burden of it was shifted as we shall see upon the would-be purchasers. Since the procedure for the selection of these lands was more commonly merged with that of the sale of them the matter will be so handled in this account. It will aid greatly to keep the distinction in mind that the original common school grant, sections 16 and 36 in each surveyed township, and the tide lands, became the property of the state automatically upon the completion of the surveys; but with any of the other grants, the act of Congress granting the lands had to be followed up by steps on the part of the state through which specifically described tracts were designated in accordance with the regulations of the department of the Interior. In the cases of the swamp land grant and the salt springs grant the state was under the necessity merely of identifying definitely the areas claimed.
Comprehensive View of State's Domain as a Whole.— The dilatory and devious proceedings of the state in accomplishing this appropriation to itself of its possessions have been outlined. The query naturally rises now what was done with this social heritage? What have the people realized from it? What has this endowment of theirs come to? It will, I believe, make our thought about these Oregon lands much more satisfactory to have a mental picture as distinct as possible of their salient features as a whole. By far the most extensive and valuable of the state's acquisitions was the common school grant. Two square-mile plats in every township division of six miles square that the surveys blocked out belonged to the people of Oregon as a permanent endowment of their common schools. Evenly distributed as these lands were throughout the length and breadth of the state the value of this grant was proportionate to its extent. It had come to the people of this state for this purpose without any initiative or effort on their part. Their having secured it was not indicative of anything as to the commonwealth's spirit and efficiency.
But while under the sweeping provisions of the original grant to the state all of sections 16 and 36 were set aside for
