The lands
became part of the Federal domain, and were nationalized so far as they
could be under the Confederation; but there was no national treasury
into which to turn the proceeds from the sale until the Constitution was
adopted. [Footnote: Hinsdale, 250.]
The Land Policy of Congress.
Having got possession of the land, Congress proceeded to arrange for its
disposition, even before providing the outline of the governmental
system for the states that might grow up therein. Congress regarded the
territory as forming a treasury chest, and was anxious to sell the land
in lots, whether to individuals or to companies. In 1785 it passed an
ordinance of singular wisdom, which has been the basis of all our
subsequent legislation on the subject.
This ordinance was another proof of the way in which the nation applied
its collective power to the subdual and government of the Northwest,
instead of leaving the whole matter to the working of unrestricted
individualism, as in the Southwest. The pernicious system of acquiring
title to public lands in vogue among the Virginians and North
Carolinians was abandoned. Instead of making each man survey his own
land, and allowing him to survey it when, how, and where he pleased,
with the certainty of producing endless litigation and trouble, Congress
provided for a corps of government surveyors, who were to go about this
work systematically.
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