States were encumbered with no condition except that they should be held
and used "for the common benefit of the United States." By purchase with
the common fund of all the people additions were made to this domain
until it extended to the northern line of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, and
the Polar Sea. The original trust, "for the common benefit of the United
States," attached to all. In the execution of that trust the policy of
many homes, rather than large estates, was adopted by the Government.
That these might be easily obtained, and be the abode of security and
contentment, the laws for their acquisition were few, easily understood,
and general in their character. But the pressure of local interests,
combined with a speculative spirit, have in many instances procured
the passage of laws which marred the harmony of the general plan and
encumbered the system with a multitude of general and special enactments
which render the land laws complicated, subject the titles to
uncertainty, and the purchasers often to oppression and wrong. Laws
which were intended for the "common benefit" have been perverted so
that large quantities of land are vesting in single ownerships. From
the multitude and character of the laws, this consequence seems incapable
of correction by mere administration.

It is not for the "common benefit of the United States" that a large
area of the public lands should be acquired, directly or through fraud,
in the hands of a single individual. The nation's strength is in the
people. The nation's prosperity is in their prosperity. The nation's
glory is in the equality of her justice. The nation's perpetuity is in
the patriotism of all her people. Hence, as far as practicable, the plan
adopted in the disposal of the public lands should have in view the
original policy, which encouraged many purchasers of these lands for
homes and discouraged the massing of large areas. Exclusive of Alaska,
about three-fifths of the national domain has been sold or subjected to