Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1822-02-23

:" uS s."tc man infiIiOn oil Inhabitants. Ii
has condemned to barrenness a magnificent
region, that should have been filed will.
wealth, with intelligence and power. II we
cast cur eyes over the map of The union, we.
may discern IN Virginia, district of country
10 winch the nation has three times resorted
Tor ITS chief magistrate. A large proportion
ot the corresponding part Of PENNSYLVANIA is
one unbroken wilderness, the habituaI hunting
ground vi savages. In the cause of this ca
iamity we may learn great lesson, not mere
~ vi agricultural, but political wisdom
something certainly must be ascribed 10 the
unhappy controversy with Connec ticut, which,
nearly half "a century of confusion, of conces,
slon, and OF compromise, has but recently
closed But the greater part of the evil may
De traced TO bad legislation. If, when the
state soid its vacant lands, they had been pre-
vlously surveyed and marked, as those of the
United States were, they would have been
cheerfully bought and easily settled but the
unfortunate policy of selling the right to land,
leaving the purchaser to find it, and the mis-
taken hope OF Peopliug the country, by re-
curing paper conditions of settlement, instead
OF leaving it TO grow with the natural course
OF enterprize-these have introduced a fatal
spirit Depreciation and of fraud, which thirty
years have not yet completely repaired, En-
tire families were ruined by the madness Of
these delusiOns In the inextIicable confusion
oil interfering claims, the same lands were n.
gam and again sold by fraud or ignorance, till
the maps OF some of our counties exhibit n
mosaic OF conflicting surveys, which no sci
ence except law can ever bring into harmony.
y linen came the reaction of disappointment
Men turned with disgust from a scene of On
much suffering, and dreading lawsuit on the
threshold ofe every mans property, abandoned
IN despair the attempt to settle lands SO sur
rounded with uncertainty and trouble There
are now IN Philadelpha-the are perhaps
now listening to me, many owners of thou
sands, of 10, 30, and SO thousand acres ofland.
winch they have never seen, and of which
they would scarcely know the existence, but
from the periodical visit of the tax gatherer
ands which might be rendered magnificent
possessions, surprising now in extent, and
hereafter in value, the most splendid estates II.
Europe. There are others who, deceived bv
exaggerated estimates-seduced by well paint
eu drawings of streams that have never flowed
except IN the eiOquence of the deputy suryey-
or; OF groves of white oaks, and beaches and
naples luSuriating only upon the parchments
ot the land Office, SO on year after year, paw
ing taxes Tor lands, undiscovered and undisco-
veraole, Or winch, ii they really exist, NAV
he again paid Tor by one, by two, by three, /
nave known as much as four other claimants.
residing perhaps in an adjoining street In the.
midst of these conflicts, there grows up on
Tie SOIL, either an honest settler always willing
TO purchase, or else some intruder originally
perhaps not Ill disposed, till the absence of all
control, and gradual attachment to his new
residence, begin to inspire hopes of wrestling
IT from the owner. He then insinuates doubts
oil the title, defaces the marks of surveys, and
summing the proprietor, till 81 years may RI
pen his possession into title, lives on in anx-
ious obscurty, fostering, discontinued and
1il,Ipu
the approach of his most dreaded enemy.--
such was once the too frequent picture of the.
condition of the interior of Pennsylvania ; and
even now, although it has nearly passed, its
effects are Still visible in the anxiety with
which emigrants go round our state, as il
there We're some infection here, and pass on
to remoter and poorer fields, where their in
dustry will at least be safe.
There can be no hope for the agriculture of
pennsylvania, till this source of disquiet is
completely removed and fortunately for us.
time, in revealing all the errors ofthat system.
has furnished the means of remedying them.
Every owner of land may now ascertain whe-
ther mere arc other claimants TO his land, and
readiiy adJast their mutual pretensions Eve
ny purchaser may now satisfy himself as to
the title of the seller so that while suffering.
from our own improvidcnce, we may be al
lowed to console ourselves for it, by rejecting
tiat, whlle the states around us have been
peoped To their borders, Pennsylvania pos
sesses an extent Orwell watered, healthy, rich,
cheap land, convenient to both the atlantic and
western markets, which however hidden from
the world by her past mismanagement, now
Oilers abundant temptations to industry. and
WIN largely contribute TO augment the popu-
iation and resources of the state. To give to-
THESE advantages all their attraction, however,
lnuch more exertiOn is necessary than we
nave hitherto witnessed. There are few fa
miles in the city, who have not some connex-
ION with the lands of the interior there are
many who have extensive estates there. To
THESE would recommend most emphatically,
To visit and examine their possessions: to Be:
seen, and felt, and known as the owners: to
uisencumber themselves at once of the bur-
den OF paying taxes for what does not exist.
or might be worthless If found to encourage
every beneficial improvement, and by all the
means OF Cancellation and liberaltv. which
they are, know, equally able and willing to
extend, identify their own with the growing
interests ofthc settlements. There is
sui another step. How many well educated
young men are there among us, Iangulshing
ia the long nOvicate of some profession or
wasting III Incidence the finest years of their
existence, who, in the new counties of the in
terror, might lay broad and deep the founda.
tons OF splendid prosperity for themselves
and their families. They will be received
with welcome by those whose fortunes they
nave come to share; and their new interests
and new connexions, will soon render their ST.
tuation as agreeable and distinguished as il
will ultimately he profitable.
There IS more satisfaction in turning from
t tii wlld to the settled parts of Pennsylvania.
me old counties between the Delaware and
fho