Land Grant
a grant made by Congress to assist railroad companies to secure funds, by the sale of bonds secured by lands so granted, to construct lines of railway through parts of the United States where the local traffic would not pay the running expenses. About 215,- 000,000 acres of land were given to the various railroads of the country by the government. The Illinois Central received a strip 12 miles wide, running the whole length of Illinois; the Northern Pacific received 47,000,000 acres; the Atlantic and Pacific, 42,000,000; the Union Pacific, 13,000,000 and other roads in proportion. Congress has also made many grants of land to the several States and Territories to promote public education.
LANDGRAVE (LANDGRAF), a German title adopted in the 12th century to distinguish a governor of a district or province from the inferior counts under his jurisdiction. Also the title of each of three princes of the German empire, whose territories were called landgraviates.