Alabama state intelligencer., 1831-06-25

and when it returns from Washington City ii abides awhile in the people of Aabama-unt our claims to Relief begin to form basis to rest on when they
 find for it shelter and repository in the great rotun da and huge dwellings at Tuscaloosa, which made to shudder at the thought of being deprived of some additional corinthian flourish, which may be necessary in giving a splendid appearance to the town. But for the sake of argument, allow for moment that the Legislature intended or wished to vest in this body of men the right to this donatiOn- Could they view it d corporation such as describ- ed by Mir Mardls in his Protest. We have heard that one capacity, of corporation aggregate is this that it cannot be seized of lands for the use of ano ther for such kind of confidence is foreign to it's in- stituton. To allow the conveyance then to pass the interest in its hroadest sense could it have been otherwise than conveyance for the ofthe people of Alabama2 Can this artificial, invisible and in- tangible being, be the acceptable of right to lands which for the of others, and not therefore ab solule in this body2 We are not skilled in Legal science, and therefore venture opinion positively, but are much inclined to the correctness of what we have suggested. live be correct, it is evident that they do not possess rights except Agents and in that capacity they may be authorised to do any thing, and every thing that their principals the Legislature could do
 Suppose the acts of 1891 and 2, authorizing the election of these Trustees, repealed would not this mlstclsm about corporate powers vanish? They have no privileges or grants about which they could complain. They elected for three-years Gfthey choose to serve so long) with compensation of $3 per day, for the time engaged in rendering services. Can any one doubt for Il moment, the right of the Legislature to repeal the act In whom could the right to the land then vest In the Legislature clear ly, where it vested before the appointment of those Agents
 As the Ordinance passed by the Board of Trustees in April last has excited some feeling and eliclted some false reasoning we will examine, briefly, the powers delegated to them, and endeavor to ascertain if they have in any manner exceeded their authority to act
 The 4h section ofthe act of 1891, empowers them among other things 'to act and to do all things what soever for the benefit of the institution" Is there nothing discretionary in this2 But it is not neces- sary to attempt their justification upon that, as their authority is more than ample from the following acts.
 "Ihe Trustees shall have full power and authori- ty from time to time to reduce the price of the Uni versty lands, that have been offered for sale in their discretion may appear just and reasonable, and to offer the at such reduced prices at public private sale"
 "The said Trustees may sell any of said lands at prrate sale, upon such terms and at such prices as they may deem best calculated to promote the inter- est of the institution, and may take or accept of such security as they may deem most advisable"
 Now is it possible that any man of common capa- city, after "a careful examination of all the statutes could to the conclusion that authority had not been granted the Trustees. to secure doubtful debts by taking deed of trust personal or real estate to the amount of 1500 for each quarter section of land when the only security they had for raising from SSl500 to $3500, the amount due on the same lands was the land itself worth from $320 to $500 per quarter section?
 Could they promote the interest of the institution and refuse to do 1t, if it asked2 If those gentle men who have exercised privilege due to minor-
 ties in publishing their Protest against the Ordinance passed in April ast had examined the statutes which form q part of the contract, they would have found that the most notorious InS0lyen in the country who might have had the advanced payment placed in his hands, could have purchased and taken possession of every acre of this donation All that the law re- quircd, the first nstament, and his bonds aoith- out security for the balance The land itself was considered ample security for the balance, whether purchased by solvent insolvent men.
 What is the effect of this Relief, which has reused all the energies and called into exercise all the sym pathies of Mir Mardis? It is to receive additional securities and thereby realize to the Institution thou sands of dollars that could be recovered other wise Yet, the community pursuaded that the Trustees have lessened the funds arising from the lands to an amount almost ncalculable Is it moral y right thus to oresta public opinion, against the most oppressed class of land debtors in the Union | This we leave to the conscience of Mir Mardis.- Much is said also about resembling contracts Does the Ordinance allow any purchasers to acquire one acre ofland for less than from 2O to S25 per acre? If this be resembling contracts, it would be well for Mir Mardis that they should all be rescinded.
 It is further contended in the Protest, that there is no analogy between the land debtors to the General Government, who were so long the object of anxious solicitude, and who were finally rescured from that ruin that was impending over them for years and the debtors to the State Government We ask if the lands sold by the Ganera Government-were not surrendered principally by the individual States and sold for the purpose of satisfying just claims
 raced by ancestors in tine great struggle for n dependence. Were not the amount of those sales sufficient to have paid off large portion of those claims, ten years since; and had not those creditors right to expect payment from their proceeds Yet, notwithstanding these imposing obligations, the con
 sequences ofrigorous coercion excited the synpathes ola Government, whose acts always indicate bene- voent feelings for the welfare and prosperity of its subjects; and the hand of oppression stad- obligations for millions of dollars released and peace, plenty and harmony sent to the bo- som of families, then writhing under the oppressive burden of debts which must have inevitably brought them to ruin and despair Whence came this land for which we are indebted? From the same kind parent It was gift to the citizens of Alabama to aid them collectively in the march of science ntend ed for the good of al and for the oppression of Rather than overburthen and oppress her subjects the General Government released millions of dol
 ars contracted under the same circumstances, and
 left her creditors unpaid, and to avoid sacrifice of
 the few, she demands annual pitance Olthe whole.
 The State Government IS our creditor, and will a precedent so benevolent so salutary in it's effect have no influence in their deliberations upon this subject? We ask our fellow citizens, who now enjoying the benefit ofthat which we seek to remove our burthen, by releasing 50 cents each, of their in
 erest in the sums which we owe.
 This is the substance of what we ask, and about which so much has been said Mir Mardis says that
 the land sold by the General Government was the property ofthe United States and is the policy of
 the Government to better the condition of the cit- zens, by making him the sole proprietor of the soil, and to effecuate that, the Government has granted reHeft to the land purchasers, when the debt became