Boon's Lick times. [volume] (Fayette, Mo.) 1840-1848, 1841-02-27

The receipts from this source have been
subject to great fluctuation; the past year a
little above three millions. They are now
sinking, and il seems that the more thew
sink the more he calls cut for prc-empton
laws presumption laws graduation laws
to save him from that impending ruin in
the administration of the public domain
which his system is about to inhict. What,
sir. is it possible that any man-what shall
| say!-that any man in his senses can be
SO supremacy ridiculous as to suppose that,
| by reducing the price Of TIE public lands
from dollar and quarter to twenty-five
cents, or, in some in some instances, to so
cents, you will Cct more money for theml
Yet that is the principle assumed by the
Secretrry of the Treasury, and it shows TIE
opinion which operates in his mind, and in
the minds Of the friends of graduation and
! presumption laws. ] will not attempt to
describe the whole of the consequences Of
this law. One of its effects is to convert
;hc existing cash system in q CREDIT Sy2tsm
Do 70 not see it What is the fact as to
the prc-cmption laws heretofore grantcd!-
They gave the prc-emptioner a credit of
|
| (Mr. Cav now limits his credit to one
year; but. whether the term be one, two or
three years it changes our land system
! from 4 sale for cash to a sale for credit
| And thus the whole l2C millions of acres of
the public domain will all pass under this
newly revived CREDIT &ystem.
And who arc they who propose this
change? The very men who decry all
credit, who clamor for hard money, who
inveigh against banks, and denounce the
credit system as the source Of all our woes
and yet here. now under the name of a
Prc-cmption law. they propose TO revive
the whole credit system Can it be
doubted that such will be the result of the
bill! VIII any man, who can get his land
on credit of one or two years, buy it
for cash Especially when he can dispose
Of his cash at rate of Is per cent. inter-
est; as prevails in Illinois and some other
new States!
This is grave feature in this new cxper-
iment, and deserves the serious considcra-
ton of the Senate To what will such a
system lead! Have we had no experience
on this subject! When you have parted
with your land from year TO year thus CT
credit you will at length have accumulated
mass of debtors on whose behalf petit
ton after petition will be presented here
and their inability to pay will be most pa
thctically set forth, till at last your compass
sion will be moved, and you will forgive
these poor debtors the amount Of their
I debt, and consent to take remuneration iol
their land in some other form of advantage
TO the public service.
1t is not correct, though it has been said
and repeated By some gentlemen here, that
the sole difference effected by the pre-emp-
ton law in the price you receive for the
public lands is some two or three cents per
acre. First, there is the difference Of Sin
cents which the President states and how
| is this made out The public land is SOLD
either by auction Or at private sale buI
owing to correction, to violence, to Ccmbl
nations, and the open contempt Of law. {;
state of things which has grown with the
multiplication of pre-emptICn lawsD tbs
proceeds of the auction sales are now
much less than formerly. lcannot believe
: with the Senator from Missouri, (Mr
+ L;nn.) that the people OF the United States
are incompetent to protect their own prop
: crty. | believe that it can be done by a
: steady, firm, and upright administration O.
: the Government. believe that the people
I Of the United States are capable OF pro
tccting their rights against all who assai
them, whether from within or from with
= out. Assuredly. If the Government canno
4; protect what is It's own, it must be very
t incompetent to protect US and ours. But
[ ask. how is the six cents excess Of sale
e over the minimum price, referred to by TIM
, President, made up! 1t is got by runnin!
a an average over the total amount Of sale:
I both by auction and by private entry
t Now, the amount sold at auction is not on
= fourth. no, believe, not onc-tenth part q
y the whole. The Secretary takes the auc
o ton sales. where the lands brought irol
c So TO $40 an acre, and spreads that amour
u Of excess over the whole remaining MIN
IS tcnths of the total amount sold by prlva'
?, cntry, and tLcn he makes an average, an
Is draws the inference that the whole gam
l. selling the pubic lands in the estabiishe
N and customary method over what the
p bring under TIE presumption laws amour
&c to but six cents an acre Is this IAN
Sc But even this amount of SIX cents, under
n proper administration of the system, won
&c cover the expense Of survey and sale. Is
er is that all : You are to add two years i
a. terest On the minimum price, which, on
lie credit of two years, amounts to fttct
" cents. If enc years credit only is give
n it will be seven and half cents, whC
n added to the six cents, makes thirteen al
to half cents on every acre of the pub
III domain, which would be gained by the co
10 tinuance of the old system.