LANDS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Something like 133,000,000 acres of our public lands have from
time to time been turned over to the states, the proceeds to be
used for the promotion of public education, for the construction
of roads, and for other purposes (see Chapters XVII and XIX). In
some cases these lands have not been used altogether for the
purposes for which they were granted. School lands have sometimes
been sold at a nominal price to individuals who have reaped the
profit, whereas the lands might have been so administered by the
states as to have brought large returns for educational purposes.
In some cases, state officials have made unwise investments of the
funds derived from the sale of the lands, thereby losing them for
the use of the state.

LAND MONOPOLY AND TENANTRY

The control, or "monopolizing," of the public land by large
holders is said to be one of the causes of increasing tenantry
(Chapter X, p. 116); for as the available supply of desirable
farming land is diminished, the actual home-seeker is driven to
take less productive lands, or to purchase from the large holders
at a higher price. The more recent land laws limit the amount of
public land that an individual may acquire to an area sufficient
to enable him to make a comfortable living for a family (see
above, p. 199). They also exact from the homesteader an agreement
that he will actually occupy and cultivate the land.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR LAND FRAUDS