The wisdom of the land-grant policy has been questioned. When these grants were made it was believed by many that railroads would not and could not be built in the West without such aid. While others did not share this opinion, they at least supposed that land grants would greatly stimulate railroad enterprise and lead to the early construction of the lines thus favored. The land grant of the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad was a mere donation for that part of the line which was already completed at the time the grant was made; and the extension of this line, as well as the construction of the other lines to which the grant applied, was not made as fast as had been anticipated. The price of all Government lands lying outside of the land-grant belts was $1.25 per acre. To reimburse the public treasury for the loss resulting from these grants, the price of lands situated within the land-grant belts was advanced to $2.50 per acre, practically compelling the purchasers of the even-numbered sections of land, instead of the Government, to make the donation to the railroads, it being supposed that the benefits resulting to those regions from the immediate construction of railroads would correspondingly enhance the value of the alternate sections of land reserved by the Government. Designing men soon saw the advantages which the situation offered. They combined with their friends to organize companies for the construction of the land-grant roads, built a small portion of the proposed line, to hold the grant, and then awaited further developments, or rather the settlement of the country beyond. There are those who believe that the doubling of the price of Government land within the belt of the proposed land-grant roads greatly retarded immigration and with it the construction of roads. They hold that, had no grant whatever been made to any railroad company and had equal competition in railroad construction been permitted, the Iowa through lines, instead of following, would have led, the tide of immigration.