VA.

CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF IOWA.

CHAPTER I.

THE TOWNSHIP.

In Iowa, the term "township" is an important one, as it represents that division of the government which is nearest the people. It is in the township that "a government of the people, by the people, and for the people" exists in its truest sense. It is here that the people meet at stated times to determine how their local government shall be carried on.

Kinds of Townships.-There are three different kinds of townships in Iowa-congressional, civil, and school. The congressional township was provided for long before Iowa was admitted into the Union, and it has served as the basis of nearly all the land surveys made in this country since our government was first organized in 1789. The congressional township is a tract of land six miles square, and it is divided into thirty-six square miles, or sections, each section containing six hundred and forty acres.

Be

low is given a diagram of a congressional township, with the sections numbered as they occur in all such townships:

Each section may be separated into parts, as shown in the following diagram, and each part easily described:

Number "1" is the north-west quarter of the southeast quarter of section 16, and contains forty acres.

Number "2" is the west one-half of the north-east quarter of the south-east quarter of section 16, and contains twenty acres.

Number 3" is the north one-half of the south-east quarter of the south-east quarter of section 16, and contains twenty acres.

Number "4" is the north-east quarter of the southwest quarter of the south-east quarter of section 16, and contains ten acres.

Land Titles. It is important that our system of surveys be thoroughly understood, for all the descriptions of land given in deeds, mortgages, leases, tax-receipts, etc., are based upon it. The first deeds to land in Iowa were given in the name of the United States, and the chain of title to any piece of land in the state can be traced back to these deeds, or patents, as they are called, and no farther.

Principal Meridians. Before commencing the sur

vey proper, it is necessary to establish two main lines, one extending north and south and the other east and west. These lines are purely arbitrary and they are located with. out special reference to any other lines of the same kind that may have been surveyed before. New lines are established whenever they are needed for convenience in making a survey. The lines extending north and south are called principal meridians, and those extending east and west are called base lines. The principal meridians are numbered westward and a separate base line is established for each.

Survey in Iowa.-The fifth principal meridian forms the basis of the United States land survey in Iowa. It extends due north from the mouth of the Arkansas river, crosses Missouri and the eastern part of Iowa, and passes out of the state at a point between Clayton and Dubuque counties. The base line extends due west from the mouth of the St. Francis river in Arkansas, and crosses the principal meridian forty-eight miles north of its starting point. By surveying lines six miles apart parallel with the base line, and others the same distance apart parallel with the principal meridian, the land lying north and west of the point of intersection of the main lines is divided into blocks six miles square. Each of these blocks is called a congressional township.

Townships and Ranges. To locate land by this system of surveys, two sets of numbers are used, one designating the townships north of the base line, and the other the townships west of the fifth principal meridian. Land may also be surveyed south from the base line and east from the principal meridian. For convenience the tiers of townships east or west of the principal meridian

are called ranges, and those north or south of the base line are called townships. All the land in Iowa is surveyed

from the fifth principal meridian.

Land lying in the south-east corner square of this survey is in township one north, range one west of the fifth principal meridian. Every congressional township lying west of the one mentioned is township one north, and every township north of it is in range one west. The townships are numbered northward or southward from the base line, and the ranges eastward or westward from the principal meridian. The civil township of Wayne, in the north-eastern part of Mitchell county, is township one hundred north, range fifteen west of the fifth principal meridian. The pupil should become so familiar with this system of surveys that he can locate, by numbers, any land in the county in which he lives.

Correction Lines.-Owing to the convergence of meridians in passing northward, it has been found necessary to establish secondary lines parallel with the base line. These are called correction lines, and there are four of them in Iowa. They are the northern and the southern bound. aries of the state and the northern boundaries of townships seventy-eight and eighty-eight north.