Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1846-07-02

tirely an over estimate upon the value
If those mineral lands. And if they were
valuable. they should remember that il
wa. the miner that hadsmads them so.-
Twas by his skill, his enterprise, and
his labor. that these mines had been QpaAs
ed. In looking at the publif accums9sgs
tina, Congress had had published IN rsssfz,,
ence to the Missouri mines. he had dist
covered amongst them letter from Judge
John Rice Jones, written at the request
Of the Commissioner of the General Land
Office, in November, 1916. Judge Jones
| was gentleman of extensive information
and most accurate observation. and what
he said of the manner IN which those
mines were discovered was so much to
the point, and so well expressed, that Mr.
! d. said he would read short extract
from his letter for the information Of the
House. Judge Jones says:
GAN or at least most of the mines now
known, were discovered by private indi-
viduals, a, a great expense and fatigue.
in nearly the following manner: A man,
and sometimes company OF men, in
partnership, went into the woods, and
having fixed on a spo, which, in their
opinion, might contain mineral. dug
number of pits and holes of greater or
less depth according to circumstances -
Sometimes, but seldom on the first trial.
he succeeded: if no, he tried other spots
again and again, with no better success.
until at last he abandoned the project in
despair, or for the want of funds: and
/ numbers of instances have occurred when
whole summers work has been employ.
ed without, being able to make discovery
of mineral. In fact, not one in fifty has
succeeded. When fortunate enough TO
do so, i. was the invariable practice OF the
Spanish government TO compensate him
by the gran. of part -four arpens) of the
land, including his discovery"
Mr. D. said tina, no grants, no bountes,
were conferred by the bill now under
consideration. 1t was carefully drawn,
and was almost an exac, copy Of the Mis-
, souri, law. He hoped that it would pass,
: and ,ha, the miners and farmers would
} have an opportunity to purchase. and to
become the owners Of the lands upon
which they had made their locations.
Mr. Il Smith said he did no, rise to
e make speech, his colleagues, Mr. Me.
/ CLERNAND and Mr. HoGE.) and others
e who had advocated the passage of the bill
: had perhaps said all that was necessary
g to insure its passage, without further de-
: Law. He would, however, say that, aside
i from the duty Of The government to relieve
!. these settlers upon the lands called min
d eral lands" from the state of uncertainty
it and suspense, under which they had 81
h long suffered. that, az matter Of expedl
= ency alone, the government ough. to sci
e these lands as provided in the bill nov
. under consideration. What, asked NJ
= S., was the question for the commute
e to determine, in order to do justice TO al
Y the parties interested! Why, simply t
IS ascertain the value of these lands, com
ST pared with other lands in the same State
n and Territories, not reserved as mnera
n lands.
nj Now, Mr. Chairman, all who had an or
= porlunity of ascertainng the proceed
le resulting from labor bestowed upon farm
ing lands, and comparing the results viii
,e an equal amount Of labor performed
In digging for lead ore would bear him out
a the assertion tina, the labor employed
e, farming. yielded better return or prof
I'd than that employed in mining for lead or
m And is it not we'll settled principle tn
re lands, as well as all commodities oHere
20 for sale in the market, are valuable only
he proportion as they are capable of yieldr
d. profit to the purchaser, or contribute
nd his comfort or happiness! Il is true tn
e. some few men make fortunes by mimi
is, bu, where one case of this kind occur
,le thousands will be found who have MAJ
as nothing. Mining, like lotteries, is exc
rs; ing and uncertain. An occasional pri
on drawn by lucky individual. stimulate
is- thousands 10 embark i'll the hazardn
ar. speculation of purchasing lottery ticke
nd So it is in mining; the discovery OF Q
as valuable lead mine sets thousands to d
ter ging. each hoping to be equally fortun'
,ly IN the discovery OF wealth. Il Is on
ms necessary fer gentlemen to examine
av. themselves districts of country exclusive
BY devoted to agriculture, and then distri
on (of the same ex.enD engaged in mimi
he and they will readily see the superior
err. and greater profits of the farming comm
ual nifty over that of the mining districts.
six The farming lands yield more sure a
lial certain return. Wealth is more equa
vas distributed among the masses, and
er, though you may not find any more so ri
the in the farming district as some one m
es. in the mining district. you will find W
The few who do not make good living.
are S. said he lived more than three hundl
miles from the mineral lands in north
90 Illinois, and his constituents had no
,;al mediate interest in the provisions Of
tho bill under consideration, bn. he wished
md see Justice done 10 the settlers who
ois gone on in good faith and improved tn
.ral lands, trusting to the justice of The COVE
IL rent in relation TO the public domain
x. been unwise, and injudicious; and tina
.l5 was high time that a. more just and m
eat. Liberal policy should be pursued.
Of II was ,rue, as stated by his colleag
tale Mr. HOSE, that but small portion
,or, the lands reserved as mineral lands, "
al