RAILROAD AND OTHER LAND GRANTS. Grants for railroad and other pur poses were the subject of vigorous discussion from an early period of our history, many boIdr' ing that the Federal government had no author ity to grant subsidies for internal improvements. The decision reached was in favor of such sub sidies. The first of the kind was made 30 April 1802 in the Enabling Act of the State of Ohio which provided that one-twentieth of the net proceeds of the sales of public lands in said State should be given to the State for construct-, ing public roads. Grants of land in aid of the construction of canals were authorized in later years. The first aid for the construction of a railroad was 2 March 1833 when the State of Illinois was permitted by Congress to divert its canal land grant of 2 March 1827 for the con struction of a railroad, but this grant did not become effective. The first definite grant of lands to aid in the construction of a railroad was the Act of 20 Sept. 1850 to the State of Illi nois. A number of grants of lands to States followed as aids to railroads.
After 1850 and the admission of the State of California into the Union a strong' agitation developed for the construction of a railroad to the Pacific Coast which resulted in the acts of 1 July 1862 making grants of lands to the Union Pacific Railroad Company, the Central Pacific Railroad Company and other roads. There were many land grantS to railroads up to •871.
The land grants to the States and railroads for railroad purposes provided usually for a grant of the odd sections within 6 to 10 miles on either side of the line of road. In seine
cases the grant was 20 miles in width on either side. In addition the roads were authorized to select indemnity lands where any portion of the main grant had been otherwise disposed The total area 'granted to States for canal purposes was 4,597,804.37 acres. The total area patented for wagon roads under their as reported to 30 June 1918 was 3,242,1739r For the same date the are patented to States for railroad grants was 37,784,852.58 and for the same date to railroads. was 24927,123.63. . The total area thus disposed of for public ments to 30 June 1918 was 131,551,954.33 acres.
In addition to this, the granting acts author. iced the issue of United States 6 per. cent bonds in.aid of the construction of. the Pacific rail~ roads on the basis' of $16,000 per mile in the Great Plains. east of the Rocky Mountains; Ice $48,000 per mile for tportion crossing the Rocky Mountains; $32, per mile for the line through the Central P ins with similar grants to the Central Pacific for the western part of the line. These bonds of the United States were a second lien against the property of the companies.
The total bond issue for the Pacific roads was $64,623,512. All have made settlement ex cept the Central Branch of the Union Pacific, Which still owes the principal of the bonds, $1,600,000, and interest which amounted to 1,977,000 to 31 March 1919. This debt is being very slowly reduced by credits on account of the transportation of public property.