has bought back from the company at $2.50 an acre all of the lands
of the grant which remained unsold, amounting to about 2,300,000
acres and valued at from $30,000,000 to $50,000,000.

These lands are being classified "in accordance with their chief
value, either in power-site lands, timber lands, or agricultural
lands," and are to be disposed of accordingly. The timber will be
sold separately from the land, and the land will then be opened to
homestead entry.

By this arrangement the railroad company gets for the land all
that it was entitled to under the terms of the original grant. In
addition, provision is made for the payment to the counties in
which the land lies of the taxes which the railroad company has
not paid. As the lands are sold, the proceeds are to be divided
between the state and the United States, the state receiving 50
percent, 40 percent being paid into the general reclamation fund
of the United States (see Chapter XIV, p. 213), and 10 per cent
into the general funds of the United States Treasury.

(From the Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office,
1916, pp. 46-49).

This is a striking illustration of how our government, acting
through Congress, the Courts, and the General Land Office of the
Department of the Interior, has sought to obtain justice for all
parties concerned, and to fulfill the original purpose of securing
the development of the land in the interest of the state and the
nation.