Community Civics and Rural Life Part 27

The local public library, the State Library, and the State Agricultural College, will doubtless furnish lists of references and perhaps provide materials.

The United States Bureau of Education will send list of references.

CHAPTER XIV

THE RELATION BETWEEN THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND

"NATURE WAS MUCH BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN MAN. SHE WOULD SUFFER NO SUDDEN HIGHWAYS TO BE THROWN ACROSS HER s.p.a.cES; SHE ABATED NOT AN INCH OF HER MOUNTAINS, COMPROMISED NOT A FOOT OF HER FORESTS. ...

FOR THE CREATION OF THE NATION THE CONQUEST OF HER PROPER TERRITORY FROM NATURE WAS FIRST NECESSARY ... A BOLD RACE HAS DERIVED INSPIRATION FROM THE SIZE, THE DIFFICULTY, THE DANGER OF THE TASK."

If you wanted to buy a farm, what facts would you investigate in regard to land and location?

What farm in your neighborhood comes nearest to meeting your requirements in these matters? Explain fully why.

Make a sketch map of a farm in your neighborhood, preferably one upon which you have lived, showing as nearly as you can the boundaries, the position of highlands and lowlands, marshes, timber, streams, etc. Also the position of house, barns, bridges, roads, and other important features.

Did the features of the land indicated on your map determine the location of the buildings? of the roads and bridges? the kinds of crops raised on different parts of the farm?

Should the surface features of the land be taken into account in determining the position of the house and barns in relation to each other? Why?

Has the character of the land influenced the life of the farmer's family in any way? Explain.

IMPORTANCE OF GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS

Directly or indirectly, geographical conditions affect every aspect of community life and help or hinder us in satisfying all of our wants (see Chapter I). Their influence is chiefly felt, however, in their relation to the economic interest of the people; that is, in relation to earning a living and the production of wealth.

ESTABLIs.h.i.+NG RELATIONS WITH THE LAND

Every step that man has taken to make his relations with the land permanent and definite has been a step of progress in civilization, as when, for example, the savage hunter became a herdsman, or the herdsman an agriculturist. We live to-day in an age of machinery, which is a result of turning to our use the metals from the depths of the earth and the power derived from the forces of nature, as in the application of steam, electricity, and the explosive force of gasoline. Many have had a part in this work of establis.h.i.+ng relations with the land: explorers; scientists who have discovered the uses of our varied mineral and vegetable resources and how to make the forces of nature serve us; engineers who have built our railroads and bridges and tunneled our mountains. A most important part has been taken by those who win their living directly from nature's resources--the woodsman, the miner, the farmer; and the service of the farmer has been especially great in giving stability to our community life.

AGRICULTURE MEANS A SETTLED LIFE

Those American Indians were most civilized who had developed agriculture to the highest point, because this meant a settled life. If we recall the story of the colonization of America we shall remember that it was not successfully accomplished by the gold hunters and fur traders who came first, but only when those came who, as farmers, began to cultivate the soil. Later, as the population moved westward across the Alleghenies into the Mississippi Valley and on to the Pacific Coast, the hunters and trappers were the scouts who found the way, while the real army that took possession of the land was an army of farmers.

Did the American Indians who formerly lived in your locality lead a settled life? Why? Were they agriculturists to any extent? If so, what do you know of their method of agriculture?

Of what pastoral peoples have you read? Why was their life more settled than that of hunting peoples? Why less settled than that of farmers?

Why were settlements by gold hunters and fur traders likely not to be permanent?

Do you know of important mining towns that have had a brief life?

PROTECTING OWNERs.h.i.+P OF LAND

The story of how individuals acquired the right to own land is an interesting one, but too long to be told here. The right has long been recognized and protected by government. If your father owns a piece of land he doubtless has a DEED for it, containing an accurate description of the land and giving him t.i.tle to owners.h.i.+p. In each county there is an office of government where all deeds are recorded--the office of the recorder or register of deeds.

The record of every piece of land is thus kept and is open to examination by any one. If a man wishes to buy a piece of land he will go to the office of the recorder and find out whether the t.i.tle to the land is clear. Only by so doing may he be protected against error or fraud.

TRANSFERS OF LAND

Since lands are likely to change hands a number of times, and since men frequently MORTGAGE their lands as security for loans or other indebtedness, thus giving to others a claim to their land, it is sometimes a tedious and difficult task for a buyer to trace the record back and to be sure that the t.i.tle to the land is clear. It sometimes requires months. There are lawyers who make a business of examining the records and making ABSTRACTS OF t.i.tLES.

This involves expense. Besides, there is always the chance that a mistake may be made somewhere. For this reason some states have adopted a plan known as the TORRENS SYSTEM of land transfer, from the name of the man who devised it in Australia.

Under the Torrens System the government itself, through its proper officer, may examine the t.i.tle to any piece of land. The land is then REGISTERED, and the owner is given a certificate as evidence.

If a mortgage is placed on the land or if it changes hands the transaction is recorded on the certificate and in the office records. A mere glance at the record of registry or at the certificate is sufficient to ascertain the t.i.tle to the land. Thus time and expense are saved; and moreover the government gives its absolute guarantee to the owner or buyer as to his rights in the land.

The Torrens System is in use in some form in fourteen states of the Union, in the Philippines and Hawaii, and in various other countries of the world.

THE SURVEY OF THE PUBLIC LANDS

When settlers began to occupy the lands west of the Alleghenies, many of them laid claim to tracts without much regard for the claims of others. Boundary lines were indefinite. Where surveys were made they were often inaccurate. Much confusion resulted.

Disputes arose that frequently found their way into the courts and dragged on for many years. The government sought to put an end to this state of affairs, and in Thomas Jefferson's administration a survey was begun to establish lines by which any piece of land might be located and defined with exactness.

The government survey was begun by establis.h.i.+ng certain north and south lines known as PRINc.i.p.aL MERIDIANS. There are twenty-four of these, the first being the meridian that separates Indiana from Ohio, while the last runs through the state of Oregon. At intervals of six miles east and west of the princ.i.p.al meridians were established other meridians called RANGE LINES. A parallel of lat.i.tude was then chosen as a BASE LINE, and at intervals of six miles north and south of the base line were established TOWNs.h.i.+P LINES. These towns.h.i.+p lines with the range lines divide the country into areas six miles square called TOWNs.h.i.+PS. A towns.h.i.+p may thus be located with reference to its nearest base line and princ.i.p.al meridian (see diagram I).

Since meridians converge as we go north (look at a globe), the towns.h.i.+ps are not exactly square, and become slightly smaller toward the north. To correct this, certain parallels north and south of the base line were chosen as CORRECTION LINES, from which the survey began again as from the original base line.

Each towns.h.i.+p is divided into SECTIONS one mile square, and therefore containing 640 acres each. These sections are numbered in each towns.h.i.+p from 1 to 36 as indicated in diagram III. Each section is further subdivided into halves and quarters, which are designated as in diagram IV.

This government survey has been made only in the "public lands"

(see below, p. 197). It is still being carried on by the General Land Office of the Department of the Interior. In 1917 more than 10,000,000 acres, or nearly 16,000 square miles, were surveyed. In that year there still remained unsurveyed more than 900,000 square miles of public land, 590,000 of which were in Alaska and 320,000 in the United States proper. In the original thirteen states along the Atlantic seaboard a similar survey has been made, but either by private enterprise or under the authority of the state or county governments. Ma.s.sachusetts has recently spent a large sum of money in a new survey of the state for the purpose of verifying and correcting doubtful boundaries.

Has your father a deed to the land you live on? If so, ask him to show it to you and explain it. How is the land described?

At the first convenient time, make a visit to the office of the recorder of deeds in your county, and ask to have some of the records shown and explained to you, preferably the record of the property you occupy. Where is the office of the recorder? (A visit of this sort should be in company with the teacher or parent. A cla.s.s excursion for this and other purposes may well be arranged for.)

What is a MORTGAGE? An ABSTRACT OF t.i.tLE? (Consult parents.)

Is the Torrens System in use in your state?

Is your state a "public land state"?

From the deed to your father's land, or from the records in the recorder's office, or from a map of your county showing the survey lines, locate the land you live on, as indicated in the accompanying diagrams.

In what section and towns.h.i.+p is your schoolhouse?

Are there still any "public lands" in your state?

Are the boundary lines of farms in your neighborhood regular or irregular? How does this happen?

Do you know of any boundary disputes between farmers or other citizens in your community? What machinery of government exists to settle such disputes?

THE PUBLIC LANDS