Railroads And Land Grant Policy

Railroads and Land Grant Policy: A Study in Government Intervention attempts to replace a major part of the railroad land grant legend (according to which the granting of federal and state land to private railroad firms benefitted these firms more than it contributed to society as a whole) with some real numbers and analysis. An attempt is made to put the income and wealth distribution impact of the railroad land grants in perspective, but thorough analysis of this issue is not undertaken. The primary question this study does try to illuminate is that of the effect of the railroad land grants on economic efficiency. This emphasis was chosen because it seems clear that improvement of economic efficiency was the major goal that Congress and various state legislatures sought to attain, and thus the examination of economic efficiency questions is fundamental to evaluation of railroad land grant policy. This study will not completely replace the railroad land grant legend (because much is not covered here), but it does represent a considerable diminution of that legend.

Most historians have given only incidental attention to the railway land subsidy policy of the Dominion of Canada. In breaking comparatively new ground Mr. Hedges has therefore depended to a large extent upon manuscript sources in the archives of the Department of the Interior at Ottawa. He traces the various steps leading to the adoption of the Canadian policy and discusses in detail its development in connection with the administration of the subsidy to the Canadian Pacific. In his final chapter he sets forth the broad outlines of the methods the railways pursued in the administration and disposition of their lands.

This text reviews the adoption, administration, and termination of the Federal railroad land grant policy. Two types of railroad grants are analyzed, those to the states and those to corporations. It outlines the conflicts that arose with other land policies and suggests that a major flaw in the policy was inadequate provisions for administration.