New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1846-06-27
The Land Question.

Land 1e1ures, and 10 peculiarly ahlctsd that Inc
writer should have put his initials at the bottom. 30
that the reader should hold him and none others
responsible therefor Of course, the usual logic OF
the Express is called into requistion. Look here:
"we feel mortified and panied when called upon To
scourse such ssy6 In socaing himself WING Eoltor-
for have never read any thing worse Of JACK Caoe
or In Tom Paine Skdmore, Mike Walsh. Slanm
Bang and Co. moderate teacher OF radcaism ana
other isms la comparison with this selisigbng IL W.
We indeed hoped and prayed that he was cured Oh
the worst Of his isms when pe porked The fo'r's oH
of his paper fox shrink from seeing feuds In the wing
party, but what 70 do-to fold our arms anu oy
silence sanction teachings destructive OF si peace anu
property In society,"
Poor suffering innocent called upon to scoarge
such stuff when not another. or hardly another OF
the two thousand journals 10 the Union-fve eighths
Of them Whig-feel called upon to do any thing
of the sort How can the others be 80 recreant as
TO throw all the labor of scourging inculcations de-
structive Of all peace and property upon the pa
tient but murmuring donkey OF the Express !
Should il no, suffice that IRE worked the Fourier
ISM ont Of has paper ?"-tthough there was fully as
much Of it in The Tribune OF the very morning
when this boast was made ever beforehand
should no, the balance Of the work be done by the
rest Of the Editorial fraternity What would be-
come of us all if there were no Express 10 guard
The purity Of the Wing party and scourge all man
ner of false and runous teachings?-But surely so
valiant champion of Religion against modern Inf
deity ought not 10 own that he has never reed the
Law given by Moses, as he virtually does in saying
1--WE never read any thing worse" than our propo-
si,ion respecting Land Tenures
The Express then proceeds TO tell its readers tha,
H.G.
got II his head that there Is not land enough for
every bod and that the great crying evil Of society Is
want Of ldndF'
This is, US usual, exactly the reverse of the truth
Our idea is that there is land enough for every
body and tha. therefore every body who wants
some should have il. 20 long as no may without de-
priving others The evil ~ that very much land
lies idle because those own it who cannot or will not
till IT, while those who might and gladly would are
forbidden to do 30, except on terms with which
they cannot comply or which dvest them of a large
share Of tho fruits their toll
The Express goes on TO talk Of Paul Clitfords
logic and tina, of the villains we send to Sing Sing,
Blackwell's Island &c respecting their right 10
live True enough and il sbecause there is some
truth mixed with their knavery that Paul Clifford
Is so startling, powerful dangerous a book. Let us
secure TO nil men opportunity TO earn q comfortable
subsistence by honest Industry and then we may
more fairly than now ireet Crime with severity
But who will now give a discharged criminal en-
ploymontl Where is he 10 earn subsistence p
How many are VIGOROUSLY driven back to crime by
destitution? Let blunt the terrible satire Of Paul
Clifford by remedyng the wrongs it exposes. Has
the Express never mot tho wise observation of the
great Wesley. when reproved for adapting his
hymns TO lively, proiane airs. that he "did not
choose TO allow tho devil monopoly OF all the best
tunes7"
Yet hear again our luminous neighbor:
'There no right TO live but that founded on la
eorand he who abors In this country farm II
he chooses live In cities by the exchange Of his labor for
the proceeds Of the farm.
Indeed Has the Express idea how many
live within gun, shot Of lie Office who day after day
seek employment yet are without il for weeks and
months how many (havipg families) are at work
tor wages which barely suffice to keep soul and
body together land how many, who would gladly
go elsewhere 10 find work, never see five dollars al
time from January 10 December 1t s hardly
week since the Express had an account Of the sui
eide Of poor girl of our City who had work, but
was able earn by it barely IS cents day while her
board alone cost more than this, Had she been cor
rupt and vicious, she might have dragged out
wretched life; being vrtuous, she had no choice but
besgary or death. We know that thousands
constantly seeking work in our City, and seeking
long in vain. We think half the hapless females who
annually fal victims TO Seduction here are driven
TO ruin by Want rather than ured 10 ii by Passion
There are seasons when the needs of the poor are
greatest and then the demand for their labor is least
If the of the Express were but open TO the tales
Of the destitute and suffering, it would hear of rag
edes constantly enacling all around us which would
thrill the stoniest heart-Now the Land Reform we
urge would not directly relieve all this distress, but
i,would very powerfully tend 10 do gradually and
ultimately by drawing off from our cities and vii
lagos aarge number 10 the cultivation of the Soil,
leaving far better chances to those who remained.
II would cause a new and vast demand for Labor
every where to suhduo wild lands and improve
those now wretchedly cultivated. Men almos, al
ways farm better where the land is their own, than
runs over half Township and is scheming 10 buy
the other half would farm thoroughly and beautiful
Iy if confined to half square mile,
How can the Express bunder like ,hisl
Tho error of the Editor OF The Tribune II error |, Is
and not deliberate intention 10 be wrong, consists in
teaching tina. all ill the SOIL and that there
need DO no other diversified occupations.
Our proposition wa. very distinctly stated: Every
able bodied human being ought 10 contribute by his
or her labor TO the aggregate of provision for hu'
man necessities or comforts but We never intimaed
,ha, Two must aH ill the soil. Oar doctrine was
that all mus, do something, and that consequently
the pnimproved soil of the Country should have
been from the FIRST and should henceforth be, 80 far
as remains public property, reserved os the use
Of those who having no land of their own and no
better way TO earn subsistence, choose 10 settle
upon and improveit. We held also that the policy
of the Stale, in relation to Land Tenures should
favor the speedy breaking up Of grea, Domains and
the multiplication Of small freeholds-
Yet the Express asks US,
why lay restrictions upon TIE acquisition of landed
property, more than upon My ether property
Ansuer-Recause God made the land for all men;
bat other property is the produc, of human labor,
and by natural justice belongs to him who made 1t
mr. him To whom the maker has sold given IL Be-