Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1821-01-02

The radical chance which was made
ut the last session Of Congress, in rela-
ton to the public LENDS, seems to render
it cxpcdient, At least, to lcRisla,e on these
Incidental subjects, which seem 10 be
connected with ii, considerably in detail.
With the purchaser, ~ho, il tho times
ol pecuaiary plenty, embarked his capt
tal in the purchase Of public land, and
VINO by the depression in every thing,
has become unable to meet his engage
ments, and WAC is now asking relief, n.ay
also be classet the actual settler Upon
the public land, WHO settled previous TO
that change.
F|i,h view Of bringing their claims
10 the muniiiccncc of the government
fairly before congress, Mr. Cook, tie re
preventative Of Illinois, it will be seen,
offered resolution to the house, in
structing the committee on the public
lands to inquire into the e&pediency Of
allowing them the right Of presumption,
at such price as might be deemed cafe
dieHt. 20 the propriety Of this inquiry.
il would seem difficult to furnish any
solid objection, and as the question WAS
taken without debate, it may be pre-
babe that this future Of the resolution
was not fully comprehended.
1t will not be denied that there is a
law forbid1ing iatrusons upon the pub
lie lands; but from the circumstance,
that proclamation was once issued by
the President OF the United States, re-
curing all such intrudcrs to remove, en-
forced too, as it was, with a menace of
the employment Of military force to
remove them iii the event Of their dts
obedience, and that measure having been
finally abandoned, it may n0t be unfair
to presume, that that abandonment WAS
viewed as an acknowledgement Of the
imhrohrietV of the measure, and the
Ihrohriety Of tolerating such settlements.
Bat, without taking shelter under the
seeming acqnlescence OF the govern
ment, as in.crabie from tits act, the fact
that they render the lands in Their vicin;-
t. more valuable thaa they would be in
their entirely wild and unsettled state
that they have, i'll general, made those
lands sell for one or two hundred per
cent. more than nc minimum price fixed
by the government, it would seem ought
to entitie them 10 some sortoi indulgence.
'fhe settlers are generally OF the poorer
class Of our citizens, and have settled
upon the public LAID, because they were
unable to purchase. Under the Old Gre
dit system, when lily cents all acre,
would probably secure them their Isle
farms, at leas, for five years, by which
time their industry might provide them
with the means OF completing their pay
lncnts, they were all sui"ing.to accumu
late money cnoug h to pay the FIRST in
stalment, as all that was iadispen5aby
necessary to Afford them security. But
now, when tic whole price is to be paid
down, and they exposed to the compo;i-
lion of every description of purchasers,
unless the lIbcrality of the government
De extended to them, de Spectator, and
not the settler, will be most likely to
profit by their labor
The objection, that those settlers adj
vance toe far INFO the forests and create
an exposed frontier, when deliberately
examined, may not appear so we'll founa-
ed. Those frontiers, il is true, are
generally the scenes Of Indian hostilitits.
But we must have some fron,ier--and il
these adventurers are upon that frontier,
they generally consist OF those Intrepid
men who little fear danger, and are not
therefore helpless, but extremely ei6-
cent border settlers. Their labor aiso
furnishes much Of the means OF sub
sistence for those who are sent to Their
relief, and their cabins afford them pro-
lection on many occasions against the in
clemcncy OF the weather. Butabove all.
they carry home to their savage neigh
boris the strongest proofo our vastly in
creasing population, and inspire them
with a more appalling sense of their own
inefliciency in beiiigcrent attitude.
Upon the whole, there seems to be no
very solid reason for refusing to grant
those settlers some relief, for relief it
may be called, by fixing the pre- emption
price at sum reasonable and eXpedient
Washington, Dec 9.
From the unequlvocal Indications OF