The credit for this has gone to New England and New York,
but the "white acres" came of the territory and the riches of Nouvelle
France.
You will not wish to follow in detail the ministrations of the priests of
the land-offices and the surveys of the men of the magic chains, for it is
a long and tedious story that would fill thousands of pages, and in the
end only obscure the real significance of the movement. Here is a summary
of allotments made up to 1904 of all the public domain, that of the
Mississippi Valley being somewhat more than half. [Footnote: See Report of
the Public Lands Commission, Washington, 1905.]
_Private land claims_, donations etc. (the
first of the latter being made to the early French
settlers).............................................(ACRES) 33,400,000
_Wagon-road, canal, and river_ improvement
grants (provision for the narrow strips of common
that intersect each other at every mile of the
settled parts of the valley).................................. 9,700,000
_Railroad grants_ for the subsidizing of
the private building of railways chiefly up
and down and across the valley.
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