Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1840-12-15

VIC Sht vi pTG-eHlIilDH SHOulu De granted
them at the minimum price of the public
lands ; when they made their settlements
they no doubt believed they would parti-
clpate, in common with their lelIow-citi-
zens, IN purchasing their homes at the
GovcrnmenE price; they have had, in COM
mon with the other settlers on the public
lands, to encounter series of harrassing
difficulties, incident to the formation of new
settlements they have by their energy
and industry enhanced the value of the
lands of the United States in the immediate
vicinity Of the contemplated canal route,
and are entitled, upon the principles Of JUS
tice as GAS the usage of the Govern
ment to hc.tavorable consideration of Con-
gress. 1t has been the policy of the Gov
ernment to extend every possible indul-
gencc heretofore 10 occupants Of the ma
tional domain this policy is wise and just;
the Government lands should be sold to
the settlers alone, graduating their price
according TO their value ; we would then
have Il population, owners Of the soil, at
tached to the republican institutions flour
country, the desert itself in a few years
would become o fruitful field, and where
the unsubdued forest now stands we would
have free, enterprising popalatien.-
Large tracts OF country in this Territory
have been purchased by individual specu-
lotors or by companies that permit them
to lay waste until they will command the
highest prices, thereby retarding the set
Element Of the Territory the true value
of the soil can only be explored by labor,
and the public lands should cease to be an
object of speculation when they are so
much required for agricultural purposes"
In conformity TO a resolution Of the Lee
gislative Assembly authorising the appoint
ment Of commits sianers in the several land
districts for the location Of the university
lands granted by Congress, at an early Pc
Rod after the adjournment Of the last an
nual session, appointed three commits
sioners to make the location the com
missioner from the Green Bay land dis
trict made his report on the 18th Of April
last, which was submitted by me to the
Secretary Of the Treasury under the pro-
visions of an act Of Congress, approved
June 18th, 1883. BY communication
received of the Commissioner Of the Gene
raj Land Office, it appears that the oca-
tons as far as they have been made, Of the
university lands, have been approved by
the Treasury Department, and the land
officers at Green Bay have been furnished
with list of the selected tracts, and have
been instructed 20 withhold them from sale
or entry; the number of acres selected from
that land district is 10 249. No reports
have been received from the commission
crs appointed in the Milwaukee and Wis
consin land districts it is deemed impor-
tant that the selection of the university
lands should be made at an early day in
order that good selections may be made
it is 20 be expected that the choice Of lands
will be entered in the different land dis
tricts, and the selection OF these lands may
have to be made from the refuse tracts if
the locations are deferred.
would respectfully invite the attention
Of the Legislative Assembly to the propri-
city OF, appointing by law Territorial C,e-
ologist; much good think might result
from the appointment Of a competent ndl-
vidual to that Office, throughout the Terri
tory, and particularly to the mining region
Of country; the result Of his examinations,
reported to the Legislative Assembly annu-
ally, and published, would tend to circulate
throughout the Union knowledge Of the
great natural advantages and resources Of
Wisconsin, and would embrace the disco
veries of lead ore which have been made
in the mineral region, the location Of those
discoveries, the peculiar formation Of the
strata above, below, and in which lead or
copper ore is found and as the informa-
ton would accumulate, from those exami-
nations they would be extended, the know
ledge Of the miner would be increased and
his labors meet with sure reward.
| have heretofore in nay messages OK
pressed my views fully as to the Justice
and propriety Of asking appropriations
from Congress for the Improvement Of the
navigation Of Rock river: this river may
be made the great connecting link in the
chain of wafer communication between the
waters Of the Mississippi; and those of
Lake Michigan by the contemplated canal,
a work deem of the first Importance, land
must have been considered so by Congress
from the liberal appropriations made by
that body III land to aid in It's completion !
and no good reason can be assigned why
Congress should not be equally liberal in
granting donations in land for the inn |
provement Of the navigation Of the Wis
consin and Fox rivers, and uniting the wa
tiers OF those rivers by short canal at the |
Portage, as well as for the Improvement |
of the Pccatonica and Platte rivers; small |
appropriations by Congress in lands would
produce the most beneficial results on the !
future growth and prosperity of the Terri
tory; besides the lands would be greatly |
enhanced il value on the diffcront rivers