Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

THIRTIETH CONGRESS—SECOND SESSION.
H. R. 693.
(No Report.)
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
December 28, 1848.
Read twice, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House on the
state of the Union.
Mr. Collamer, from the Committee on Public Lands, reported
the following bill:
A BILL
To grant the right of way across the public lands, and to dis-
pose of said land in aid of the several States in the con-
struction of railroads and canals.

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10 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled, That whenever any State in which public land
is situated, have or shall authorize the construction of any
railroad or canal, and the route of the same shall have
been surveyed and returned to the Secretary of the
Treasury, the right of way on said route, so far as the same
is situated on the public land be, and the same is hereby,
granted for said purpose, and also the right to take stone
and timber, and materials for said erection on any of the

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21 public land adjacent, so long as said land is unsold; and
the land, for the space of one hundred feet on each side of
the middle of said route, shall be, and remain for that pur-
pose, so long as said canal or railroad is sustained.
And be it further enacted, That when the
survey of said route shall have been returned to the Sec-
retary of the Treasury, he shall, at the request of the gov-
ernor of said State, reserve from public sale all, or so much
of the public lands, within ten miles of said route, as said
governor, by direction of the legislature of said State, shall
request, and the same shall be retained for said State and
shall be sold and conveyed to said State, or to whoever
said State shall direct, at and for the price of one dollar
and twenty-five cents per acre, in such quantities and at
such times as said State shall desire, in aid of said con-
struction: Provided, nevertheless, That said route shall
be so surveyed and returned, and said land so reserved,
within three years from the passing of this law; and all
of said land not actually so purchased and paid for by
said State, within ten years from the passing of this act,
shall be subject to sale and private entry, in the same man-
ner as if the same had not been reversed: And provided,
further, That this act shall not extend to any land but
such as is subject to private sale at one dollar and twenty-
five cents per acre.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre- sentatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever any State in which public land is situated, have or shall authorize the construction of any railroad or canal, and the route of the same shall have been surveyed and returned to the Secretary of the Treasury, the right of way on said route, so far as the same is situated on the public land be, and the same is hereby, granted for said purpose, and also the right to take stone and timber, and materials for said erection on any of the
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11 12 13 14 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21	public land adjacent, so long as said land is unsold; and the land, for the space of one hundred feet on each side of the middle of said route, shall be, and remain for that pur- pose, so long as said canal or railroad is sustained. And be it further enacted, That when the survey of said route shall have been returned to the Sec- retary of the Treasury, he shall, at the request of the gov- ernor of said State, reserve from public sale all, or so much of the public lands, within ten miles of said route, as said governor, by direction of the legislature of said State, shall request, and the same shall be retained for said State and shall be sold and conveyed to said State, or to whoever said State shall direct, at and for the price of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, in such quantities and at such times as said State shall desire, in aid of said con- struction: Provided, nevertheless, That said route shall be so surveyed and returned, and said land so reserved, within three years from the passing of this law; and all of said land not actually so purchased and paid for by said State, within ten years from the passing of this act, shall be subject to sale and private entry, in the same man- ner as if the same had not been reversed: And provided, further, That this act shall not extend to any land but such as is subject to private sale at one dollar and twenty- five cents per acre.