dictates¹³.

SALE OF THE PUBLIC LANDS.

 

7. After the lands have been surveyed and properly mapped into townships and sections, they are brought into market and offered for sale in such quantities as are wanted by the purchaser; from 40 acres, one-sixteenth of a section, up to a whole section; or as many sections as the buyer pleases to take.

DISTRICT LAND OFFICES.

 

8. District land offices for the sale of lands are established for this purpose at as many places in the State or Territory where the lands are situated¹⁴, as is deemed necessary for the convenience of purchasers. Here are kept maps of all the lands lying in the district, and buyers may make their selections both of quantity and location as suits them. Here they will find

A REGISTER OF THE LAND OFFICE AND A RECEIVER OF PUBLIC MONEY FOR LANDS.

 

9. The first named officer will register the application made for land in a book kept for that purpose, and the second will receive the money paid for it. These officers are appointed by the President and Senate, and report their proceedings¹⁵ to the General Land Office at Washington. The receiver transmits all moneys received by him to the United States Treasury once in a month or once in three months, as directed.

SCHOOL LANDS.

 

10. As before stated, the public lands are surveyed into[325] sections of one mile square, and thirty-six of these sections make a township. For the purpose of encouraging education, Congress has enacted¹⁶ that section number 16, in every township, shall not be sold, but reserved for the township, to be applied¹⁷ to the support of common schools in that town. By this measure the government appropriated one thirty-sixth part of its lands to aid the work of educating the children in the new States. And in addition to this it has made other munificent¹⁸ donations of land for the establishment and support of colleges and other institutions of learning.

11. In addition to all this the United States have donated large tracts¹⁹ of land to the several States in which it lay, to aid them in building their State houses, &c. Large quantities of land have also been given to aid the construction of railroads.

HOMESTEADS.

 

12. The government has always sold its lands at a very low price, preferring to give the people cheap farms, rather than to raise more revenue from this source.

But in 1862, Congress passed an act called “the Homestead Law,” the object of which was to cheapen the public lands to a mere²⁰ nominal²¹ price to heads of families, male or female, or to persons 21 years of age or over, or to persons who had served in the army or navy of the United States, whether 21 years old or not. By the provisions of this act such persons are allowed, for the trifling²² sum of ten dollars, to enter upon and claim 160 acres of land, provided the claimant swears that the land is applied for his or her own use, and for settlement and cultivation²³. But no patent (deed) is to be given until the applicant²⁴ has actually settled upon and cultivated the land for the space of five years. Such applicant must also make affidavit²⁵ that he has never borne arms against the United States.

By this liberal policy, persons of very limited means may provide themselves with comfortable homes for life; and the unoccupied lands will be settled and occupied faster than if the old price of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre had[326] been demanded. The revenue from the sale of lands will of course be less, but the wealth of the country will undoubtedly²⁶ be increased by the measure.

13. Exceedingly rich and valuable mines of gold, silver, copper²⁷, lead and other minerals have been found upon the public lands. That the benefits of mining them might be extended to the many, instead of being monopolized²⁸ by a few, a different rule for selling them has been made. After they have been surveyed, mapped and described, they, like other lands, are offered for sale, but in quantities of not more than 40 acres. These are generally sold at auction²⁹, but no bid less than five dollars per acre will be received. If not sold at public sale, they are then subject to private sale at that price.

1 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

2 equitable   

adj.公平的；公正的

参考例句：

• This is an equitable solution to the dispute. 这是对该项争议的公正解决。
• Paying a person what he has earned is equitable. 酬其应得,乃公平之事。

3 indemnity   

n.赔偿，赔款，补偿金

参考例句：

• They paid an indemnity to the victim after the accident.他们在事故后向受害者付了赔偿金。
• Under this treaty,they were to pay an indemnity for five million dollars.根据这项条约，他们应赔款500万美元。

4 annuity   

n.年金；养老金

参考例句：

• The personal contribution ratio is voluntary in the annuity program.企业年金中个人缴费比例是自愿的。
• He lives on his annuity after retirement.他退休后靠退休金维生。

5 renounce   

v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系

参考例句：

• She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
• It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。

6 conditionally   

adv. 有条件地

参考例句：

• We will provide necessary English training to the new employees conditionally. 公司将为员工提供必要的英语培训。
• China should conditionally support and participate in the coordination. 我国对此宜持有条件支持并参与的立场。

7 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

8 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

9 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

10 emanating   

v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的现在分词 )；产生，表现，显示

参考例句：

• Even so, there is a slight odour of potpourri emanating from Longfellow. 纵然如此，也还是可以闻到来自朗费罗的一种轻微的杂烩的味道。 来自辞典例句
• Many surface waters, particularly those emanating from swampy areas, are often colored to the extent. 许多地表水，特别是由沼泽地区流出的地表水常常染上一定程度的颜色。 来自辞典例句

11 pertaining   

与…有关系的，附属…的，为…固有的(to)

参考例句：

• Living conditions are vastly different from those pertaining in their country of origin. 生活条件与他们祖国大不相同。
• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school. 视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。

12 expedient   

adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计

参考例句：

• The government found it expedient to relax censorship a little.政府发现略微放宽审查是可取的。
• Every kind of expedient was devised by our friends.我们的朋友想出了各种各样的应急办法。

13 dictates   

n.命令，规定，要求( dictate的名词复数 )v.大声讲或读( dictate的第三人称单数 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• Convention dictates that a minister should resign in such a situation. 依照常规部长在这种情况下应该辞职。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He always follows the dictates of common sense. 他总是按常识行事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

15 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

16 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

17 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

18 munificent   

adj.慷慨的，大方的

参考例句：

• I am so happy to get munificent birthday presents from my friends.我很高兴跟我朋友收到大量的生日礼物。
• The old man's munificent donation to the hospital was highly appreciated.老人对医院慷慨的捐赠赢得了高度赞扬。

19 tracts   

大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文

参考例句：

• vast tracts of forest 大片大片的森林
• There are tracts of desert in Australia. 澳大利亚有大片沙漠。

20 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

21 nominal   

adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的

参考例句：

• The king was only the nominal head of the state. 国王只是这个国家名义上的元首。
• The charge of the box lunch was nominal.午餐盒饭收费很少。

22 trifling   

adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的

参考例句：

• They quarreled over a trifling matter.他们为这种微不足道的事情争吵。
• So far Europe has no doubt, gained a real conveniency,though surely a very trifling one.直到现在为止,欧洲无疑地已经获得了实在的便利，不过那确是一种微不足道的便利。

23 cultivation   

n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成

参考例句：

• The cultivation in good taste is our main objective.培养高雅情趣是我们的主要目标。
• The land is not fertile enough to repay cultivation.这块土地不够肥沃，不值得耕种。

24 applicant   

n.申请人，求职者，请求者

参考例句：

• He was the hundredth applicant for the job. 他是第100个申请这项工作的人。
• In my estimation, the applicant is well qualified for this job. 据我看, 这位应征者完全具备这项工作的条件。

25 affidavit   

n.宣誓书

参考例句：

• I gave an affidavit to the judge about the accident I witnessed.我向法官提交了一份关于我目击的事故的证词。
• The affidavit was formally read to the court.书面证词正式向出席法庭的人宣读了。

26 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。

27 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

28 monopolized   

v.垄断( monopolize的过去式和过去分词 )；独占；专卖；专营

参考例句：

• Men traditionally monopolized jobs in the printing industry. 在传统上，男人包揽了印刷行业中的所有工作。
• The oil combine monopolized the fuel sales of the country. 这家石油联合企业垄断了这个国家的原油销售。 来自互联网

29 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。