The native American., 1839-02-02

linus rewarirg instead of Furnishing those wi :
had violated the law, by intruding upon the publ
properly; and, besides all this, vast bodies of Il
lpuhlc lands have been gratuitously bestowedupt
1.-The new States for purposes Of education, intern
Improvement, and other objects, exclusively b.
nefcial 10 those States.
The inevitable tendency of this new policy h !,
been to enhance the prosperity of the States whel
the lands are situated, at the expense of the o.
Sta,es-to give an unnatural and artificial impetl
to emigration from the old to the new States, ha
ing the effect Of system of bounlies on emigr:
ton producing constant drain ofour population,
who carry with them their wealth and their labor
and causing general depreciation Of our lande !
property, by throwing into the market, at made
lquate prices, immense quantities of fresher an
more fertile lands in these new States.
As another consequence, the pnhiie treasury ha
rcal;zcyi iule more, on the aggregate Of all til
II lands sold, than the minimum ptice Of one dolla
and twenty-five rents per acre; and that fact (th
consequence of the thriitless and wasteful polio
which has been pnrsued,) is now earnestly an |
perpetualIv urged AS a reason why the price shout
be still further dInnshed--that the public Ian !.
should cease to be regarded as a source of revt
nue., and shonld, in effect, be surrendered to tn !
States in which the lands lie by system Of SET
clement rights, pre-emption laws. and graduatioi !
| bills. So far from this, results such as these Ough
to induce an inquiry whether the system does nc
need reformation. Il hey are 70 be traced to tn
private combinations and associations Of settler
or specuaiors, which put down competition, thes |
combinations and associations ought to be prohi
bied and punished; if the quantity of land sur
veyed and brought into market, is too large, lei
no more he offered until there is nearer equalit,
between the supply and demand; if it be that th,
pre-enp,on system furnishes the choice lands al
the minimum price, such legislation oughtto cease
and the laws prohibiting intrusion, and requiring
the removal Of intruders, ought to be rigdly en-
forced-and if the evil is too inveterate for cor
recton by any Of these reforms, let the minimum
price of the land be raised.
This subject is one in which those States, am
especially Virginia, by whose cessl"ns to the Uni
ted States, much the largest portion of the publi
lands were obtained, except what were acquires
under the Louisiana treaty and the purchase G.
Florida, ought 10 feel deep and lively interest
and have, in some sort, peculiar right 10 inter
fere A. the close Of the Revolutionary War, til
whole of the domain, now comprising the State
Of Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and the Terri
tory Of Wisconsin, were within the char,ere
limits Of, and claimed by, New York, Virginia
North Caro,ina and Georgia. TO that vast re
| gion, the Northwestern Territory, Virginia had
double elam of chartered title and right of con
quest; for she acquired the actual possession
80 much OF il as had been trod by the foot of th
white man, by conquest with her own troops, re
ceivng no assistance in that quarter from the othe
States during the Revolutionary War. And j.
may not he out of place to remark, that many
the gallant officers and soldiers who achieved thi
artuous conquest, have not yet received the boun~
| ty Lands which !" ere promised them by Virgini
| for this service--even at this moment, while pre-
iects are on foot for the surrender to the States l.
which they lie, Of the very lands acquired b.
their hardy valor, and outof which these engage
mens were to be satisfied.
The States which mentioned as claimin
these lands, yielding to the natural apprehensions
and ealousies of some of the other States OF th
Confederacy, and preferring harmony, union an.
liberty, to power, agreed TO settle their own con
hicting claims, and to quiet all fears and com
plants, by ceding to the United States all thes
lands. But while making this concession 10 har
mony and union, they accompanied the surrende
y ith conditions and reservations, contained in tn
Acts of Session, which were accepted by Con
gress and to the observance Of which the Unite
States Government is bound by the highest obi
cations of public faith; and for the performance
which, SO far as Virginia is concerned, the Con
| gress OF the Confederacy, whose obligations, u
!! this respect, have devolved upon the Government
Of the Union, expressly engaged by the Ordnanc
OF 1887, which has ever since been regarded as
solemn national compact.
| After devoling the public lands to the paymen
Of the National Debt, created by the Revolutions
ry War; and to the reimbursement of the expen
ses OF Virginia in defending the territory ceded
the acts Of cession by Virginia, and those of th'
other States, substantially provided, 'that thu
lands ceded should be considered common fun
for the benefit Of such Of the United States as hav'
become, or shall become, members OF the Con
federacy or Federal alliance Of the said States
Virginia, inclusive, according to their usual respec
tive proportions in the general charge and expen
diture, and shall be faithfully and bona fide dspo
sed of for that purpose, and for no other use Q.
purpose whatsoever I.
Here is an explicit stipulation, incorporated u,
the very grant to the United States, accepted AMI
ratified by the Ordinance referred to, by whie!'
these public lands were TO be held as a conanao''
fund for the benefit of all the States, and u no
iilai,hf,ily and bona fde disposed q for that pur
pose, and for no other purpose whatsoever, tn
solemn engagements of the United States will b
violated--the condition on which alone Virglnr
- - A.