Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1848-12-15
letter from Mr. van Amringe.

call the attention OF the public, through your col
umns to the subject mentioned in my last letter?
There are PERSONS willing TO have laws passed
for future land limitation and homestead exemption
and not for free soil. They think that as some men
have bought their lands, therefore all should DO so
and as the public lands are pledged for the war
debt, therefore, the unbought freedom of these n
actual settlers, would be breach of good faith to
the creditors Of the nation, and contrary to wise
policy.
The first question to be determined is. has Man
natural, inherent right 10 the Of the earth II
he has, the argument is at once settled For then
the free, and wnbought inherent right of Man to
the Earth stands upon the same footing with the
right to lie and liberty; and the contravention of
II, can never be just nor polite. A redeemed slave
might, then, we'll say to his enslayed brethren
II bought my frccdom-BUr YOU, YOURS am
opposed 10 abolition"
How are we to determine whether right is ma.
tura and inherent in Mana Simply, by the human
constitution Our natural rights arise from the It.
tributes and organs of Man, and from their essen
tial wants and functions. Thus, | have right to,
ocomotion and why Because the Deity has fur.
nished me with limbs for that purpose, and motion
is essential to the functions Of my nature, No man
and no nation have a right to say to me that
shall not walk until | have first paid a sum OF mo-
ney for my freedom Man has liberty OF conscience,
and why? Because we are constituted with intcllec
tual and moral faculties, and liberty Of conscience
is necessary to the exercise of them Man is born
with an inherent right to the use of the earth and
why Because the whole constitution OF Man. ply
steal moral and mental is framed with reference 10
the NE of the earth. Our charter to the free and
unbought Of the earth, is written not on parch-
meut nor paper deeds but in the very constitution
OF Man, by tue unerring hand Of Col, himself
The deprivation Of his natural right is haught
with evil, discorI and ruin, both to the destitute
anI,ess,and to the persons who have Gcspoled them
OF their birth right. As the sin of slavery so land
monopoly acis against the victim and the opprcssor
1t has heretofore destroyed all nations, and must
forever destroy all states, nations and empires,
which persist in the wrong The monopoly Of the
earth and the deprivation Of the equal rights of all
mankind to tbs free use OF it. is the monster evil,
which is the parent of personal slavery. serdom,
oppressive serytude, and all dcSpotiSm.
Some persons argue that, although the free access
of man to the of portion Of the earth, be not
admitted yet his natural right is not impaired, be-
cause lie may purchase. a right 10 farm a lot.
With as much reason might they assert that the
personal liberty of one held in bondage is not i'm
paired, because he may purchase his freedom; or
that the right OF man to lie is not invaded who is
permitted to purchase his safety from violence!
And besides how can the landless and destitute
man purchase Home? 1t is answered, that men
will hire him for wages, and with his earnings, he
can buy some land. But are men under at obiisa
ton to hire him No. but they may if they please
and they will certainly choose TO do So il he offers
his service on better terms to an employer than
other workingmen. So then, his only chance OF
lie and home, is the contingency of ceiling his
labor to a master at rate of wages reduced by the
competition Of his fellow workmen and a master
by hiring him, may grant him right to life and
home, OR not. TO say nothing of his right TO a
Home, he holds his very life at the mercy of others
The commercial value of all vendible articles
depends upon the ratio between the supply and the
demand. Daily labor and skill arc the only vendI-
bic articles of the ldndless and destitute working
man and mechanic. by which TO gain subsistence,
or elevate their position. Inproporion, therefore
as the population OF a country fills up and as ma
chinery, supcrceding the use OF manual labor is in
vented or improved, the operatives in every nation
on this or the other side OF the Atlantic, whether
republican or monarchicaI, reduced down to a
rate of wages barely adequate, even with the most
unremttng toll to sustain life in coarse and mise
rabe manner. The surplus labor population unem
poyed Is turned out 10 starve, to beg or TO live by
crime and is be:et by an armed police, as at war
with society. And in periods Of oHerproductior
or over. manufacture, the best and most faithful Of
the operatives. suffer by the pressure Of glut pro
duced by their own diligence ard industry. and cn
dure the horrors OF famine in the midst OF abun
dance
While such is the condition Of the operatives,
produced by the deprivation of Mans natural right
to the soil the wealthy capitalists, factory owners.
and land monopolists are destroyed in heart a nd
mind by other effects resulting from this monster
iniquity. Made wealthy by riches eX'orted from
the unrequted toll and Hie-bloud Of their fellow
men, their possessions are turned into curse. and
they and their families are devoured BY pride
haueh,ness, sensuali,y, cruelty and oppression and
seldom does the third generation behold their bou-
ses in aflucnce OF in honor. Thus the denial Of
man free unbousht night 10 the soil, destroys the
rch and the poor, the aboreT. and the capitalist,
and in the course Of time must sink in ruin every
,ation which continues the e, as j, has heretofore
crumblei 10 tue dust, every nation and empire
which has ever been IN existence.
The natural, inherent right OF Man to the earth,
being shown and it being also manifest, that the
Withholding OF this right must eventually result in
the ruin OF any and every nation, how j. be pre-
leaLed that tue freedom OF our public lands to land
/ less settlers, would be either breach OF pablo
faith a departure from the path OF true policy ?
Can conventional wrong have any validity against
a material night, vested by tie law and at OF the
/ Greater Il Sc. &c; : single hoary-haa3t3 abl-e