The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1851-03-13

Iy supporting the Government ny tntlT COutTl-
buttons, maintaining it by their arms, and WELD
ing it for their own and the general welfare. To
look, then, at this subject merely with reference
to the revenue that might be derived from the sale
Of the lands, would be TO commit the fault Of
that least erected spirit that fell from Heaven,
whose
"LOoks and thoughts
Were always downward bent, aimirng more
The riches OF Heavens pavement, troddsu gold,
Than Sught divine, or holy, else enjoyed"
All will admit-all do sdmit--that the domsin
should be 80 administered as TO favor the increase
Of population, the augmentation Of wealth, the
cultivation Of virtue, aud the diffusion Of happi'
ness
do not say that land in this or in any other
country ought to be or ever could be divided and
enjoyed equally assert no such absurdity.
But | DO say, with some confidence, that great
inequality OF landed estates, here or elsewhere,
tends to check population enterprise and wealth,
and to hinder and defeat the highest interests Of
society. Every State in this Union recognises
this principle, and guards against undue aggre-
CATION OF estates by restrai nts upon accumulation
by inhibtions of entails, and by dividing inherit
ances A partition of this vast public domain is
inevitable. 1t has been going on ever since the
lands were acquired. IL is going on now. And
| it will 20 on hereafter with increasing rapidity.
That partition affords US an opportunity to apply
the same beneGcent and invigorating policy in a
new and benign form, without disturbing any ex-
listing estates, or interfering with any vested in
terests, and without disturbing any established
laws or customs.
There is no arbitrary measurement Of the por-
! ton Of land which possessor advantage
ously cultivate Yet there are, practically
dimensions within which lands are held for that
purpose and when these are exceeded, the sur
plus is held for purposes OF commerce or specula-
ton. Commerce in the public lands, although by
no means immoral nevertheless, ought TO be
regarded with jealousy IL diverts capital from
active or productive industry, and prolongs the
period before the land purchased be made
! fruitful Mortgages, judgments, and accidents of
! insolvency and of DEATH render the title unoer-
| tain and confused, and thus exclude the lands
| from market Every one has seen in new coun-
tries extensive tracts of land upon which the
Spectator had laid his hand, and thus rendered
them useless to himself useless to the community,
and useless or nearly 60 to the State. The want
of some security against Inconvenience so preju-
dicisl TO the States may now be supplied without
producing any embarrassment to individuals or
TO the Government
S1gcYsly. TGc game policy seems to cemmend
the principle Of insisting on permanent oceupa-
ton and cultivation as conditions Of a grant of
any portion of the public domain Ii ought TO
be kept open and available to those who seek it
for cultivation. Ii ought therefore to be kept
free from absent owners, who, while they would
exclude settlers, would leave it entirely unpro-
ductive, and who would pay to the State either
nothing, or at most a tax that would poorly COM
pensate for stamping sterility upon the soil
The same principle that dictated the abandon
ment of the credit system in 1920 seems to pre-
scribe now Limitation of the sales to actual set
tlara Nor NUoulI Tho Iarived from ulaa
be affected by such measure. The price Of the
land is fixed and uniform. Ii more lands are
sold at one time under the present system than
would be sold with such limitation, rest must
follow, until the excess of lands sold above the
actual supply of the market shall be taken off
at profit or loss from the hand Of the speculatOr
The commercial revulson of 1887, aggravated
by wild and reckless speculstions in the domsin
gave us instructions on this subject which ought
not to be neglected.
The Senator from Michigan, Mr.. FELcH,
who has discussed this subject with very great
ability, dwells upon the difficulty ofprescrbing the
evidence Of occupancy and cultivation. But this
difficulty would soon be removed if the system
should be changed. A title might be withheld
until improvements should be made sufficient to
prevent n voluntary forfeiture
THIRDLY. The question of making the grants
Of public lands gratutously is one of more diff
Guilty. BY gratuitous grants mean those which
would be practically 80, and that the lands thus
disposed of should be charged with the costs of
the grant.
The demand OF one dollar and twenty five
cents per acre, or of two hundred dollars q
farm of one hundred and sixty acres, although
it is not unjust and although it may he necessary,
il nevertheless, in its practical operation, tax
upon the privilege Of cutivating the domain. But
the first and fundamental interest Of the Repub-
lie is the cultivation OF its soil That cultivation
ia the sole fountain of the capital or wealth which
supplies every channel of industry The more
it il taxed the less freely it will flow 1t is true
indeed that, notwithstanding this tax labor seeks
the soil within the new States and Territories
and that society advances there with rapidty
unparalleled. But it is equally true that the tax
prevents the immigration of a very large mass of
persons who are destitute of employment in the
Eastern States while it rejects even a greater
mass ofcultvators in Europe. We are competitors
with thezEuropesn States in agriculture and
in manufactures They have the advantages of
cheaper labor and greater capital We ought
therefore to invite here the labor necessary to
augment our productions, and the industry and
skill required to prepare them for internal and
foreign commerce. Can it be doubtful for mo-
ment that it is our policy to bring the manufac-
turer to our own shores, and to invite the farmer
to supply the wants of the artisan from our own
unproductive lands y
Commercial supremacy demands just such
an agricultural basis as the fertile and extensive
regions of the United States when inhabited, will
supply. Political supremacy follows commercial
ascendenoy. 1t was by reason of the want of just
such an agricultural basis that Venice, Portugal,
and Holland, excessively lost commerce and en-
pire. Ii was for the purpose ofsecuring just such
basis, that France England, and Spain, seized so
eagerly and held tenaciously the large portions
of this continent which they respectively occu-
pied twas for the purpose ofsupplying the loss Of
this basis, that England has within the last seven
ty years extended her conquests over large por-
ton Of India.
Wenow possess this basis and all that we need
is to develop its capabilities as fully and rap
idly AS possible Nor ought we to overlook another
great political interest. Mutual jealousies delay
ed long time the establishment Of the Union Of
these States, and have ever since threatened its
dissolution. IL is apparent that the ultimate
security for its continuance is found in the power
of the States established, and hereafter to be es
tablished, on the public domain. Those new and
vigorous communities continually impart new
life to the entire Commonwealth, while the abso-
lutte Importance of free access to the Ocean will
secure their loyalty, even If the fidelity OF the
Atlantic States shall fail Such as these sir may
have been some Of the considerations that induced
Andrew Jackson 30 long ago to declare his opin-
ion, that the time was not distant when the public
domain ought 10 to be regarded a source Of
revenue. Such considerations may have had some
influence with the late distinguished Senator from
South Carolina, J. C. CALHOUN, to propose a re-
lease of the public domain to the States, on their
paying small per oentum of revenue to the Uni
ted States and we are at liberty to suppose that
course ofreasoning not entirely unlike this brought
that eminent statesman, who is now Secretary Of
State, to propose here year ago gratuitous ap-
preparation Of the public domain to actual set
| tiers.
Nevertheless, the practicability of such policy,
| and its harmony with other national interests are