The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1852-11-22


in carrying out large plans of public i'm
provement; and that the grants. while aid
ing the new sections of the country, will In !
directly, but not less certainly or rapidly ope-
rate advantageously to the Government as the |
power entrusted with the management OF the
public lands Still it cannot be denied that
these grants are mere makeshifts, rendered ne
cessary for time by the failure Of Congress to
grapple with the land question, and to settle 1t
by the application of enlarged principles.
With regard to the Homestead bill, we can
not think that either Mr.. BENTON or the Com
mereial .4duertiser supports it for the reasons
which have hitherto been mainly advanced in
its support. lift be cOntended for on the basis Of
expediency-as a mode of promoting settle
ment and of extending the area of productive
industry-much that is unanswerable may be
urged in its favor. But to place it, as too
many Of its friends do, on the ground Of an alb
stract right of man to the soil, is to make it the
forerunner of system which cannot stop short
Of agrarianism. In one aspect, men differing
widely in other opinions will be found ready to
sustain a measure of this character. In the
other, it challenges and will receive opposition
from every quarter not prepared to surrender
to the demands Of the ultra theorists who
regulate the movements Of those who style
themselves Gland retormers," par excellence.
Some Of these. we notice, point to the fact that
the Canadian government has announced it's
intention to provide ''free farms" in the i'm
mense tract lying between the river Ottawa and
the Georgian Bay; but they overlook ano' her-
and in this controversy scarcely less i'm
portant-fact, which is that Canada resorts to
this step as one Of expediency alone, without
the remotest recognition Of the alleged agra
rian right.
The proposed cession to the States of the
unsuld land lying within their respective bound.
aries may be- what the .Adrertiser calls ga ma
tural adjunct Of State sovereignty" but it is
fettered by considerations of right on the part
of the older States which preclude the imme-
date application of the doctrine. The new
States may adoptit with eagerness, for To their
lot the unoccuped domain would fall. But
what of the thickly -peoped States, in which
the Government title has long been extinct?
Are they to be passive spectators of the appor-
tionment of land purchased in part with their
| blood and treasured Are Massachusetts, New
York, Virginia, Georgia, and the whole range
of Eastern States, to be despoiled of the share
to which they are entitled in equity, simply
that Missouri, Illinois, or Wisconsin. may pos
sess all the "adjuncts Of State sovereignty"
We think not. The land, though situated in
particular States, belongs to the Confederacy,
which has burdened itself with immense ex-
penditures in order to acquire these new posses
sons; and we cannot imagine what tenabe
claim can be presented in behalf of particular
States which can supersede or annul the inter-
est held by the whole Union. The cost Of the
acquisition Is yet to be betrayed, and surely the
States which contribute their quota to meet it
may fairly expect proporionate share Of the
benefits accruing from it. The Sioux pur-
chase, for example-the latest on record
would never have been undertaken by the Ma
tional Government if it had been understood
that the advantages gained by it were to be
transferred entire to Minnesota 80 soon as she
becomes State.
| Unconditional cession, as proposed by Mr..
BENTON and acceded to by our respected con-
Temporary, is on the face Of it unjust and i'm
practicable; unjust to the older States, and i'm
practicable because certain to encounter their
unwavering opposition Distribution, not ces-
\ sion, is the only principle on which the rights
and interests of the whole country can be legit-
ilnately cared for. MIR. BENEFITS bill was
the nearest approach to it that has been made
for some time past, and that rather indicated
than pursued the course to be undertaken. We
hope yet to see measure akin to it in prnci-
pie, with greater cnmprehensiveness in its de-
tails; one that shall provide for the full liqu =
dation Of the claims held by the East, without
in any manner infringing the privileges or
marring the prosperity Of the West. Such
settlement will win distinction for the states
men who accomplish it, and will effectualy
allay the irritation and destroy the corruption
Of which parties now complain.