The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1851-01-18

A'iiI lprget the scene ~ tins house at that time
LOOK which way you would, you saw holders Of
Inc mot issue Of Land warrants preaching hand re-
lorm arguing the necessity ul making the sol.
dlers live upon the land aud bce ging for the pas
sage oi a supplemental bill. prohibiting the trans
Ter Of The warrants. It vii. hc remembered. .ir
that ther raised the question of privilege. !
called upon the Ooorkecper and other officers Of
the house, to enforce the rules of the house. |
publicly tod you cir, that there were spccu.atols
m land warrants inside the lar Of the house, who
had no night 10 be herr--who were here 10 Iclp
pas the pending bill-who were here to aid in
depTeen'ms the warrants to be issued under the
law Just passed But, in spite Of their very pow.
erlnl personal eycrtlonS, this house adjourned
without any dctlon upon the supplemental bin Of
ue brokers aui spccuiators, and thought the tn
umph Of the soldiers was complete
The spectators, however, look an appeal from
the law Of the land to the secretary Of the interior
All at once their minds had undergone a VERY i'm
prtant change as to the meaning Of the original
law. They who, but few minutes before, were
inside OF this hall cou;cuding that the warrants
were assiguab!c and that supplemental law
was necessary 10 prohibit their assignment con
tended to the secretary of the Interior that the
law was 80 indefinite that warrant. could be n.
-lgnab.e or not, just as he should see it to inter
pret II. To him they told the strange story that
. there mad been some mistake IN the law OF the
land; that the bill a- passed prohibited the as.
s-hWgn' aul Oy some accident Til. clause in
the bill had been omitted, And. strange to say.
the secretary or the Interior, holding I'M office rn-
der au administration which l. the result Of an
accident, would not give tie patriotic soldiers Of
tins country the advantage of am accident even II
were m accident which is "a disputed point
. I- Da 4 & IL.
Iiiimoc Is not president of the United States and
therefore tire present secretary ol The lntalilr has
no right tp Ll, Office a~ lhrra j, for saving that
the warrants are not assiguahle because IT, clerk
made mistake in engros-ng the ldl Il sac-
dents are good in one case, they are in the other.
A. signed by Mr. Fillmore. and ~ printed among
the Jaws Of h' land, and a7 surpllad and filed Ia
the secretary Of states Office the warrants are as
sgnabIc. but Il the secretary is to b, Influenced
by considerations beyond the plain reading Of the
law, he should he by the fact tina. the opponents
Of th" right 20 assign did not believe the proh.bi-
ton ~ the law. and therefore got up supplement
tai bill which failed In other words. the defeat
ct the supplemental bill should be- construed q,
additional evidence that congress did want the
warrants a,-gnah.o
In my opinion the late law makcsthc warrants
as clearly as-i cub- rs the law providing for the
ISSUE of warrants To-. tLe soldier, of the Mexican
war Yet addiioua! legislation may be required
because no soldier will scl able 10 fight the bro
ker, in the courts,
Hut / do not know why n representative from
one OF the new states should take the lead IN tins
matter since the decision Of the secretary of the
interior ilI- 30 much more opprpsSiycly upon the
soldiers ui the old states | was recently in one
oi The eastern states, and there saw many per
sons who were entitled to warrants under the new
law. They were greatly embarrassed To know
now 10 turn the pretended bounty Of the general
government to any account. They could not move
to the new states They had not the means, if
they had the disposition, to do so. They knew
not whom t" trust to enter the lands and still
less dld they know whom to trust ~ sell it after
It was entered; and they could not. NJ ! cannot
see what difference It iruyes to the general GOV.
orrmcut whether the warrant /, sold. or tie land
upon which 1t is located. now ak the reu-gscu-
tatiycs from South Carolina, Virginia, New Hamp.
shire, or any Of the older states, if they intend
that this decision OF the secretary Of the Interior
shall stand whereby the soldiers ufthc old states
get comparatively nothing for their warrants.
whilst the soldiers of the new ones yet nearly n,
much as for the warrants issued to the soldiers
o.! the Mexican war. The general government
has no interest IN the resu!, Of this struggle. Il
Is one purely between the brokers and the sol
dcrs; aud am for the soldiers whatever may
be the consequences to those who have bought
such large amount OF de old warrants that they
consider their fortune, entirely dependent upon
whether the decision Of the secretary Of the Int
rior j. sustained or not.