The Iowa patriot. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1839-1839, 1839-07-25
LAND SALES.

LAND SALES.
There has been much anxiety manifes-
ted of late among the farmers of this Ter
ritory in relation to the time of the next
Land Sales. In order to satisfy this high
ly respectable class of our community on
this point, Mr. VAN ANTWERP, the receiv-
er at this place, wrote to his friend, Mr.
WH1TcoMB, of the Land Office Depart.
ment at Washington, and succeeded in
obtaining the information that about forty
additional Townships will be brought
into market the succeeding Fall. The
communication thus received did not spe-
city the particular townships that are to
be sold--neither will it be known until
the Presidents Proclamation is publish
ed, which may be expected in a short
time. 1t will be source of qualification
to the farmers doubtless, to be apprised
of the fact that these lands are to be in
Market at that time, as hitherto all has
been uncertainty on the subject, but that
they will all be gratifed at the fact itself,
is quite a different thing. There is, no
doubt, a majority in this Land District
who are prepared to pay for their land
whenever it may come into market; but
there is also large portion who have not
so far settled their affairs. and made their
arrangements as to be able to do this
these latter are among those who have but
recently sold out in other places and have
just inmigrated to this Territory, OF are
otherwise embarrassed. The number of
townships proposed to be put up for sale
in this Land District alone, amounts to
one million one hundred and fifty-two
thousand dollars; allowing that not more
that one half Of the land is claimed, the
sum required to enter it we fear is much
larger than will be in the possession of
the settlers by October or November, al
though we shall be very glad to learn
that our fears are groundless.
There are some evils which we can
easily conceive may grow out of the pol.
icy OF bringing so much of the land into
the market at once;-and if these had no
existence, we should rejoice to see all in
the Territory subject to entry tomorrow.
The first is the opportunity it affords
Spectators, whose interest is only selfish
and not at all beneficial, to enter large
tracts of the best land, without the least
expectation of ever cultivating it them.
selves. The second evil is that it indu-
ces this same class of individuals, sswho
make haste to become rich,'' to bring
large sums Of money to the sales for
which they frequently charge as high as
fifty per cent, taking as security mort
gage on the land thus purchased, with the
confident expectation, that the best Of
these farms will one day be their own, on
account of the impossibility they them
selves have created of rendering it practi-
cable for the purchasers to meet their
payments. The third and last evil which
we shall now mention is, that notwith-
standing the terms on which alone they
can obtain money to enter their land which
they have been improving, are extremely
hard and oppressive and worthy only of
these modern Shylocks, our farmers feel
compelled, rather than lose their all, to
accede to them. In this way the spirits
of many begin to droop, and their efforts
at making substantial Improvements are
| to a great extent paralized, with the fear
that after all they may not be able to meet
their engagements and that they are ex-
pending their strength and energies sole
ly to benefit those who feel no real inter-
es. in them or the country, apart from
their own selfish aggrandizement. We
think these evils might in great meas
ure be obviated by bringing in small por-