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Report on the lands of the arid region of the United States
Report on the lands of the arid region of the United States Author:John Wesley Powell Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: II. THE LAND SYSTEM NEEDED FOR THE ARID REGION. The growth and prosperity of the Arid Region will depend largely upon a land system which will comply wi... more »th the requirements of the conditions and facts briefly set forth in the former chapter. Any citizen of the United States may acquire title to public lands by purchase at public sale or by ordinary "private entry", and in virtue of preemption, homestead, timber culture, and desert land laws. Purchase at public sale may be effected when the lands are offered at public auction to the highest bidder, either pursuant to proclamation by the President or public notice given in accordance with instructions from the General Land Office. If the land is thus offered and purchasers are not found, they are then subject to " private entry " at the rate of $ 1.25 or $2.50 per acre. For a number of years it has not been the practice of the Government to dispose of the public lands by these methods; but the public lands of the southern states are now, or soon will be, thus offered for sale. Any citizen may preempt 160 acres of land, and by settling thereon, erecting a dwelling, and making other improvements, and by paying $1.25 per acre in some districts, without the boundaries of railroad grants, aud $2.50 within the boundaries of railroad grants in others, may acquire title thereto: The preemption right can be exercised but once. No person can exercise the preemption right who is already the owner of 320 acres of land. Any citizen may, under the homestead privilege, obtain title to 160 acres of land valued at $1.25 per acre, or 80 acres valued at the rate of $2.50, by payment of $5 in the first case and $10 in the last, and by residing on the land for the term of five years and by making certain improvements. 25 4 A R ...« less