Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1841-01-28

SEES Of Indians s73,72G,C47
The cos, III the acquisition and management
Of the public lands, exclusive Of the sums
paid for ccssions from foreign Govern
ments, and expenses Of ludan wars, Tor
which specific appropriations were made 23,4si O5G
IO2, go l03
Receipts into the Treasury from The sale of
public lands, to September 30, ISIS, ex-
elusive Of receipts from lands sold for the
benefit Of Indians :97 900 ,37g
TREASURY DEPARTMENT,
REGISTERS OFFICE, Feb |, 1880.
7. l.. SMITH, Register.
NorrThc reco d. of thu office exhibit specific appropria,
tions for s,pprrssing Indian .trs until 1896 prior 10 that
year. the nj with The Indians pad out Of app'oprs
the Army generally. The expense Of Indian ho,tilic>
January, 1896, 3yth September, las, amounts 10
SlJ, j2-GS Ci
THIS account does not include the heavy disbursr-
menis for Indian wars, which, sweed by the recent
enormous expenses in Florida, be safely set down
at forty millions 81 dollars With tins very large ha-
lance standing against the land vet possession of the
United States it tho calculation nt the value Of that re
sduc made BY the Senator from South Carolina he cor
rect the whole will reimburse us, much less The %
per cent which he proposes to reserve And thus sc
shall have squandered not only what VirIiHla aud the
other States gave us but also large ot money con-
trbuted by the old States the on Of taxes upon their
citizens before the States proposed TO be benefited
were in existence. In this most obvious view OF The
case, we give ont Of the Treasury, to few favored
States, thirty five per cent of many millions OF dol
lars collected from the other States. BY this opera
ton Virginia will not only have given her lands, but
her money also. She will have transferred her proper
" and paid 10 those who take It. The quantity
Of land proposed IN he surrendered by this act Of ccs
Isl according to the report Of The select committee,
one hundred and iity-fcur millions of acres, lying in
various portions of the nine selected States. Thirty
five per cent. upon this quantity is upwards of fifty
millions of acres, certainly munlfcent donation
The average annual income from the sale Of public
lands for the last twenty years is about hive millions oi
dollars Assuming this ratio, the annual grant IN mo.
ney 10 these nine States IS more than million ana
half Of dollars. 1t is equal TO the civil list OF those
States 1t is the assumption OF the public debts Of
those States II is the distribution of the whole nett
proceeds Of the public lands amongst the nine States
Ii seems 10 me that the mode nj calculation by which
the mover amendment brings down the value Of
the public lands crronenns but, whatever that value
may Lc, we have no power 10 cast il away. One thing
il certain that the sales yield income of five mil.
lions and that in all human probability, they will con-
linue to do so Tor the next thirty years. Their value
for sum hand, therefore, is correctly estimated by
a very obvious process. The annual receipts should
cover the annual interest, and provide sinking fund
for the capital By this mode OF calculation them al
lowing the income from the public lands TO terminate
the end Of thirty years, the present value IN hand
would be upwards Of fifty mi!lions and the proposition
"
venteen millions of dollars to the nine States. The
eagerness manifested by the Senators representing
those States is natural. There is grandeur III this
muniicencc which subducs The Imagination, and casts
into shade the vast donation of slna-dlferng from
that too in this: thai, whereas Virginia gave TO all the
States herself included, this proposition gives to one
third Of the States containing less than oneslxth of the
population.
That the average Of the last twenty years is just,
or al Icas, sufficiently low criterion of the proceeds
Of the public lands for the future, will be apparent from
the consideration Of the great increase OF the popna
ton which furnishes the demand for new lands Inc
United States now contain Is millions ct inhaoitants,
nm increase at the rate of about 100000 year. The
demand for new settlements will increase IN cores
pnnding ratio with the population. IL may be safely
put down increasing al the rae oil four per cent.
Experience heretofore has shown that the rate oil pur-
chas. dnes not diminish, as the land has been picked
and culled; but on the contrary, those lands which
have been longest in market most freely sold, IN
PROMOTION to the quantity i'll market mus, lanhs are
more rapidly taken up in OHIO thnn IN Arkansas
for the byious reason that dense population makes
inferior land more valuable in the midst at 1t, Than
more fertile districts in an uninliah'ted county
There is but n million Of acres OF u > land now re-
naming unsnld in Ohio and even tins 10 diminishing
with an accelerated ratio il therefore may be well as
sumed that from this the u. ). may ENJOY re.
venue Of five millions, until very much The largest
norton of the domain within the nine States DIS
nosed of and long before that period, Florida, loway,
and Wisconsin Will have brought their contributions
in the general fund and extended the period OF tins
income to future generations. Reasoning upon data
known to be correct, IN thirty years from thls time the
demand for the public lands will he IN proportion 10
a population increasing at the rate of two millions
year.
Rut there arc other serious objections to this amend
m.n md invoke the attention of Senators from every
quarter of the Union TO that which an. now aDonl 10
State. The proposed mode Of dlsposing of the public
lands is altogether and to enormous extent unf7na
IN us opeyation What insist is, that there shall be
al any rate perfect equality that there shall not be
discrimination and bonnes in favor OF one State ana
AGAINST anoiher but here there degree OF inequality
which were there other objections would b" sufcent
TO compel my decided dissent It's proposed TO cede Tue
public domain each of the States respectively within
whose territorial limits they lie. Its given to the States,
not 10 individuals 1t given to them, not being all the
States but being part only of the States of the Union
Should it be ceded all the States it would be VIOLA
ton of the original cesson and OF the Constitution rs
the advocates of this contend 1t to he cedeo
the States, not in proportion to their 10
the public burdens proportion TO their re or poPu-
lation but simply as States And what will be the re-
suit as between one Of the States and another: ONO
exceeds Missouri in population four TO one; ana no"
does this amendment propose TO distribute tne Psn.
lands between these two States: The share OF Hi,'
souri, is TO the share of Ohio than twentyesh'
to one making the population of Missouri 10 'eee.e
over the population of Ohio more than one nu"u' -
one Can Ohio stand by and see Inc Puoi,I uo NJ"
ml;op Of acres which Ohio gets is of lands
which have been in market for more than forty years
a m' have been picked and culed during all that
time, while the thirty millions which are RE, given to
Y ".sso Now let me ask, what will Virginia get
Shs contributes to the public burdens six times
q. much as Missouri. Missouri is to get IS per cent
a. as thirty millions How much does Virginia get :
Nothing This is thirty millions to one; 1t is thirty
millions to nothing Besides, Ohio has now passed her
old States of the Union. A million of acres is nothing