Southern Argus. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1834-1842, 1837-12-19

and with occasional notifications, to correct
abuses and adapt it to changes Of circum-
stances, may, ! think, be safely trusted for
the future. There is, in the management
If such extensive interest, much virtue in
/ stability; and although great and obvious
| improvements should not be declined, chan
geS should never be made without the fullest
examination, and the clearest demonstration
| Of hheir practical utility. In the history Of
fIRN past, we have an assurance that this
safe rule of action will not be departed from
in relation to the public lands; nor is It be-
ltieVed that necessity exists for interfering
with the fundamental principles of the Sys.
tenn or that the public mind, even in 4he
new States, is deSiI Gus of any radical alter
atoms. Onthe contrary, The general disPo-
/ sitiOn appears to be, to make such mOdihca-
tons and additions only as will the more eff
| fectuallY carry out the original policy of fill
1 ing our new States and Territories with an
industrious and independent population.
The modification most perSeveringly
i pressed upon Congress. which has occupied
SO much Of its time for years past, and will
probably do so fer long time to come, If
not sooner satisfactorily adjusted, is reduc-
ton in the cost of snch portions of the public
lands as are aScertained to be unsaleab.e at
the rate now established by law, and gra-
duation, according to their relative value, of
the prices at which they may hereafter be
sold. II is worthy of consideration whether
justice may not be done to every interest in
this matter and veXed question set at rest
perhaps for ever, by a reasonable cOmpro-
mise of conflicting opinions. Hitherto, after
being offered at public sale, lands have been
disposed of at one uniform price, whatever.
difference there might be in their intrinsic
value. The leading considerations urged
in favor Of the measure referred to, are,
that in almost all the land districts, and par
ticularly in those in which the lands have
been long surveyed and exposed to sale,
there arr still Jemaining numerous & large
tracts of every graduation of value from the
Government price dOwnwardS; that these
lands will not be purchased at the Govern.
ment price, so long as better can be conve-
nieRtly obtained for the same amount; that
there are large tracts which even the inn
prOvements of the adjacent lands will never
raise to that price; and that the present
uniform price, combined with their irregu-
lar value, operate to prevent desirable
comPActneSs of settlement in the new
States, aRd to regard the full development
Of that wise policy on which our land xys-
tenn is founded. to the injury not only of the
|
u. States AS aWhole.
The remedy proposed has been a reduc-
ton OF prices according to the length of
time the lands have been in market, with
out reference to any other circumstanceS.-l
The certainty that the efflux of lime would
not always in such cases, and perhaps not
even generally, furnish a true criterion of
value; and the probability that persons re-
siding in the vicinity, as the period for re-
duction Of prices approached, would post
Pone purchases they would otherwise
make, for the purpose Of awaiting them
selves of the lower price, with other Consi-
deratiOnS of similar character, have hither.
to been successfully urged to defeat the
graduation uPoR time.
May not all reasonable desires upon this
subject be satisfied without sDcountering
any Of these objections! All will concede
the abstract principle that the price of pub
lie lands should be proportional in their re-
lative value, 81 far as that can be accom-
plished without departing from the rule,
heretofore observed, requiring fixed prices
in cases at private entries. The difficulty
Of the subjects seems TO lie in the mode Of
aSCertaining what that value is. Would not
the safest plan be that which has been a.
dopted by many of the States as the basis of
taXation-an actual valuation of lands, and
classification of them into different rateS?-l
Would it not be practicable and expedIent
to cause the relative value of the public
lands in the old districts. which have been
for certain length Of time in market, to be
appraised, and claSSed into two or more rates
below the present minimum price, by the
/ officers now employed in this branch of the
public service, or in any other mode deem
ed preferable, and to make those prices
permanent, ifmpon the coming in of the re-
pert they shall prove satisfactory to Con-
gross? Cannot all the objects Of graduation
beaccOmplished in this way, and the Objec-
tons which have hitherto been urged a.
gainSt it avoided! 1t would seem to me
that such step, with restriction Of the
saleG to limited quantities, and for actual I'M
Provements would be free from all just ex-
ception.
BY the full exposition of the value of the
lands thus furnished and extensively pro.
mulgated. persons living at distance would
be informed of their true condition. and en-
abled to enter into competition with those
residing in the vicinity; the means Of ac-
quIring an independent home would be
brought within the reach of many who are
unable to purchase at present prices; the
population OF the new States would be made
more compact, and large tracts would be
sold which would otherwise remain on hand
not only would the land be brought within
the means Of large number Of purchasers.
but many persons possessed Of greater
means would be content TO settle on a larger
quantity Of the poorer lands, rather than
emigrate further west in pursuit of a smaller
quantity of better lands. Such a measure
would also seem to be more consistent with
the policy Ofthe existing laws-that Of con-
verting the public domain into cultivated
farms owned by their occupants. That po-
Icy is not best promoted by sending emf
grafton up the almost inteFminable streams
Of the West. to occupy in groups the best
spht Of land, leaving immense wastes be-
hind them, and enlarging the frontier b.
yOnd the meas of the Government to afford