the United States Senate against allowing Mr. Scott to take his seat, because he had not received a majority of all the members elected to the Legislature; but the protest was dismissed and Mr. Scott was seated.

6. Condition of the State in 1900.-At the end of the century West Virginia approximates 1,000,000 of population. It is first in the production of oil and natural gas; second in production of coke; and within the last year, has moved up from. fourth to third place among the States in the output of coal, taking precedence of Ohio. New towns have sprung up; old towns have taken a second growth; the development of Clarksburg, Fairmont, Morgantown, Moundsville, Sistersville, and Parkersburg, among others, has been phenomenal; country life has improved; institutions have developed and have entered upon a career of useful expansion. The achievements of the present are but a forerunner of that which is to come: the promise of the future is bright, if only wisdom and prudence shall continue to guide the policy of the State.

7. Election of 1900.-The campaign and election of 1900 were good natured, quiet and orderly. The Republicans nominated Albert B. White of Wood County for Governor, and the Democrats nominated John Homer Holt of Cabel County. The leading candidates engaged in joint discussion for a time. The result of the elections, State, National, and local, was signalized by a decisive Republican victory. White received a total vote of 118,798, Holt 99,282, and 1780 votes were cast for other candidates. White's plurality over Holt was therefore 19,516 and his majority over all candidates was 17,736. Every candidate on the Republican state ticket was elected, together with a Republican majority in both Houses of the Legislature insuring the return of Senator Stephen B. Elkins to the Senate. Arnold C. Scherr of Mineral County was elected Auditor; Peter Silman of Kanawha, Treasurer; Thomas C. Miller of Marion, Superintendent of Free Schools; Romeo H. Freer of Richie, Attorney General. The same party.

elected a member of Congress in each of the four districts in the State. B. B. Dovener succeeded himself in the first; Alston Gordon Dayton in the Second; Joseph H. Gaines defeated Johnson the sitting Democratic member in the Third; and James A. Hughes succeeded Romeo H. Freer, Republican, in the Fourth. Henry Brannon of Lewis and George Poffenbarger of Mason were elected judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals, giving the Republicans three out of the four members of that body.

I.

CHAPTER XXII.

INDUSTRIAL HISTORY.

Land Titles.-All the land between the Alleghanies and Ohio, in West Virginia, except a few grants by the King of England to companies and individuals, once belonged to the State of Virginia. All land titles in that region can be traced back, through all changes in possession, to the time when the land belonged to the State. None of it ever belonged to the United States. That part of Virginia which lay west of the Ohio River was ceded to the general government soon after the Revolutionary war and it became government land. But such was not the case east of the Ohio. In 1779 Virginia put on the market for sale its land west of the Alleghanies. Actual settlers procured many small tracts at a very small cost, and cleared fields and made homes.

2. Land Speculators.-No sooner was the land placed upon the market than speculators commenced to buy it with the expectation of selling it at an advance in price. Tracts containing tens of thousands of acres were thus bought. Under the law at that time the purchaser might buy the right to locate a stipulated number of acres, and he could afterwards locate the land where it best suited him, either in one tract, or in different tracts. The boundaries of land located in that manner were often vague and indefinite, leaving room for many and costly lawsuits in the future. The locations of one speculator frequently overlapped those of another. Occasionally a dozen or more farms, with their houses and fields, would be covered by the claims of a single speculator. The actual settlers, who had bought and paid for their lands, usually held their pos

session in spite of the efforts of the speculators to pick flaws in the titles or to discover errors in the boundaries. The purpose of those who laid claim to large tracts, covering many smaller ones, was sometimes honest-perhaps generally honest. The object was to hold only such land, within the prescribed area, as still belonged to the State.

3. Disputes and Lawsuits.-Many disputes and lawsuits have resulted from the poor system under which the State of Virginia sold its land. Titles to valuable property have been found defective. Prospective buyers often hesitate before making a purchase, and require the seller to prove that his title is good. Legislation and the decisions of the courts have done much to settle many controversies regarding land titles in West Virginia. Claims which are unjust have little show of success in the courts. Actual possession, not contested for ten years, under claim or color of title, usually perfects title.

4. Public Roads.—The history of public roads in West Virginia is a history of shortsightedness, improvidence, carelessness and waste. This applies more to the early years of the State than to a later period. The solid earth, suitable for firm roadbeds; the slopes, affording drainage; and the abundance of macadamizing material, render nearly perfect roads possible in West Virginia, except that they must sometimes be steeper than desirable. During the first half century after the settlement of the State good roads were unknown, with very few exception. The bridlepaths of the pioneers were widened a little for roads, notwithstanding that they ran up hill, down hill, through swamps, over rocks, crooked when they should be straight, and straight up or down a mountain when they should have wound round it and gradually up it. Each. neighborhood and each generation had ideas of its own; and nearly all were erroneous. Improvements came gradually. The first step was to abandon parts of old roads and build new