may be entitled, upon the principles of this act, together with what such State or States may be entitled to by virtue of compacts to be made on their admission into the Union.

SECT. 6 provided, that in case the minimum sale price of lands were increased, or in case the "imposition of duties on imports" be changed to a higher rate than twenty per centum then the distribution provided for in this act shall be suspended."

A change in the tariff laws, taking effect on August 29, 1842, put an end to the ten per cent distribution provided for by the above act. In general the money was used to pay state debts and expenses, or for internal improvements, though in a few states it was put into the school fund. The distributive share of each State from January 1 to August 29 was as follows:

SHARES OF THE STATES AND TERRITORIES UNDER THE DISTRIBUTION ACT OF SEPTEMBER 4, 1841

[From Donaldson, T., The Public Domain, p. 753.]

The law of September 4, 1841, further provided:

SECT. 8. And be it further enacted, That there shall be granted to each State specified in the first section of this act five hundred thousand acres of land for purposes of internal improvement : Provided, That to each of the States which has already received grants for said purposes, there is hereby granted no more than a quantity of land which shall, together with the amount such State has already received as aforesaid, make five hundred thousand acres, the selections in all of the said States, to be made within their limits respectively in such manner as the Legislatures thereof shall direct; and located in parcels conformably to sectional divisions and subdivisions, of not less than 320 acres in any one location, on any public land except such as is or may be reserved from sale by any law of Congress or proclamation of the President of the United States, which said locations may be made at any time after the lands of the United States in said States respectively shall have been surveyed according to existing laws. And there shall be and hereby is, granted to each new State that shall be hereafter admitted into the Union, upon such admission, so much land as, including such quantity as may have been granted to such State before its admission, and while under a Territorial Government, for purposes of internal improvement as aforesaid, as shall make five hundred thousand acres of land, to be selected and located as aforesaid.

SECT. 9. And be it further enacted, That the lands herein granted to the States above named shall not be disposed of at a price less than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, until otherwise authorized by a law of the United States; and the nett proceeds of the sales of said lands shall be faithfully applied to the objects of internal improvements within the States aforesaid, respectively, namely: Roads, railways, bridges, canals and improvement of watercourses, and draining of swamps; and such roads, railways, canals, bridges and water-courses, when made or improved, shall be free for the transportation of the United States mail, and munitions of war, and for the passage of their troops, without the payment of any toll whatever.

At first used for purposes of internal improvements, the grants were gradually changed and placed in the school fund, and Enabling Acts in time came to so specify its use.

The following states received grants under this law:

TABLE SHOWING THE GRANTS MADE UNDER THE INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT Act of September 4, 1841, AND THE USE MADE OF THE GRANT [Compiled from various sources.]

Total amount used for schools, about 4,000,000 acres.

After the admission of Colorado the Enabling Act for each state has provided that, in each case, the provisions of the law of September 4, 1841, was not to apply, and, in lieu of it, and also in lieu of the Swamp Land Law of 1850 (see pp. 63-64), specific grants have been made, as follows:

5. Swamp Land Grants

In 1849, on the application of Louisiana, Congress granted to the state all the overflowed and swamp lands within the state, the proceeds to be used to construct levees and drains. The next year this act was made general, by the following law:

[U. S. Statutes at Large, IX, p. 519.]

AN ACT to enable the State of Arkansas and other States to reclaim the "Swamp Lands" within their limits. Approved, September 28, 1850.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That to enable the State of Arkansas to construct the necessary levees and drains to reclaim the swamp and overflowed lands therein, the whole of those swamp and overflowed lands, made unfit thereby for cultivation, which shall remain unsold at the passage of this act, shall be, and the same are hereby, granted to said State.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior, as soon as may be practicable after the passage of this act, to make out an accurate list and plats of the lands described as aforesaid, and transmit the same to the Governor of the State of Arkansas, and, at the request of said Governor, cause a patent to be issued to the State therefor; and on that patent, the fee simple to said lands shall vest in said State of Arkansas, subject to the disposal of the legislature thereof: Provided, however, That the proceeds of said lands, whether from sale or by direct appropriation in kind, shall be applied, exclusively, as far as necessary, to the purpose of reclaiming said lands by means of the levees and drains aforesaid.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That in making out a list and plats of the land aforesaid, all legal subdivisions, the greater part of which is "wet and unfit for cultivation," shall be included in said list and plats; but when the greater part of said subdivision is not of that character, the whole of it shall be excluded therefrom.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the provisions of this act be extended to, and their benefits be conferred upon, each of the other States of the Union in which such swamp and overflowed lands, known as designated aforesaid, may be situate.

By an act passed in 1855, indemnity-lands for swamp-lands which had been sold were granted; in 1857 all swamp-lands