The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1842-08-11
From the Baltimore Sun.
SETTLING THE LAND.

We see it stated in Philadelphia paper, that be-
tween two and three hundred families OF Germans
have within the last six months settled ON the wild
land in Western Pennsylvania, and many others, TO
reigners and Americans, are about moving to these
fertile lands One association of Germans about a
year ago. purchased 600 acres and have upwards of
hundred families living on them; all OF whom are
represented being in very promising state OF incl
pient agricultural prosperity Ihe lands are SAID TO
be very productive the country healthy, the titles
good, wood and water plenty, and good market We
recently somewhere similar statement in Iela-
lion to wholesale German emigration to some pant of
Virginia; and then, now, we felt disposed to adj
mire and appreciate the decision Of the emigrants-
They had, all, at least most of them, resided long
enough in the country to know something Of its civil
and social institutions modes Of agriculture business
&C.; and not few of them had lived long enough
in cities to become sick OF them. Natives
of the country, too, moved ny similar views
and impulses are uniting in the settlement the land,
the promotion of agriculture and the advancement Of
their own best interest Many who for years have
followed vain shadows, now begin to look to
the soil the of prosperity and are betaking
themselves to the primitive, innocent, and heathfu
occupation of cultivatng the SOIL that they may par
take of its abundance A desire, too, is springing
up among those descriptions Of people, who have
hitherto looked to the new States of the West for
new home, to seek such home in the States OF much
older date; desire which it is to be hoped will be
by the large land propretors in the latter
Many of these have lands not only unoccupied,
but which neither they nor their descendants for
many generations will occupy; and there is little
doubt that the tenacy with which they have always
hitherto chung to these to them, useless possessions
has negatively aided to stimulate emigration to the
West y the stream of which in Of time swell
ed so high, to induce inordnate speculation in
western lands the i'll consequences of which have not
yet ceased to be felt by the whole country. But the
pride of continued keep in the hands ofIarge
proprietors great quantities of land which, like the dog
in he m thev Ives nd
would not sell TO those who could. Time, however, will
this evil; indeed if mistake not, the necessity
for applying the remedy begins to be felt Those who
realize the fact, that the people constitute not
only the State, but the strength Of the State, be-
gin to open their eyes at the evils of depopula-
ton; and the dawn of better policy may be seen
upon the verge Of the horizon In Virginia and
Pennsylvania is to be seen In the encouragement of
agricultural immigration. Large proprietors begin
to throw open their lands to such purchase for set
Element and cultivation, by which policy they will in
crease at once the population, the products, the
strength and the wealth of those States And if this
be good policy in sister States either hand, why
would it not also be good policy in U.S. How many
GO broad acres' have we here in Maryland lying
productive, that would reward with abundance the
hand of industry Has not bad system Of agri-
culture, rather the absence Of any system, left
much waste land, now easy to be reclaimed, and
which would be reclaimed if our policy encouraged
immigration from other States and esewhere? and
bundance, which they might proftably part with ?
Were our policy such and so liberal, to increase
our population, it would bring in at once the two
great elements of prosperity, capital and industry,
and the legitimate results could not fail to follow
on]y in the advancement Of agriculture but of man
ufactIres and commerce. The advantages to the set
tiers would be many more than we can now enume-
rate A Philadelphia contemporary thus speaks of
some of them in a summary way:
g But it is after settlement has been made in
either case, that the advantages of a location here
are most apparent. When the adventurer becomes
fixed in the habits and pursuits of the farmer and he
casts his eyes around him in search of the of
educating growing family, and of converting the
proceeds of his labor to the purchase of those
forts which render life agreeable and sweeten toll
where will be be most likely to find them' They
not certainly be found in the surrounding wilderness,
nor among the pioneers of civilization like himself
They are to be obtained only in the more populous
districts of the old States and in the neghborhood Of
commerce, art and social refinement. If man be
indifferent to his mode of living and have other
object in his labors than to g feed and Sleep" and
can raise all he feeds and sleeps on the far West is
as good location as any spot in Pennsylvania but if
he desires Improvement and directs his efforts to the
production of happiness he must build his cabin or
his cottage where he can communicate freely with
the great marts Of traffic, the great depots of arts
and cviIizaton-the Atlantic cities"
The policy spoken of, and the practice growing out
of it, would have also good effect on labor as it
would afford certain and increased employment to
that which is found living in precarious and often
miserable state in cities but we cannot now
pursue the subject farther, or exhibit the vast
amount Of good included in the general result.