As already intimated this right of the state to recoup itself in its school land grant through making the best lieu land selections was exercised but not with the spirit and through procedures that indicated a keen appreciation of a public opportunity of such vast proportions as this involved. The records of Oregon's school land policy as we shall see furnish little if any evidence that the mind and heart of the state were stirred by a vision of what might be for all coming generations of Oregon youth if the fullest use was made of the opportunity of securing such large stretches of the best lands of Oregon to be held to yield the richest returns for this sacred public purpose.
An account of the management of the Oregon lands collectively is proposed. So not only the school lands but the state's entire legacy should be brought into the field of view as it were. Through acts of Congress of different dates it was open to the state to secure the following lands[1]:—
- 46,080 acres of University lands,
- 500,000 acres of Internal Improvement lands,
- 6,400 acres of Capitol Building lands,
- Salt Springs lands to the limit of 46,080 acres,
- 90,000 acres of Agricultural College lands,
- Swamp lands for reclamation,
- Tide lands by virtue of jurisdiction.
The locations of the swamp and tide lands were determined by natural conditions. In availing itself of the other grants as well as in the case of the indemnity school lands it had recourse to choicest portions of the public domain. Such was the opportunity the people of Oregon had to secure a magnificent collective possession in lands from the proceeds or returns from which to accumulate large funds for purposes of common school and higher education and for public works.
The outcome realized from this heritage of land depended mainly upon (1) promptness and efficiency in getting the
- ↑ See Quarterly of Oregon Historical Society, Vol. X, pp. 367-371.
