LANDSLIDE 411 LANE ress down to 1870. Opposite Lands- krona in the Sound lies the island of Hven, on which Tycho Brahe built his ob- servatory of Oranienborg. Pop. (1918) 18,062. LANDSLIDE, or LANDSLIP, the sliding or settling* down of a considerable portion of earth from a higher to a lower level; the earth which so slips or slides. Landslides are produced by earth- quake disturbances, or by the action of water undermining the beds which fall. Notable landslides have occurred in the Rocky Mountains. LANDS, PUBLIC, lands which the government owns and disposes of by sale or otherwise to States and individuals. These lands have been acquired largely by cession from other nations. The yielding to Congress by the various States of the rights to western territory was an important influence in the for- mation of the Constitution. Between 1781 and 1788 all the States having claims in the West ceded them to Con- gress, which immediately divided them into territories under the famous North- west Ordinance of 1787. Public lands have been added to by Louisiana Pur- chase (1803), the cession of Florida (1819), the treaty of Guadeloupe Hi- dalgo with Mexico (1848), and the pur- chase of Alaska (1867). That portion of the lands held by the government and not sold is what is usually known as the "public lands." The policy of the government was at first to sell large blocks of land by con- tract, then to sell in small lots and on credit, and after 1820 to sell for cash in lots to suit the purchasers. In 1862 Congress passed the "Homestead Law" providing that any person could secure 160 acres of public land if he settles on it for five years and improves the property. Under this law more than 85 million acres of public land has passed to indi- viduals. The same act appropriated to the States a tract of the public land on which to build and maintain agricul- tural colleges. In this way 10 more millions of acres were disposed of. In addition to the selling of lands under general laws Congress has fre- quently made grants of land to persons as a reward for public services. The greater part of 10 million acres was given to soldiers of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812; 60,000,000 acres were set aside to be granted to veterans of the Mexican War. Still an- other method of disposal has been to grant the lands to the different States sometimes for the purpose of building canals, or the building of drains and levees. Even before the Civil War the policy was begun of granting lands to the various railroad companies to encourage the building of the roads. But the lar- gest cession was made in favor of the trans-continental railroads which were being built during and after the Civil War. In all Congress granted to these railroads alone the stupendous total of 155,000,000 acres, an area equal in ex- tent to some of the European countries. Congress continued its policy of handing out the public lands with a lavish hand until in President Roosevelt's adminis- tration a halt was called and many fraudulent schemes by land agents de- tected, some public land reclaimed, and the remainder of it more closely and carefully guarded. According to a recent statement of ex-Secretary of the Interior Lane the United States, on July 1, 1918, possessed 222,448,225 acres of public lands plus that held by the government in Alaska, which amounted to about 350,000,000 acres. In the yea) ending July, 1918, the Land Office hac disposed of nearly 10,000,000 acres and had received $5,431,827. LANDSTURM (land'storm), a local militia of Germany, consisting of those of the reserve who are too old to serve in the Landw^hr (q. v.). The land- sturm is never called on to serve out of its own district except in case of in- vasion. When the Russians invaded East Prussia in 1914, the Landsturm played a leading part in driving them back. LAND TAX, a tax levied on land. What is known as the land tax in Eng- land was imposed in the reign of William III. as a substitute for escuage, talliage, fifteenths, and other contributions. It was imposed annually from 1693 to 1798 at a varying rate. It was replaced by a perpetual rent charge on land, with power of redemption, and a tax annually imposed on personal property, the latter tax abolished in 1833. For a statement of the principles of Henry George favor- ing the raising of all public revenues by a single tax on land values, see Single Tax. LANDWEHR (land'vahr), a kind of German militia composed entirely of men who have served in the regular army, and who in time of peace follow their usual trades or callings, except dur- ing the time when they are called out for their annual training. LANE, FRANKLIN KNIGHT, an American public official; born near Char-
