Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1851-01-04

be safely applied with home valuations upon all such
Z ~ kecessar1iy subject to ad yalorem rates.
4 the principle OF specific duties shall be adopted
nome Talaalion instead OF the foreign, should then
y 1Rned to all imports subject to ad valorem duties
neither OF the foregoing changes shall be thought
nen Is deemed highly necessary that the present
o. due; should be increased great variety of articles
en VIII be found could bear such with the
Il 4unry effects upon both trade and revenue"
concur with the Secretary in his premises In toto, and
~ part OF bis recommendations. with him in
opinion that imporatons will diminish, carrying with
nuton OF revenue from customs that the dd UdL0ren1
em Is the parent Of frauds, and ought be abandoned
recourse again had to specific duties in all in which
w ere applicable On this latter point have nothing to
nlm as gained from experience. needed experience
qmotm me that universal ad oaOrems the most
aI OF duties, and the most fruitful Of frauds. knew that
qay4 and said always. condemned them in that abortion
the day, the so-caled compromse" Of 1923 when
absurd dogma was first introduced into statute book
n brought down all duties to uniform-on pape-ow
twenty per centum the value of all mportaons.
~ Sdcmned that when enacted and the voice Of the
Icotr5 tonsmnsdi besrs il took effect That comnro
though suded to the skies when passed, and IBID
be sacrsd, nvolabe immutabe and eternal died Of itself
before got to the beautiful universal ad ralorem. went
from the cradle to the tomb Of the Capues spite of all high
audaton. condemned the same dogma when it intro
duced in the tariff Of 1916 and now, after brief expert
ment of four years. experience condemns it. voted for that
but only get rid Of the act of lS42 and with the de-
claed belief that experiences would produce condemna
ton Of the universal ad naem dogma, and force return
to the old system and such is about the fact III
with the Secretary them in his recommendation,
repeated from that of his predecessor (Mr Meredith
in proposing to return to specific duties in all in
which they applicable; and, while thus concung with
the Secretary in much of his report have differ from him
this that he does not propose any scheme for saving the
Government any benefit from the public lands. As things
stand the Government is thrown Of market for six
years During all that time the assignees of
military bounty land warrants will occupy the market and
selling 80 per United States sell none
Sl25 and thus will be at the expense of keeping up
land system for the benefit of private sellers-her
pettds who received the land gift from her, underse
| her, and drive her ont of market.
Thus is the condition Of public lands branch Of
revenue expunged and become of expense instead
of profit; and theseevs continue and become worse
less there is rdca change in the mode Of selling the
public lands.
MY object is mike that change and the leading idea Of
the change be The acceeaon of the sales Of the lands
or rather the revva of the sales for they dead
and must remain 70 until terminated by law Accele
ration, or revival only result from reduced prices
from such reduction will bring them into competition
with the eighty millions of of military bounty land
flooding the Market The present ordinary price of those
lands is eighty centso the acre. with the certainty of further
large reductions the quantity Of warrants prepared for
market get into circulation, and the picking and cung
of the lands shall leae reduum less and less valuable for
their satisfaction. M all probability they will be twenty
thirty the acrebefore the eighty millions exhausted
Congress- in makinga few small grants objects of internal
improvement in the States have been very careful to pro-
vide against their being sold below the Congress price,
to prevent them from getting any advantage in the market
but when it wholesale workwhen it came to giving
away whole brosdsde Of the country at once-when the
superficial content of three such States Ohio, and four
such Massachusetts to boot or the whole quantity
granted for military services is Of that exen)
were granted at two strokes Of the pen to the old soldiers
" and their cssigrs," then no necessary-no
pecaution taken to prevent the from being sold
at less then Sl25 per and now the consequence
they already selling at cents in the be-
low that poe and that the United States, lanseicr,
ofh her
machinery of land Offices at expense Of 100000 per
annum for the benefit Of those who expel her from the market
The bill which ask leave to introduce proposes to revive
and accelerate the sale Of the public lands by offering them at
successive periodical reductions price, The reductions only
apply the lands which have been offered at private sale at
per an beginning at dollar per acre for such
lands after the 30h day Of June 1851 descend by period
cal reduction of twenty-five cents every two years until they
fao twenty-five cents per acre after which the lands remain
ing uno be ceded the States In which they
This the provision for the general purchaser but there
further provision for the actual settlers For this merto
ious class there further and double provision, cacu-
lated to benefit them while promoting the leading idea of
ceerted sales The provision combination OF the dona-
ton and of the preempon principle and assures to every
settler on public lands subject to private entry, donation OF
forty acres to include his settlement and presumption right
one hundred and twenty acres adjacent and that always
at twenty five the less than the same land is OIL
ered to the general purchaser Thus lands which shall have
been offered at private s and remain unsod on the 3Oh
day Of June 1851 shall thereafter be offered to the general
purchaser at one dollar per acre. but the actual settler at
rs cents per acre. with donation Of forty to include his
settlement and right Of preempton in 100 acres at 70
cents so as to make his whole quantity 66 And so
on through each successive biennial reduction until the land
falls 25 cents per acre. when the actual settler gets has
whole l6O acres virtually donation paying but hve cents
per the l20 and receiving the 4o acres as g
This is the plan of the bill, and believe if passed into
law Il will have the effect desred-that of revivng and
celebrating the public land sales, and making them available
among the ways and for the payment OF the new pub
lie debt The reduced prices will bring them into competi
tion with the bounty warrants and the double system of
ducon which proposed-a larger reduction always favor
of the actua setter-wi make competition between the
general purchaser and the settler which will sale OF
eyery tract as soon as falls its real value. The actual
settler is kept ahead Of the general purchaser OF the ada
cent landhoer They have pre-empve advantage which
will keep them ahead and prevent specializing monoPoes
The rst object Of the bill TO pay the public debt the
10 extnguish the federal title to the lands within the
new States This second object is itself great one, and
sis,ent with the first and accomplished by the means
Accelerated saes while rapidly putting money into the
Federal Treasury, will be rapidly exnguishng the
Federal Government Landhodcr in the new States and,
to complete the good work. all the lands remaining unsod at
the end Of the operation Of the BILL be ceded to the
States in which they lie for public purposes and where the
lands in any State have been sold down refuse of three
millions Of less any State, the shall be ceded
TO the State This would relieve States, Ohio and
Indiana and others in few years while the other
clauses Of the bill would release all the States from Federal
ownership Of lands within their limits within the period alo
ted for the complete operation Of the bltha is say,
within years that the the year 1850
should see every State released from the and
dominion Of federal landlord and elevated to equality
with the old States in the great essential requisites OF State
of having all the lands within its limits sub
ice, 10 State jurisdiction and available for oil the purposes OF
settlement, improvement, and taxation.