First Morrill Act
ct of July 2, 1862, ch. 130, 12 Stat.
503, 7 U.S.C. 301 et seq.
Chap. CXXX.--AN ACT Donating
Public Lands to the several States and
Territories which may provide Colleges
for the Benefit of Agriculture and Mechanic
Arts.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House
of Representatives of the United States
of America in Congress assembled , (1) That
there be granted to the several States, (2) for
the purposes hereinafter mentioned, an
amount of public land, to be apportioned
to each State a quantity equal to thirty
thousand acres for each senator and representative
in Congress to which the States are respectively
entitled by the apportionment under the
census of eighteen hundred and sixty: (3) Provided ,
That no mineral lands shall be selected
or purchased under the provisions of
this Act.
SEC. 2. (4) And
be it further enacted , That the
land aforesaid, after being surveyed,
shall be apportioned to the several States
in sections or subdivisions of sections,
not less than one quarter of a section;
and whenever there are public lands in
a State subject to sale at private entry
at one dollar and twenty-five cents per
acre, the quantity to which said State
shall be entitled shall be selected from
such lands within the limits of such
State, and the Secretary of the Interior
is hereby directed to issue to each of
the States in which there is not the
quantity of public lands subject to sale
at private entry at one dollar and twenty-five
cents per acre, to which said State may
be entitled under the provisions of this
act, land scrip to the amount in acres
for the deficiency of its distributive
share: said scrip to be sold by said
States and the proceeds thereof applied
to the uses and purposes prescribed in
this act, and for no other use or purpose
whatsoever: Provided , That
in no case shall any State to which land
scrip may thus be issued be allowed to
locate the same within the limits of
any other State, or of any Territory
of the United States, but their assignees
may thus locate said land scrip upon
any of the unappropriated lands of the
United States subject to sale at private
entry at one dollar and twenty-five cents,
or less, per acre: And provided,
further , That not more than one
million acres shall be located by such
assignees in any one of the States: And
provided, further , That no such
location shall be made before one year
from the passage of this Act.
SEC. 3. (5) And
be it further enacted , That all
the expenses of management, superintendence,
and taxes from date of selection of said
lands, previous to their sales, and all
expenses incurred in the management and
disbursement of the moneys which may
be received therefrom, shall be paid
by the States to which they may belong,
out of the Treasury of said States, so
that the entire proceeds of the sale
of said lands shall be applied without
any diminution whatever to the purposes
hereinafter mentioned.
SEC. 4. (6) That all
moneys derived from the sale of lands aforesaid
by the States to which lands are apportioned
and from the sales of land scrip hereinbefore
provided for shall be invested in bonds
of the United States or of the States or
some other safe bonds; (7) or
the same may be invested by the States
having no State bonds in any manner after
the legislatures of such States shall have
assented thereto and engaged that such
funds shall yield a fair and reasonable
rate of return, to be fixed by the State
legislatures, and that the principal thereof
shall forever remain unimpaired: (8) Provided ,
That the moneys so invested or loaned shall
constitute a perpetual fund, the capital
of which shall remain forever undiminished
(except so far as may be provided in section
5 of this Act), and the interest of which
shall be inviolably appropriated, by each
State which may take and claim the benefit
of this Act, to the endowment, support,
and maintenance of at least one college
where the leading object shall be, without
excluding other scientific and classical
studies and including military tactics,
to teach such branches of learning as are
related to agriculture and the mechanic
arts, in such manner as the legislatures
of the States may respectively prescribe,
in order to promote the liberal and practical
education of the industrial classes on
the several pursuits and professions in
life.
SEC. 5. (9) And
be it further enacted , That the
grant of land and land scrip hereby authorized
shall be made on the following conditions,
to which, as well as to the provisions
hereinbefore contained, the previous
assent of the several States shall be
signified by legislative acts:
First. If any portion of the fund invested,
as provided by the foregoing section, or
any portion of the interest thereon, shall,
by any action or contingency, be diminished
or lost, it shall be replaced by the State
to which it belongs, so that the capital
of the fund shall remain forever undiminished;
and the annual interest shall be regularly
applied without diminution to the purposes
mentioned in the fourth section of this
act, except that a sum, not exceeding ten
per centum upon the amount received by
any State under the provisions of this
act may be expended for the purchase of
lands for sites or experimental farms,
whenever authorized by the respective legislatures
of said States.
Second. No portion of said fund, nor the
interest thereon, shall be applied, directly
or indirectly, under any pretence whatever,
to the purchase, erection, preservation,
or repair of any building or buildings.
Third. Any State which may take and claim
the benefit of the provisions of this act
shall provide, within five years from the
time of its acceptance as provided in subdivision
seven of this section, (10) at
least not less than one college, as described
in the fourth section of this act, or the
grant to such State shall cease; and said
State shall be bound to pay the United
States the amount received of any lands
previously sold; and that the title to
purchasers under the State shall be valid.
Fourth. An annual report shall be made
regarding the progress of each college,
recording any improvements and experiments
made, with their cost and results, and
such other matters, including State industrial
and economical statistics, as may be supposed
useful; one copy of which shall be transmitted
by mail [free] (11) by
each, to all the other colleges which may
be endowed under the provisions of this
act, and also one copy to the Secretary
of the Interior.
Fifth. When lands shall be selected from
those which have been raised to double
the minimum price, in consequence of railroad
grants, they shall be computed to the States
at the maximum price, and the number of
acres proportionally diminished.
Sixth. No State while in a condition of
rebellion or insurrection against the government
of the United States shall be entitled
to the benefit of this act.
Seventh. No State shall be entitled to
the benefits of this act unless it shall
express its acceptance thereof by its legislature
within three years from July 23, 1866: (12)
Provided , That when any Territory
shall become a State and be admitted into
the Union, such new State shall shall be
entitled to the benefits of the said act
of July two, eighteen hundred and sixty-two,
by expressing the acceptance therein required
within three years from the date of its
admission into the Union, and providing
the college or colleges within five years
after such acceptance, as prescribed in
this act. (13)
SEC. 6. (14) (Repealed)
SEC. 7. (15) And
be it further enacted , That the
land officers shall receive the same
fees for locating land scrip issued under
the provisions of this act as is now
allowed for the location of military
bounty land warrants under existing laws: Provided ,
their maximum compensation shall not
be thereby increased.
SEC. 8. (16) And
be it further enacted , That the
Governors of the several States to which
scrip shall be issued under this act
shall be required to report annually
to Congress all sales made of such scrip
until the whole shall be disposed of,
the amount received for the same, and
what appropriation has been made of the
proceeds.
(1) 7 U.S.C. 301.
(2) The College of the Virgin
Islands, the University of Guam,
the Community College of American Samoa,
and the College of Micronesia were included
as land-grant colleges by the Act of
June 23, 1972, Public Law 92-318, sec.
506(a) and (b), 86 Stat. 350, 7 U.S.C.
301, note, as amended by the Education
Amendments of 1980, Public Law 96-374,
sec. 1361(a), 94 Stat. 1501, as follows:
"SEC. 506. (a) The College of the Virgin
Islands, the Community College of American
Samoa, the College of Micronesia, and the
University of Guam shall be considered
land-grant colleges established for the
benefit of agriculture and mechanic arts
in accordance with the provisions of the
Act of July 2, 1862, as amended (12 Stat.
501; 7 U.S.C. 301-305, 307, 308).
"(b) In lieu of extending to the Virgin Islands,
Guam, American Samoa, and Micronesia those
provisions of the Act of July 2, 1862, as
amended, relating to donations of public
land or land scrip for the endowment and
maintenance of colleges for the benefit of
agriculture and the mechanic arts, there
is authorized to be appropriated $3,000,000
to the Virgin Islands and $3,000,000 to Guam
and an equal amount to American Samoa and
to Micronesia. Amounts appropriated pursuant
to this section shall be held and considered
to have been granted to the Virgin Islands,
Guam, American Samoa, and Micronesia subject
to the provisions of that Act applicable
to the proceeds from the sale of land or
land scrip."
The Education Amendments of 1980, Public Law 96-374, sec. 1361 (c), (d), 94
Stat. 1502, provided that:
"(c) Any provision of any Act of Congress relating to the operation of or
provision of assistance to a land grant college in the Virgin Islands or Guam
shall apply to the land grant college in American Samoa and in Micronesia in
the same manner and to the same extent.
"(d) Nothing in this section [amending section 326a of this title and provisions
set out as a note under this section ] shall be construed to interfere with
or affect any of the provisions of the April 17, 1900 Treaty of Cession of
Tutuila and Aunu'u Islands or the July 16, 1904 Treaty of Cession of the Manu'a
Islands as ratified by the Act of February 20, 1929 (45 Stat. 1253)[section
1431a of Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions] and the act of May
22, 1929 (46 Stat. 4) [amending section 1431a of Title 48].".
Land grants under the Act of July 2, 1862, do not extend to the State of Alaska.
Admission of Alaska into the Union was accomplished January 3, 1959, upon issuance
of Proc. No. 3269, January 3, 1959, 24 F.R. 81, 73 Stat. c.16, as required
by sections 1 and 8(c) of the Act of July 7, 1958, Public Law 85-508, 72 Stat.
339, 48 U.S.C. sec. 21, note. For provisions making the land grant under Alaska
Statehood provisions in lieu of grant of acreage under 7 U.S.C., sec. 301 et
seq. (declared not to extend to Alaska), see sec. 6(l) of the Act of July 7,
1958, Public Law 85- 508, 72 Stat. 339, 48 U.S.C., sec. 21, note.
The University of the District of Columbia was included as a land-grant college
by the District of Columbia Public Postsecondary Education Reorganization Act
of October 26, 1974, Public Law 93-471, section 208, 88 Stat. 1428.
(3) An exchange of land in the State of Missouri was authorized
by the Act of September 4, 1957, Public Law 85-282, sections 1-3, 71
Stat. 607, 7 U.S.C. 301, note, as follows:
"That, notwithstanding the provisions of the Act entitled 'An Act donating
public lands to the several States and Territories which may provide colleges
for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts', approved July 2, 1862,
(7 U.S.C. secs. 301-308), the State of Missouri is authorized to convey to
the United States all right, title, and interest of such State in and to any
land granted to such State under authority of such Act of July 2, 1862, which
is located within the exterior boundaries of the national forests situated
within such State, and, in exchange therefor, the Secretary of Agriculture
is authorized to convey to the State of Missouri all right, title, and interest
of the United States in and to not to exceed an equal value of national forest
lands (as determined by the Secretary) situated within such State.
"SEC. 2.Any exchange authorized by the first section of this Act shall be
made in accordance with the applicable provisions of section 7 of the Act of
March 1, 1911, commonly referred to as the Weeks Law (16 U.S.C., 516), and
the applicable provisions of the Act entitled 'An Act to consolidate national
forest lands', approved March 20, 1922 (16 U.S.C., secs. 485 and 486).
"SEC. 3.Any land conveyed to the State of Missouri under authority of this
Act shall, upon acceptance of such conveyance by such State, be held and considered
to be granted to such State subject to the provisions of the Act of July 2,
1862, referred to in the first section of this Act.".
(4) 7 U.S.C. 302.
(5) 7 U.S.C. 303.
(6) 7 U.S.C. 304.
(7) The Act of April 13, 1926, ch. 130 , 44 Stat. 247, substituted "bonds" for "stocks" and "a
fair and reasonable rate of return, to be fixed by the State legislatures" for "not
less than 5 per centum upon the amount so invested", before proviso.
(8) The Act of March 3, 1883, ch. 102, 22 Stat. 484, adding
after the words "other safe stocks" the words "or the same may be invested
by the States having no State stocks in any other manner after the legislatures
of such States shall have assented thereto, and engaged that such funds shall" and
substituted "yield" for "yielding", "principal" for "capital" and "unimpaired" for "undiminished".
(9) 7 U.S.C. 305.
(10) Added by the Act of July 23, 1866, ch. 209, 14 Stat. 208.
(11) Authority for free mail was repealed by the Act of
March 3, 1873, which provided in part: "That all laws and parts of laws permitting
the transmission by mail of any free matter whatever be, and the same are hereby,
repealed from and after June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-three.".
(12) The Act of July 23, 1866, ch. 209, 14 Stat. 208, added "within
three years from July 23, 1866:" in lieu of "within two years from the date
of its approval by the President.".
(13) Proviso added by the Act of July 23, 1866, ch. 209, 14
Stat. 208. This provision does not apply to Alaska. See footnote 12 above.
Another proviso from the Act of July 23, 1866, which was formerly set out
at the end of subdivision seventh and read: " Provided further ,
That any State which has heretofore expressed its acceptance of the act herein
referred to shall have the period of five years within which to provide at
least one college, as described in the fourth section of said act, after
the time for providing said college, according to the act of July second,
eighteen hundred and sixty-two, shall have expired", has been omitted.
(14) 7 U.S.C. 306. Sec. 6, which related to time of location
of land scrip, was repealed by the Act of December 16, 1930, ch. 14, sec. 1,
46 Stat. 1028.
(15) 7 U.S.C. 307.
(16) 7 U.S.C. 308.
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