Vandalia Whig and Illinois intelligencer. [volume] (Vandalia, Ill.) 1832-183?, 1834-01-08

n for market, aud selling, the western dc
main. From the origin Of the land sy.
tenn down to the 3Olh September, 1885,
the amount expended for all these purpo
ses has been about 49,7Ol ,28o, dollars
land the amount received from the sales
deducting payments on account Of roads
DC. about 80. 386,624 dollars. The rev
enue arising from the public lands, there
I tore, has hot been sufficient to meet the
: general charges on the treasury whict
have grown out Of them, by about II, 314,
1856 dollars. Yet, in having been applied
to lessen those charges, the conditions oil
the compacts have been thus far fulfilled.
and each state has profited according to
Its usual proportion in the general charge
and expenditure. The annual proceeds
OF land sales have increased, and the char
ges have diminished; so that, at redu-
ced price, those lands would now defray
all current charges growing out of them,
and save the treasury from further adj
vances on their account. Their original
intent and object, therefore, would be &C
lcomplished, as fully as it has hitherto
been, by reducing the price, and hereaf
ter as heretofore, bringing the proceeds
INTO the treasury. Indeed, as this is the
only mode in which The objects of the orr
glnal compact can be attained, it may be
considered, for all practical purposes, that
1t is one of their requirements.
The bill before me begins with an en-
tire subversion Of every one of the COM
pacts by which the United States became
possessed of their western domain, and
treats the subject as if they never had ex
lstence, and as if the United States were
the original and uncond owners of
Jail the public lands. The first section di
reefs
"Ihat from and after the 3lst day Of
december, 1882, there shall he allowed
| anu paid to each of the states of Ohio, In
diana, Illinois, Alabama, Missouri, Misss-
sippi, aud Louisiana, over and above what
each Of the said states is entitled to by
the terms of the compacts entered into
between them, respectively, upon their
admission into the union, and the United
States, the sum Of twelve and half per
centum upon the net amount of the sales
| of the public lands which, subsequent to
| the day aforesaid, shall be made within
the several limits Of the said states; which
said sum OF twelve and half per centum
shall be applied to some object or objects
Of internal Improvement, or education,
within the said states, under the direction
Of their several legislatures"
This twelve and a half per centum is
to be taken out Of tue net proceeds of the
land sales before any apportionment is
made; and the same seven states which
are first TO receive this proportion, are
also TO receive their due proportion of the
residue, according to the ratio of general
distribution.
Now, waving all consideration Of equi-
ty or policy in regard 10 this provision,
what more need be said to demonstrate
its Objectionable character, than that it is
in direct and undisguised violation of the
| pledge given by congress to the states
before ii single cession was made: that it
abrogates the condition upon which some
Of the states came into the union; and
that it sets at nought the terms of cession
spread upon the face of every grant I'M
der which the title to that portion Of the
public land is held by the federal gov
ernmcnt?
In the appoItionmcnt Of the remaining
seven-eigths of the proceeds, this bill, in
a manner equally undisguised, violates
the conditions upon which the U. States
acquired title to the ceded lands. Aban-
doning altogether the ratio of distribution
according to the general charge and ex
penditure provided by the compacts, i
adopts that of the federal representative
population. Virginia, and other states
which ceded their lands upon the expires
condition that they should receive ben
eft from their sales in proportion to thei
!, part ofthe general charge, are, by the bill
allowed only portion Of seven, eighths Q
their proceeds, and that not in the pre-
portion of general charge and expend
f ture, but in the ratio Of their federal re,
t resentative population.
!, The constitution of the United State
n did not delegate to congress the power
0 abrogate these compacts. On the col
e trary, by declaring that nothing in it .'sho
1 be SO construed as to prejudice any claims
The United States, or q any particular state
l. it virtually provides that these compact
e and the rights they secure. shall RENAL