Witherspoon v. Duncan, 4 Wall. 210..... PAGE. 193 374 379 379 395 373 341 THE National Domain is the total area, land and water, embraced within the boundaries of the United States. §1. Definition of the Public Domain, and How Acquired.-The Public Domain embraces lands known in the United States as "public lands," lying in certain states and territories known as the "land states and territories," and was acquired by the government of the United States by treaty, conquest, cession by states, and purchase, and is disposed of under and by authority of the national government. It contained 2,894,235.91 square miles, or 1,852,310,987 acres. Deducting the area of Tennessee, the actual public domain was 1,821,700,922 acres. § 2. Cessions by States to the National Government.-The territory embraced within the present states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Tennessee, that part of Minnesota lying east of the Mississippi river, and all of Alabama and Mississippi. lying north of the thirty-first parallel, was held by Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, under grants from Great Britain, during their colonial condition. These territorial interests were surrendered to the general government of the Union by the last named states at different times, and constituted the nucleus of our public domain with some reservations as to former grants, and was the remainder of the territory.conceded to the United States under the definitive treaty of 1783, and consisted of 404,955.91 square miles, or 259,171,787 ⚫ acres. This was the public domain of the United States on April 30, 1803, the date of the Louisiana purchase, and for which the original survey and disposition laws were made. The United States were recognized by the crown in the definitive treaty of peace with Great Britain as "free, sovereign, and independent states, and he treats with them as such, and for himself, his heirs, and successors, relinquishes all claims to the government, proprietary and territorial rights of the same, and every part thereof." The subsequent acquisitions to the public domain are as follows: § 3. (1) From France.-From France, April 30, 1803, under the administration of President Jefferson, known as the Louisiana purchase, done by treaty at Paris, France, by Robert R. Livingston and James Monroe on behalf of the United States, and Barbé Marbois on behalf of the First Consul, Napoleon Bonaparte, in the name of the French republic. This embraced, as finally settled, those portions of the states of Alabama and Mississippi south of the thirty-first parallel; the entire surface of the states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Oregon; all of Minnesota west of the Missouri river; all of Kansas except a small portion west of the one hundredth meridian and south of the Arkansas river; all of Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Indian Territories, with a part of Wyoming and Colorado. This cost, according to the original treaty stipulation, 60,000,000 francs, or $15,000,000, in money and stocks; the interest on the stocks to time of redemption, $8,529,353; claims of citizens of United States due from France paid by United States, $3,738,268.98; a total of $27,267,621.98, and added to the public domain 1,182,752 square miles, or 756,961,280 acres. § 4. (2) From Spain.-From Spain, by treaty, February 22, 1819, under the administration of President Monroe, done at Washington, D. C., between John Quincy Adams, secretary of state, on behalf of the United States, and Luis de Onis, Minister of Spain to the United States, on behalf of His Majesty Ferdinand VII., king of Spain. It secured to the United States the territory known as East and West Florida, now the present state of Florida, for the sum of $5,000,000 in bonds similar to those issued for the Louisiana purchase, the interest on which to date of redemption being $1,489,768, made the total cost $6,489,768. This added to the public domain of the United States 59,268 square miles, or 37,931,520 acres, including certain grants. $5. (3) From Mexico.-From Mexico, by treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, under the administration of President Polk, concluded February 2, 1848, by and between Nicholas P. Trist on behalf of the United States, and Luis G. Cuevas, Bernardo Couto, and Miguel Atristain on behalf of the republic of Mexico. This cession gave to the public domain of the United States the states of California, Nevada, and part of Colorado, also the lands in the territories of Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, excepting in the last two the Mesilla valley, adding to the national domain approximately 522,568 square miles, or 334,443,520 acres. It cost (treaty stipulation) $15,000,000. §6. (4) From Texas.-From the state of Texas, by purchase, under the administration of President Fillmore. The United States, by act of congress of September 9, 1850, purchased from Texas her claim to certain public lands north of parallel 36° 30′, and between that parallel and 320, and lying west of the one hundred and third meridian, now included in Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, and also the "public land strip." This cost $16,000,000, in five per cent. bonds, interest and cash. The lands in this cession were estimated at 101,767 square miles, or 65,130,880 acres, and this was added to the public domain, being already, by annexation of Texas and the confirmatory clause of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, embraced within the national domain. §7. (5) From Mexico.-From the republic of Mexico, by purchase, under the administration of President Pierce, known as the Gadsden purchase, under treaty made at the city of Mexico, December 30, 1853, by James Gadsden, United States minister, on behalf of the United States, and Manuel Diez de Bonilla, José Salazar Ylarregui, and J. Mariano Monterde on behalf of the republic of Mexico. In consideration of the concession by Mexico of the abrogation of sundry treaty stipulations in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848, and the payment of the sum of $10,000,000 by the United States to Mexico, a strip of land known as the Mesilla valley, and lying in the present territories of New Mexico and Arizona, on their southern border, was added to the national and public domain of the United States. It contained 45,535 square miles, or 29,142,400 acres. Cost, $10,000,000. This territory now lies in New Mexico and Arizona; 14,000 square miles in New Mexico, and 31,535 square miles in Arizona. § 8. (6) From Russia.-All her possessions on the North American continent, including Alaska. 89. The Public Domain-Control and Disposition.-The public domain embraces the area of the lands now owned or heretofore disposed of by the United States in nineteen states and eleven territories and parts of territories, and known as the "land states and territories," the United States being the sole owner of the soil, with entire and complete jurisdiction over the same. Article iv., section 3, paragraph 2, of the constitution of the United States provides, that "the congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States." This clause relates to property, and not to persons or communities. Mr. Madison introduced this clause in the constitutional convention. The original clause was: "Congress shall have power to dispose of the waste and unappropriated lands of the United States." This was referred to the committee of detail for revision and incorporation. Mr. Gouverneur Morris, of the committee, wrote the constitution from the convention notes. This committee changed "lands" into "territory and other property," and the right to "make all needful rules and regulations" was added, so that congress might protect and regulate all such property until disposed of. The supreme court of the United States, in The United States v. Gratiot, 14 Pet. 526, held, that "the term 'territory,' as here used, is merely descriptive of one kind of property, and is equivalent to the word 'lands.' Congress has the same power over it as over any other property belonging to the United States. This power is vested in congress without limitation." See United States v. Railroad Bridge Co., 6 McLean, 517. The United States, through congress, provides methods of |