Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1848-02-16
Human RightS.-Land Monopoly.

COIIl0 Ol euCU WOFk, separately.
Human Rights.-Land Monopoly.
In my last claimed for man, for every
human being right on earth, right to
portion of soil sufficient for subsistence, by
which mean that every family has just
right to such portion of the earth as they
need, as much as they will cultivate. And
why not? Exclusive of our conquests of
Mexico it is estimated that there is now, Of
the public domain O, the United States
unoccupied unsold lands, FOURTEEN
HUNDRED MILLIONS OF ACRES
And there are but about 20 millions of peo-
pie in the United States, say about four
millions of families, of whom at least one
quarter are landless, being one million of
families to be supplied with land. Of these
probably at least one half are mechanics,
who would need but small lot each; but
all want a portion for a home, and should
have it while there is plenty for all. Aver
age it so acres to family, and we have
% millions of farms for our one million of
landless famiHes-an abundance for many
generations to come after us. Add to this
what is unsettled in New Mexico and Cali
fornia, and we have enough to supply the
surplus population of Europe until they shall
learn enough of wisdom to divide up their
vast uncultivated estates among the starv-
ing population Of those aristocratic Empires,
when they will find they have enough for
all their people for generations to come.
Land monopoly is the great master Evil,
the one mammoth curse of the world. By
it are the landless millions of Ireland, and
indeed of all the most populous nations of
Europe, starved even to death. It is driy-
ing thousands out of our own State to the
west, to where the land is not all monopo-
lized. But our own Ohio is paradise to
the landless, compared to some of the older
States east of us, where land is sold at from
forty dollars the acre to 100 dollars the foot
(front.) And what poor man with a fam
lily can buy land at even the lowest rate, or
at even twenty dollars. They may indeed
buy an acre for garden, but cannot buy
farm. If they want favors, they must
push west,-west. And there they will
, find much of the best land monopolized by
non-residents, at one thousand to one hun
dred thousand acres each. Foreign Mobiles
it is said, are buying up the wild lands Of
e. 10
ton, and even the King of France, it is sta
ted, has grasped a large tract in one of the
western States. I lately saw a copy of a
letter from Wisconsin, which states that the
British Lord Murry, owned 30 thousand
acres in Grant county, Wisconsin. Sir
Robert Peel, and other British Mobiles have
also their large domains in the west, and
thousands of our own citizens are graspng
their tens of thousands of acres each; and
when the cultivator wants it he win be COM
PEELED to pay high or push on west.
Now, although we claim that the land be-
longs to the people and that each one who
needs should be allowed to occupy of his
own, what he needs, free of expense, yet if il
must be sold, the sales should be confined tc
actual settlers only, who would thus be ena.
bled to get of the best lands at the govern.
ment price.
We in this country, have seen enough OF
land speculation, from the first purchase
made from the State of Connecticut, about
ffty-two years, at 20 cents an acre, to the
present time It has been estimated that
the ecultivators, have paid more than TWEEN
ty millions to the speculators, on the Con
necticut Western Reserve lands; which has
been earned by hard labor, and much of il
has gone to support spectators and depend.
ants in idleness and sometimes in dissipation
/: mean more than twenty millions more
than the government price of land.
These considerations are enough to con.
vince us that there should be some change
in our land System. The landed Democra.
cy of this country, as a contrast to the land.
f ed Aristocracy of Europe has long been oul
boast It has been our boast that the soil
particularly of most of the northern States
q is owned, for the most part, by those who
, cultivate it. And it should ever be, but the
, signs of the times indicate that land monop'
oily is making fearful strides in almost every
part of our country-in the Old States and
9 in the new. But to counteract these ten
denotes new party is springing up In every
part of the Union who advocate land re-
form, and where organized they assume the
name of National Reformers. They advo.
cate the entire freedom of the United States
I lands to actual settlers and a prohibition oi
j the sales to Spectators. And for these