Under such conditions the title to the land returns to the State,
and after two years it may be sold by the State to any one desiring
to purchase and the former owner has no further right of redemption.
Some of these lands which are owned by the State, and on which the
State has received no taxes for many years, are still occupied by
their former owners or by "squatters"' and may continue to be so
occupied unless the land should be purchased from the State by some
one else who would demand full possession. Such purchasers, however,
are likely to be unpopular residents in the community, if the
transaction forces poor people from a place they have called home,
even though they had no legal right to occupy it.

Percy found that the report of the State Auditor showed that the
clerk of the court of Powhatan county had returned to the State
$1.05 "for sales of lands purchased by the commonwealth at tax
sales," while from Prince Edward county the State received a similar
revenue amounting to $17.39 for the same year. The total revenue to
the commonwealth from this source amounted to $667.85 for the year.
Contrasted with this was the revenue from "Redemption of Land,"
amounting to $27,436.38, suggesting something of the struggle of the
man to retain possession of his home before it becomes legally
possible for another to take it from him beyond redemption.

According to the records about a million acres of land are owned by
the Commonwealth of Virginia alone.

Percy decided to go to Washington to learn what definite information
he might obtain from the United States Department of Agriculture. On
the train for Washington he found himself sitting beside a Virginia
farmer.