Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 October 1886 — Page 7

In order to show still farther the gross abuses which had grown up under Republican administrations in the disposal of our public . lands.there was extensively published, less than two years ago, a carefully prepared table, . showing that 20,747,000 acres of land had been taken up and were then held by foreign syndicates, foreign land oomp&nies, and members of the English nobility, in vast estates ranging from 5,000 to 4,500,00 Q acres It was. also estimated that between 5,000,000 and 6,000.000 acres of public lands were illegally fenced and shut up against emigration by large cattle companies,some of them English and others Scotch, besides the rapacious Americans always present. The Commissioners of the Land Office and tl.e Secretaries of the Interior were all Republicans from 1831 to 1885, twenty-four years, and ou their record judgment must be given by the American people, rather than on cheap and false professional faith made now on a dying bed. Turning again to that platform, which has a . sort of horrible fascination on account of its daring mendacity and high-crested hypocrisy, we find the creators, the supporters and beneficiaries of the most gigantic monoplies ever known among men making loud-mouthed promises of what they intend to do in the future for the laboring classes of the United States. Why have they nothing to point to in the past? Why are their long years of supremacy in every department of the Government barren of anything done for the working people? Why do they not prove their faith by their work 3? It is too late in the day for the leaders of the Republican party to deceive the people by promises of the future ; they should be able to convince and satisfy the workingmen and women of the country by citing their record in the past. The Democratic party is more fortunate on this question. It cau point to some things done which speak for themselves. At the close of the long session of the Forty-eighth Congress, now two years ago, the following statement was truthfully made of what that Democratic House had done iu recognition of the demands of the laboring classes: “I. It created a Committee on Labor for the first time in the history of Congress. “ 1 . It created a bureau of Labor Statistics, demanded by every labor organization iu the country. *3. It abolished all hospital dues from seamen and sailors, compelling the support of all marine hospitals from tonnage tax. "4. It put its seal of disapprobation on the use of convict labor by striking from the appropriation bills every item for the use of convict labor on public buildings. “5. It passed a bill prohibiting importation of labor under contract to compete with American workmen, which bill the Republic Senate did not concur iu. “6. The Democratic Committee on Labor reported to the House joint resolutions for submission to the various States, prohibiting the hiring out or contracting for the labor of convicts ;also prohibiting the employment of United States prisoners iu the trades ; also conferring on Conuress the power to regulate the hours of labor in textile and othor industries.” The party which has made this record can be t listed by the working class, s to do more in the same direction when its opportunities are increased. I come next to the consideration of a subject -of great importance, and on which the public mind is always exceedingly sensitive to the slightest wrong or injustice. Any man, or party of men, guilty of unfairness,'illiberality or bad faith toward the soldiers of the war for the Union, should, and would, be speedily aud utterly overwhelmed by the execrations of the whole American peopie. The following false and virulent arraignment of the Democratic party in the Republican platform can not, therefore, be overlooked. It reads as follows : “The attempt of the Democratic House of Representatives to make odious pension legislation by adding a special tax bill to every pension measure (thus declaring that pensions should not be paid out of the general Treasury), the spirit and language of numerous vetoes of meritorious pensions, and the failure of the Democratic House of Representatives to even reconsider them before adjournment of Congress, reveal the continued enmity of the Democratic party to the Union soldier aud his cause.” There was a movement in the House of Representatives during tno latter part of the last session of Congress to receive aud re-enact an income tax, with the avowed purpose, on the part of certain loading Democrats, of making the rich, from their heavy incomes, assist in paying pensions to soldiers, their widows and orphans ; and this was the special tax which the Republicans now charge was designed by Democratic House in order to make pension legislation odious. I do not believe the soldiers of Indiana will so regard it. Ido not believe they will take it as evidence of enmity to them or their cause that the Democratic party should desire the Vanderbilts, the Goulds and their associate millionaires to aid from their enormous income in the payment of pensions. I am willing to accept the soldier vote on this proposition. But in the same arraignment, the fact that the President vetoed certain pension bills is urged as an evidence of the “continued enmity of the Democratic party to the Union soldier and his cause.” I shall not discuss the merits of these vetoes, but this I will suy, that "to the consideration of every pension bill placed before him Mr. Cleveland brought a clear and able head and an honest, conscientious heart. But one desire actuated him, and that was to do his duty. Nor shall it be forgotten, ■while he is denounced for his vetoes, that ho approved and signed more bills granting pensions in the brief period of eighteen months nan General Grant did in the entire eight ..ears he spent in the White House, And whence came this extraordinary flood of special pefision legislation? When we reflect that it poured its great, steady volume through a House of Representatives with an overwhelming Democratic majority, and largely composed •of ; ox-Confederate soldiers; and when we reflect further that this same Democratic House has Voted $75,00 ,000 a year for tho payment of pensions in the aggregate, wo are lost in amazement at the brazen calumny that the Democratic party is at enmity with the soldier of the Union aud his cause. But if we look at the cause and the treatment of the pensioner in the Executive Department of the Government, where his great and sacred interests are intrusted and administered, under the laws, we will again behold what a reckless, flagitious, and absolutely untenable falsehood may be put intoa political platform by mon of respectable standing in the communities where they live. I have here an editorial article taken from the National Tribune, a paper of more than 100,000 weekly circulation, published, owned, edited, and managed by soldiers, and exclusively in the interest of soldiers. The article appeared in the issue of July 15, ISBO. and is headed “A Splendid Showing.” It reads as follows : “The report of the work done in the Pension Office for tho fiscal year ending June 30, justifies all that has been said in these columns of tho increased efficiency and liberality of the administration of General John C. Black. During the year the office issued 79,654 pension certificates, a total increase of 9,208 over the work of any previous year. “The greater liberality of General Black’s administration is shown by the increase of more than 500 allowances per month, and tho greater efficiency is proved by this grand increase of work being accomplished by a force of clerks numbering fully 100 less than the average under his predecessors. " r lo make the splendid results of Gen. Black’s management more apparent we give the figures for the fiscal years ending June 3, 1883, 1881, 1885, and 1886, respectively: “Numbers of certificates issued during years ending June 30, 1883, 1884, 188;), and 1880. Miscellaneous certificates not included • _ j B (2 1883 1885 1816 Original 38,161 34,190 35,771 43,852 Iner ase 9,070 1 5,130 25,384 28,5 9 Reissue 2,284 2,802 4,292 4,830 Restoration 1,107 1,264 1,838 2,314 Duplication 842 1,291 941 842 Aoerued 1’515 2,052 2,096 2.237 Total 52,079 56,729 70,386 79,654 With such a records as this, assaults ou General Black have fallen harmless at his feet. As a civilian he has added to his already briUiant fame as a soldier, and higher honors yet await him, Nor shall' it be overlooked that at the head of the vast Department of the Interior, wherein such grand results havo been wrought for the Union sbldier, the great Missisßippian, Secretary Larnar. presides with commanding intellect and a lofty patriotism which, oblivious of past conflicts, embraces in its affection and •sense of justice every section and all the people of thd United States. The encumber is very bad in lowa this year. The drug-stores will canonize it, and distribute seed gratis next year.

PUBLIC LANDS.

Where Free Homes May Be Made —Areas of Unoccupied Land. Variety of Soil and Climate—Territory Held in Reserve—State Lands. There remains open to free settlement in the United States about 515,000,000 acres of Government land. Of this area about thirty-eight per cent., because of its mountainous or barren nature, is, and will be permanently, unavailable for the purposes of agriculture, or stock-raising, although as a timber preserve parts of it may serve as adjuncts of no small value to contiguous farming sections. Of the remaining sixtytwo per cent., fully one-half is not immediately available for settlement, owing to the swampy or arid nature of its soils. The swampy sections are comparatively small, and are rapidly disappearing as the timber is cut away, and ditching and tiling appliances are brought into use, and it requires no supernatural vision to foresee that a few years hence they will be the most productive, and consequently the most valuable, districts in the Union. The arid area, so tar as its availability goes, is an elastio quantity, the expansion of which is contingent upon many conditions. A generation ago “the Great American Desert” begnj} just west of the Mississippi River. Year by year the demonstration of actual cultivation has pushed it farther and farther to the southwest, and that it will soon join the unnumbered myths is very probable. To the poor homesteader, however, this arid region is a present and a forbidding reality, and its area, except where bordering upon streams or bodies of water, is practically closed to him. Stretching from the British possessions on the north to the Gulf of California at the south, aud reaching down the Rio Grande and over to the Pacific coast, lies a vast section where cultivation, because of insufficient rainfall, is practicable only through irrigation. Through this region the valleys, where nature furnishes the means o irrigation, are, as a rule, taken up. Beyond these valleys artificial conduits are being constiucted, but their extent is necessarily limited, and their excavation costly. Outside of the territory which they may supply, the problem of cultix ation depends upon the pra ticability of artesian wells, a question which mu-t be solved independently on every township of land, and on a possible, or rather probable, increase in rainfall. There can be no question that rainfall is increased by tillage, or that the rain belt is moving slowly westward. Irrigation, moreover, barring the question of first cost, cannot be regarded as other than most desirable because of the control over the degree and time of admission of water which it gives to the farmer. It will be remembered that Egypt and Mesopotamia, the granaries of the ancient world, were dry countries where crops were possible only through irrigation. The cost of the means of water supply is, however, an obstacle to the majority of pioneers. The area available fer immediate settlement, without obstacle, is about equally divided between prairie and timbered land. Upon the former homes may be.made quicker and easier, but the latter offers many compensating advantages for ihe harder labor which it demands. Government lands are available for free homesteads in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Dakota, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, aud Wyoming. Texas has no free lands. When she won her Independence, at the saber’s point, her domain became absolutely her own, and when the compact of union with the other States was formed she retained her proprietorship. The lands of Alaska are not open to settlement, and no title to any of them, save such narrowed and uncertain interests as may be derived from old Russian grants, can be obtained. There is a fiction that some vacant lands remain untaken in Indiana and Illinois, but it has no foundation. A few undesirable quarter-sections may be found in remote parts of lowa. Within the vast public domain are found every variety of soil and climate, and every condition which men regard.as conducive to prosperous rural life. The opportunity for choice is almost unlimited. Free homes may be acquired from the government domain in two ways—by homestead and by timber culture entries. The first of these ways is general in its application, while the second is available only in the prairie countries. The homestead law enables actual settlers to secure title to not more than 160 acres each, provided the homesteader be 21 years old, or the head of a family and a citizen of the United States, or one who has legally declared his intention to become a citizen. The settlement must be aetual and for the purpose of cultivation. T° complete title the homesteader must within six months after entry begin to live on the land, and must continue his residence there for five years without intermission. If the settler has served m the army or navy of the United States, and been honorably discharged, the period of such service is deducted from the five years of residence, but the residence must'last at least one year. Soldiers discharged because of wounds are entitled to deduct the entire term of their enlistment. Stock raising and dairying are construed as culti vatic n. The land-office fees for homestead entries, payable when application is made, are: In Alabama, Arkansas, Dakota, Florida, lowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska, land within the limits of a railroad grant, for ltO acres, $18; for 80 acres, $9; for forty acres, $7; land outside the limits of a railroad grant, for 160 acres, sl4; for 80 acres, $7; for 40 acres, $6. In Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and Wisconsin, land within the limits of a railroad grant, for 160 acres, $22; for 80 acres, $11; for 40 acres, $8; land outside the limit of a railroad grant; for 160 acres. sl6 : for 80 acres, 8; for 40 acres, $6.50. The fees for final proof in the first-named States are $4, and in the last-named States $6 for 160 acres of land outside the railway limit, and double these for land within such limit, smaller tracts being charged proportionally. All Government lands in Arkansas and Missouri, all United States lands in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Kansas, except oddnumbered sections within the limits of railroad grants, made since January 1.1801, and all Government land in all other states and Territories which does not fall under tho abovo exception, and which is not reserved or designated as coal or mineral land, are open to homestead entry. It is not necessary that’ Government surveys should precede settlement, alth< ugh they must be made before title can be perfected. The settler on unsurveyed land acquires a “preferred right” to enter it. Upon the prairio lands 160 acres may be acquired under the timber-culture law, the qualifications of the settler being the same as for a homestead. The feies in this case are sl4 at the time of entry and $4 when the final proof is mode. No distinction is made as regards lands within or without the limits of railroad grants. The requirements are eight days’ residence and the culti\ation of a stated area of forest trees per year. Lands acquired under either of the above laws are not subject to the debts of the settler made prior to their acquisition. Under the desert-land law 640 acres can be acquired by payment of 25 cents per aero down, the construction of means of irrigation, and the payment of $1 per acre at the end of three years. The entries of Government land were, in round numbers, 18,000,001 acres in 1883, 26,000,003 acres in 1884, and 20,0J0,u0J in 1885. At this rate tho available area, including reserves, will be exhausted within the noxt two decades. In addition to the Government lands, various States offer to settlers at nominal prices, ranging from six cents to as many dollars per acre, 68,500,000 acres of desirable lands. There is held in reserve by the Federal Government all the vast territory of Alaska, and about 82.8-.0.000 acres of Indian reservations, exclusive of Indian Territory and Oklahoma. The different Territories also hold 23,500,030 acres of land for the benefit of their school funds when they shall become States. These reserve areas will be further increased by some 5,000,000 acres which is now salt marshes, but which can bo recovered from the seas. Several million acres will also be added to the free domain through forfeitures of railway -grants. The lands of Alaska are of nncertain availability, but that possession wiU afford at least 80,000,000 acres susceptible of

modified cultivation. The Indian reservations are cnoice farming sections and the areas reserved to the Territories partake of all the varying characteristics of the region in which they lie. Below will be found an outline descrip ion of all the lands now open to free settlement.

FREE LANDS OF THE NORTHWEST. Opportunities for Homes in the Great Grain Heits—Where the Lands Lie. A very large portion of the most desirable free lands lies in tho Northwest, and to that section the tide of immigratiou has set strongly. Michigan, the most easterly of the Northwestern States, offers a large area to the choice of the homesteader. The bulk of her free lands, however, lie in. the peninsula, and, while rich iu minerals, are not especially attractive to agriculturists. Much of it is very rugged and broken, and is covered with soil of scant depth and ordinary fertility. There are interspersed here and there small areas of extremely desirable land. In the more southern portions of the State very productive fanning lands may yet be found. They are almost uniformly timbered. Iu the Detroit district, which comprises the counties of Alpena, Cheboygan, Montmorency, Otsego, and Presque Isle, some 53,000 acres remain unentered, chiefly in Montmorency aud Presque Isle counties. ' About an equal area remains vacant in the Reed City district, which comprises all that portion of the State bordering on Lake Michigan. The vacant lands of this district are pine plains, with usually a sandy soil. They include 5,000 acres on Bols Blanc Island. Emmet County possesses the largest area. Srattering bodies of land of good quality are also found iu tho East Saginaw district, which comprises all that portion of Michigan south of the Straits of Mackinac not included in the above-named districts. The Marquette district covers tho entire peninsula, a very large portion of which is still open to settlers. Resides the lands named Michigan has, scattered through all her counties, 170,000 acres of State laud, designated as swamp, but including all kinds of land, 285,000 acres of school, and 125,000 acres of college land. The southern portion of Wisconsin offers no opportunities worth mentioning to the homesteader. A few remote or undesirable quartersections onlv may be found in the LaCrosse district at the west, and in the Menasha district at the east. Throughout the Eau Claire district, which includes townships 25 to 40 north, and ranges 1 east to 11 west, are scattering tracts of vacant land of good quality and available location, the largest areas being in Chippewa County. Farther west and north lies the Fulls of the St. Croix district, in which, in townships 38 to 40, ranges 12 to 20 west, are found immense bodies of unoccupied laud. In ranges 16 to 20 the soil is light and sandy. In the more eastern ranges it is heavier and richer. Tho lighter soil under proper treatment makes good farms. The timber is pine and hardwood mixed. There remains about 1.100,000 acaes of land subject to entry iu the Waiißau district. It is mainly hardw r ood land, and lies chiefly in the border counties north and east of Wausau. To the north the lands grow broken and lesß desirable. The largest bddles of public land yet vacant in Wisconsin are found in the Bayfield district.which comprises tho extieme northwestern portion of the State —a section of no especial charms for the farmer as a whole, but several small areas of very excellent fanning land await settlement. Wisconsin holds about 100,000 acres of unsold school lands, and 500,10 J acres of swamp land. These lands can be bought for 50 cents to $1.25 per acre. Minnesota still contains about 8,000,000 acres of Government land. In the Worthington and Tracy districts, which include a strip sixty miles wide off the entire southern end of the State, there are no unoccupied lands. A third belt thirty miles wide, immediately north of tho two described, forms the Redwood Falls District, in the extreme westom portion of which a few remote bodies of good prairie land are yet subject to entry. There is no vacant land in the Benson District, and not more than 2.000 acres yet remain untakeu in Grant and Wilkins Counties in the Fergus Falls district. The Crookston district embraces about 1,000,000 acros in Kittson, Marshall, Polk, Norman, Clay. Becker, and Beltrami, and a part of Otter Tail counties. In Becker County is 100,000 acres of hardwood land. In Beltrami County the vacant area is timbered with pine, and in Kittson and Marshall it is brush prairie. Throughout the district the soil is a black vegetable loam, with a sandy subsoil. Between 150,000 and 175,000 acres yet invite settlement in the counties of Isanti and Mille Lacs, and part of Pine, Kanabec, Sherbum, and Aitkin in the Taylor’s Falls district. It'is timbered and fertile. Nearly 3,500,000 acres, a part of which is as yet unsurveyed, are open to settlement in the Dulutn district in the counties of Cook, Lake, St. Louis, and Carlton, and parts of Aitkin and Itaska, Only about one-fourth of this area is available for settlement, the remainder being mineral in character, and covered with forests of pine. The St. Cloud district comprises parts of Itaska and Aitkin, all of Cass, and portions of the counties south, aud contains some 2,800,000 acres of land open to free entry. About one-third of this area is good agricultural land. The State owns about 300,000 acres of educational and “internal-improvement” lands. The Government lands of lowa are exhausted. Neither has the State any land. The northern and northwestern counties hold considerable tracts of school land. Except in the southeast Government lands are found in greater or lesser areas throughout Nebraska. South of the Platte River and east of the counties of -Hamilton, ,Clqy and Nuckols there is practically no remaining free land. West of this, in Phelps and Kearney Counties, in the Bloomington district, are small areas of unoccupied sandhills. In the McCpok district—which includes the western two-thirds of Frontier and all of Red Willow, Hayes, Hitchcock, Chase and Dundy Counties —about 750,000 acres of fair farming territory are yet vacant. North of the la,st-named, section is the North Platte district, comprising the counties of Cheyenne, K eith, Lincoln, half of Dawson and Custer, and the unorganized territory north of the last four counties. Two-thirds of this entire district is open to homestead settlement. It is a good grazing settlement, and available for farming purposes. The rainfall is scant.. The counties of Sioux and Cherry form the Valentino district, which presents a varied landscape of sandhills, prairies, tableland, and valleys. Half of the entire district is available for agriculture. At the west the soil is a rich loess. The middle section Is not desirable. Four-fifths of the district, or about 6,500,000 acres, is open to homesteaders. Timber is in fair supply. East of this lies the NolighfHi strict, in which Keya Paha, Brown, Holt, Wheeler, Boone, and Loup Counties afford a vast area for settlement. Its soil is medium, and the section is not without attractions. Extending south of the counties last named to the Platte River is the Grand Island district, in which there is considerable land for free entry. It is a fair farming country. Sections 16 and 36 of each township in the State, or one-eighteenth of its entire area, were reserved for school purposes. Of this, 1,250,000 acres are yet unsold, Between 18,"00,000 and 19,000,030 acres of land suitable for agriculture are now open to settlement in Dakota, nine-tenths of which are situated at the north. Twenty-six million acres more are tied up in Indian reservations. The lands in the southeastern portion, comprising the Yankton, Mitchell, and Watertown districts, have all been taken except some isolated and inferior tracts. In the Huron district small areas of vacant land are found in Hand, Hyde, Sully, Faulk, and Potter counties, aggregating about 175.000 acres of prairie land, alamt half of which is gdod farming land. The remainder is rough. The Fargo district is also pretty well exhausted at the east, but in the western counties of Dickey r and : LaMoure, the eastern part of Stutman and Footer, and the western part of Griggs some considerable areas remain subject to settlement. Scattered through the Grand F’orks district, in the northeastern corner of Dakota, are a few unoccupied tracts, but except in Cavalier County and the townships bordering it upon tbe east, the areas are small and are not regarded as desirable. Threequarters of a million acres of vacant land invite settlement in Edmunds, Walworth, McPherson, Campbell, and the south tier of townships in Emmons, Dickey, and Mclntosh Counties, which together form the Aberdeen district. This is the famous “Jim River Valley" section. The lands remaining vacant are prairie, and are rated as average in quality. They are occasionally broken by barren hills. Benson, De Smet, McHenry, seven townships of Cavalier, Rolette, Bothineau, and half of Wynne County form the Devil’s Lake district, which embraces 6,000,000 acres, about one-third of whioh has been taken up, leaving 4,500,000 acres open for settlement. Half of this area is arable land. The remainder is mountainous.

Stretching across the Missouri River from tho western lines of the Devil’s Lake and Fargo districts, and extending north from a iiue drawn east and west twelve miles Bouth of the south lines of Hettinger County, is the great Bismarck district, in which are about 12.000,003 acres of vacaut government lands. Much of this ar >a is still unsurveyed. The settlements are along the lino of the Missouri Pacific Road and cn the Mississippi River, but others are springing up throughout the district Every county offers free homes, in some places, within a short distance of railroad facilities. The lands are of varying dogrees of excellence, but the great bulk of them are accounted good. The counties of Butte, Delano, Lawrenco, Scobey, Pennington, Ziebach, Custor. Washington, Fall River and Shannon, in the southwest corner of the Territory, form tho Daadwood district, famous for its minerals. All the counties, except Lawrence, have extensive areas of available government land of fair quality for fanning. Considerable areas at tho northeast and southeast are unsurveved, and very little land in these sections has been taken. Custer, Pennington and Lawrence counties comprise the black hills, and are mountainous with numerous plains and valleys. To the east and north of this district lies the groat Sioux reservation. Sections-16 and 36 throughout the Territory are reserved for school purposes and aggregate 5,366,503 acres. Almost the entire area of Wyoming, or about 50,000,000 acres, is vacant. One-eighteenth of this is reserved for school purposes and the remainder is open to settlement. About one-half of the Territory has been surveyed. The surveyed tracts are mainly along the streams, where the land is best suited to agriculture. The eastern portion of the Territory is chiefly grazing lands, watered by the Nortli 11 at to aud Cheyenne rivers. At tho north fertile agricultural and meadow lands are to be found in the valleys of Powder River and its branches. The middle portion is grazing laud, as is also tho southwestern section. A large part of the Territory is mountainous and unavailable for settlement. The mountains are natural timber preserves, aud in many instances are densely coverod with forests orpine. The eastern half of tho Territory forms the Cheyenne laud district, and the western half the Evanston district. Montana lias over 90,000,003 acres of unoccupied land. About 5,000,000 acres of this is reserved for school purposes, and about 21,500,000 acres are held by Indians, Of the area open to homestead entry, the Eastern three-fifths is made up of rolling plains, while tho Western two-fifths is mountainous. The soil is generally fair, and the area of arable land is very great. It is estimated that two-thirds of the entire Territory is available for grazing. Only about one-fourth of the Territory is surveyed. Land offices at Miles City, Helona, and Bozeman are prepared to receive applications for entry in their respective districts.

LANDS OF THE FAR WEST. Vast Vacant Areas of tho Pacific and Mountain States and Territories. Pretty much all of the lands of Idaho are unoccupied. The Territory contains about 54,000,000 acres, of which about 6,000,000 are availablo for cultivation, and 15,000,000 more suitable for grazing. The remainder is barren or mountainous. About one-fourth of the Territory is surveyed. A large portion of the barren land can be reclaimed by irrigation. It is probable that the arable area may bo doubled and the grazing area largely increased as the country is occupied. Every county in Washington Territory offers more or less pronounced attractions aud vaoant lands to the homesteader. One-eighteenth of the entiro territory is reserved for school purposes, and tho Indians hold 6,333,060 acres of the best farming land. The greater portion of the land in Eastern Oregon is public domain. West of the Cascades the vacant areas are small. There are remaining in California about 39,000,003 acres of Government lands. They lie mostly in tho foothills and mountains, and in barren sections bordering on Southern Nevada and Arizona. The foothills with irrigation are available, but requiro some capital to secure the water. It is probable that ono-half of the lands now vacant caii be adapted to cultivation. The lands are found almost In every county. San Bernardino County has 4,500,000 acres; Lassen, 2,5.0,030; Alpine, 450,000; Amador, 225,OOOr Butte, 125,000; Calaveras. 200,0(0; Colusa, 175,000; El Dorado, 33J.000; Kern, 1,800,0.0; Lake, 400,000; Humboldt. 1,350,000; Yolo, 60,000; Ventura, 130,000; Tuolumne; 590,030; Tulare, 1,768,000; Los Angeles, 205,000; Mendooino, 1,368,000; Tehama, 784,000; Stanislaus, 48,000; Sonoma, 132,000; Siskiyou, 2,441,060; Merced, 49,000; Monterey, 542,000; Nevada, 118,0)0; Placer, 173,000; San Benito, 227,000; San Diego, 2,214,000; Sierra, 186,600; Shasta, 1,285,000 ; San Luis Obispo, 372,000; Santa Barbara, 112,000; and Santa Clara, *7,500. The remaining twenty counties average about the same as the above. The State also holds a large area of school lands,'which are offered at nominal figures and which partake of tho same character as the Government lauds. Nevada is not an agricultural State, and, except immediately on thejjtreams, her soil does not respond to cultivation without irrigation. The greater part of her whole area is open to free settlement. In the Carson City district, which includes all of tho western half of the State, the lands along the streams or sufficiently close to them to get water for irrigation are mostly taken up. In the eastern or Eureka district, the greater portion of the land is desert in character, but can be rendered productive by irrigation by pipes or ditches. Whether artesian irrigation is practicable or not is yet unknown. The State of Nevada owns about 1,650,000 acres of land in lien of the loth and 3t>th section grant. It is all agricultural, and is held at a nominal price. Utah Territory is all included in the Salt Lake City land district, and, while one-half of its surface belongs to. tbe Government and is subject to free entry, except when designated as mineral, coal, or timber lands, or where lying in odd sections within the limits of a railroad grant, tanning tracts are very scaroe. , At the northwest is a large area of. desert land. The valleys where irrigation is practicable are occupied. The greater portion of the area of Colorado is Federal property and opon to settlement. It is adapted to agriculture, however, only along streams or where irrigation is praetieable. In the Central City district, which is formed of the counties of Gilpin. Clear Creek, Summit, and part of Bowlder, Jefferson, Eagle, and Grand,' there are 2,0(0,000 acres vacant. It is mountainous, but in the Middle Park in Grand County is an excellent grazing section, part of which is unoccupied, and numerous small valleys throughout the district offer opportunities for agriculture. What has been said of this district applies, equally, to all the mountain districts—Leadville, Gunnison, Lake City, Durango, and Del Norte. The Denver and Pueblo districts, which include the immense areas east of the mountains, are made up of what is called arid lands, fair for grazing, but available for agriculture only through irrigation. The State is well endowed with lands, which it holds at $1.25 to sls per acre.

IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST. Many Million!* of Fr«« Acres—Nature and .Location of the Lands. According to the estimates of the Registers of the land offices, fuily 1,000,OX) acres of Government lands are still unoccupied in Missouri. In the Ironton district the vacant lands lie mainly in Howell (125,000 acres), Texas (225,000 acres), Oregon, Shannon, Ripley and Phelps counties. These lands (Sun,ooo acres in all) are timbered, hilly and poor. Largo bodies of free land of a kind better suited to grazing than to agriculture, footing up over 300,000 acres, are found ii tho counties of Crawford, Miller, Pulaski, Camden, Hickory, St. Clair, Benton, Laclede, Dallas, Polk, and Cedar, which comprise the Boonvllle district. Some twenty counties in the southwest corner of the State make up the Springfield district. Of these btone, Christian, Taney/ Douglas, and Ozark, only, contain any large areas of Federal land. The prairie lnnds of this section are exhausted. The remaining woodlands are rolling and sometimes rough, but the soil is good. State lands to tho extent of 183,GO:) acres are yet unsold, as are, ulbo, several thousand acres’ of swamp lands. The United States owns about 6,403,090 acres of land in Arkansas, all open to homesteaders. Of this some 2,300,000 acres are in tho Harrison district, which includes Boone, Benton, Baxter, Carroll, Fulton, Izard, Madison, Marion, Newton, Searcy, Stone, and Washington counties. None of these counties contains less than 100,000, while Benton has nearly 700,000 acres. These lands are all timbered, and are, in the main, hilly, although there are large areas of rich valley lands. In the Camden district, Nevada, Hempstead, and Ashley counties have vacant prairie lands. Polk, Pike, Montgomery, Hot

Springs, Garland, Clark, and How—a counties are timbered, and contain 1,400,000 acres of vacant lands, chiefly hilly, but with numerous valleys. Unoccupied lands also exist in the southern parts of Miller, Lafayette, and Columbia Counties. The Dardanelle district, comprising Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan, Sebastian, Montgomery, and Saline Counties, with 40,000 to 80.000 acres of vacant land each, and Pope, Yell, Scott, and Perry, with about 200,000 acres each, is made up of alternate mountains and lowlands, the latter being extremely fertile. It is a timbered region. The remaining Government lands iu tho State, some 400,000 acres, nearly all of which is available, are in the Little Rock district, and are divided between prairie aud timber. Beginning thirty miles east of Little Rock and extending west ninety to one hundred miles, with an average width of twenty-seven miles, is the principal prairie of the State. Much of it is unoccupied. About 1,500,00*3 acres of State lands are undisposed of, and of these lands nearly 1,000,603 acres are free to settlers who improve them. Kansas is not without attractions for the homesteader. .In the Topeka, Concordia, and Independence distr.cts at the east no lands of consequence remain unoccupied Ottawa, Saline, Lincoln, Ellsworth, Russell, Davis, and Chase counties, in the Salina district, contain isolated quarter-sections of rough land. Graham and Norton counties, in the Kirwin district, have about 30,000 acres of medium lands. Tho Oberlin district, nt the northwest, contains 1,600,000 acres of vacant land, chiefly in Thomas, Cheyenne, Sherman and Rawlins counties. It is mostly prairie, with a mixed loam and sand soil which yields fairly. In the Wichita district, ltono,’ Butler, Barber, Kingman and Harper counties contain some 120,000 acres of available land. Rice, Pawnee, Edwards, Burton, Stafford, Pratt, and part of Ho.dgeman counties form tho Lamed distrlot, and exclusive of the Osage Indian reservation of 500,000 acres, oontain only odd quarters of indifforent land. At the southwest is the Garden City district, made up of the counties of Ford, Seward, Finney, Hamilton, Comanche and part of Hodgeman, which contains over 4,000,000 aores of vacaut land. Buck from the Arkansas Valley, whioh is from one to five miles wide aud very fertile, this section is a great rolling tableland, without timber. The soil is fair, being a sandy loain with light cluy subsoil resting ou limestone. Irrigation is lurgoly practiced, and is essential, as a rule, to successful farming. North of the lust-unmed district is the Wakeouey, or Western land district, which comprises all of the State not included in the abovo descriptions, and contains nearly 2,000.000 acres of land opon to free settlement. This region is nil prairie, anil too dry for cultivation without irrigation. About 1,000,000 acres of school land are for sale by tho State. Nearly all of the lands of Arizona are Government property and subject to ontry under the usual laws. Tho Prescott district, including all the territory north of the 34th parallel, is mountainous or hilly and clothed with native grasses. Tho 801 lin the hills is second or third rate, but in tho valleys is doep and fertile. Tho vallovs are occluded. The unoccupied lands are better adapted to stook-ralsing than to agriculture. In tho southern portion of the Territory, or Tucson district, the same conditions prevail, save that tho valleys are larger and tho ontries more numerous. At the f far southwest the Government lands are barren. Irrigation is neoessary throughout the Territory. What has boea said of Arizona applies equally to New Mexioo, which is divided into the Santa Fe and Las Cruces districts. Texas has no Government lands. Tho State holds 21,000,000 acres of school lands, looated in nearly every county in tho State, and about 1,850,600 acros of University lands in Peoos, Tom Green, and Crockett Counties. These lands include every variety and quality of soil found in the State, and are held at $2 per acre.

AT THE SUNNY SOUTH. Free Homes in the Cotton and Fruit Heits— Vast Areas of Timber, The Government has 0,009,000 acres of land scattered over the entiro State of Louisiana, chiefly prairie, good uplands, pine hills, or pine flats. There are also some bottom lands in the Natchitoches district, which comx>rises the thirteen northwestern counties. The remainder of the State is included in the New Orleans district. The State owns 9,030,000 acres of land, mainly low and fiat, and comprising both timber and prairie. These lands, in tracts of 103 acres, are given to settlers, the fe* for entry being s2l. Under the State and Government laws a settler can take up 480 acres, at a total cost of $50.40. Mississippi constitutes an United States land district, the office being at Jackson. Vacant lands exist in a majority of the counties of the State in small, scattered tracts. In tho pine district nt the south and on the Gulf coast ore considerable areas. The pine lands have a sandy soil of moderate quality. The Gulf coast land* are richer. One million acres of State lands, divided among all the counties, also remain open to acquisition. Almost every countv in Alabama has vacant Government lands subject to free location. At tbe north, in the Huntsville district, they are best suited to grazing, and are rich in minerals. In the southern, or Montgomery district, the lands are agricultural. Good farm lands, however, can be found in all parts of the State. Over 6,000,000 acres of Government land remain in Florida, which is erected into a single district, with an office at Gainesville. The land.B partake of all the varieties of soil found in the State, and are found in nearly every county. The State landslcompriso several million acres, and are held at nominal prlcos. South Carolina possesses 1,803,000 acres of State lands, located in pretty muoh all the counties of the State, and possessing uli varieties of soil found within her borders. They ar 3 in many cases very desirable, and are sold on private bids. Georgia offers a very small area of State domain, whioh is granted to residents only a> “head rights.”

The Valuation of Philadelphia.

According to the city’s tax books the real estate of Philadelphia has increased in value only $7,688,439 in nin® years. This is at the rate of about one-eighth of 1 per cent, per annum. Prior to the year 1877 the yearly increase in real estate valuations ranged from $9,000,000 to $26,000,000, and the total increase in real estate assessments in the nine years preceding 1877 was over $148,000,000. At the same rate of progression, allowing for the difference in the gold standard, our real estate valuation for 1886 ought to have exceeded $740,000,000. The fact that it barely exceeded $600,000,000 should arouse inquiry. Our building operations have not been materially checked since 1877. Over 30,000 new houses have been built in the city since the centennial period, and the value of these additions to our taxable property should swell tfae tax lists at least $120,000)000. The city’s population has, it is estimated, increased 200,0 W in the nine years, and a very large proportion of the property that was included in the assessment of 1877 has in the meantime appreciated in value. In the face of these facts the return of the Board of Bevision of Taxes exhibits an increase of less than $8,000,000.— Philadelphia Record. There is no more uncomfortablelooking object than a man holding a baby. His attempts to appear unconcerned make him the personification of “Misery on a monument smiling at grief.” A modest New jersey girl will not allow her young man to kiss her in the potato field, because her father plants the twenty-four-eyed potato.