7 U.S.C. § 302 — Method of apportionment and selection; issuance of land scrip

submitted 164 years ago by ch. 130 to r/title-7-AGRICULTURE · 266 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

Public land was divided among the states in sections, with a minimum size. States without enough eligible public land got "land scrip" instead, covering the shortfall. States had to sell that scrip and use the money only for the purposes this subchapter lists.

This section explains how federal land grants to states were measured out. After the land was surveyed, it was divided among the states in sections or parts of sections, with each piece at least one-quarter of a section. Where a state had public land available for private sale at $1.25 an acre, that state's share came from land within its own borders. Where a state did not have enough such land to cover its full entitlement, the Secretary of the Interior had to issue that state "land scrip" for the missing acreage. States had to sell this scrip and use the proceeds only for the purposes this subchapter lists — for no other use or purpose. A state receiving scrip could not use it to claim land within any other state or U.S. territory. But whoever bought the scrip from the state (an "assignee") could use it to claim unappropriated U.S. public land available for private sale at $1.25 an acre or less. No more than one million acres could be located this way by such assignees in any one state, and no location under this scrip could happen before July 2, 1863.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

The land aforesaid, after being surveyed, shall be apportioned to the several States in sections or subdivisions of sections, not less than one-quarter of a section; and whenever there are public lands in a State subject to sale at private entry at $1.25 per acre, the quantity to which said State shall be entitled shall be selected from such lands within the limits of such State, and the Secretary of the Interior is directed to issue to each of the States in which there is not the quantity of public lands subject to sale at private entry at $1.25 per acre, to which said State may be entitled under the provisions of this subchapter, land scrip to the amount in acres for the deficiency of its distributive share; said scrip to be sold by said States and the proceeds thereof applied to the uses and purposes prescribed in said sections, and for no other use or purpose whatsoever: Provided, That in no case shall any State to which land scrip may thus be issued be allowed to locate the same within the limits of any other State, or of any Territory of the United States, but their assignees may thus locate said land scrip upon any of the unappropriated lands of the United States subject to sale at private entry at $1.25, or less, per acre: And provided further, That not more than one million acres shall be located by such assignees in any one of the States: And provided further, That no such location shall be made before July 2, 1863.

Source credit: (July 2, 1862, ch. 130, § 2, 12 Stat. 503.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1862Enacted · Act of July 2, 1862, ch. 130 · 12 Stat. 503

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by ch. 130 on 1862-07-02.

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