Richmond daily times. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1853, 1852-03-31
THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.

| ms Is q suUJeCI upon WHICH Wo HIVE alreduN
said much, but the theme is far from being ex-
hausted, and it is purpose to harp upon it as
long as we find listener, even at the risk of
| taxing the patience of the public. TO all the old
States and to Virginia in particular, thisquestion,
in our humble judgment, is one of towering mag
nitude ndimportanee, and deseryesto be thorough
ly examined and deliberately considered by every
member of the community.
AS preliminary to what we may have occasion
to write hereafter, purpose this morning to
refresh the memory of our readers by recalling
some of the leading historical facts connected with
the origin and progress of the public land ques-
ton.
Before the separation of this country from the
British empire, the public lands were owned I'M
der charter rights from the crown, by Massachu-
sets, Connecticut, New York, Virginia, North
Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.
During the progress of the Revolutionary war
the question arose. as to what should be done with
those lands in case the Colonies should succeed in
achieving their independence. This question
gave rise to iealousies and dissensions which
threatened to prove fatal to the Revolutionary
cause. The States containing waste lands,
contended that as the perils, tolls and expense of
the war for independence fell upon all the Colo
MES, and their blood and treasure poured out
in common for the defence of this vast territorial
domain, it ought to be considered as a common
property and not be appropriated to the exclusive
benefit of the particular States i'll which they hap
pen to lie. The latter, however, maintained that
each State was entitled to all the lands lying with
in its chartered limits. To put stop to this con-
troversy, and to avert the serious consequences
likely to flow from it, the old Congress, on the 9th
September, 1873, recommended to the States to
make liberal cessons of their waste lands to the
United States, and, ON the 10th October, $780,
'Resolved, That the unapproprated lands that
may be coded or relinquished to the United States
by any particular State, pursuant to the recon-
mendation of Congress Of the 9th of September
last, shall be disposed of for the common benefit of
the United States,' that is, of the confederated
States such being their position the time this
solution was adopted.
In pursuance of this recommendation, the
States containing waste and unappropriated lands
ceded them to the U. States. s'That of Virginia
(says Mr.. Clay in his celebrated report of 1882
was by far the most important of all the cessions
made by the different States, both respects the
extent and value of the country coded. 1t COM
pretended the right of that Commonwealth to the
vast territory northwest of the river Ohio, en-
bracng, but not confined to the limits Of the pre-
sent States Of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. The deed
of cesson was executed by the delegation of Vir-
ginia in Congress in 1884, agreeeby to an act of
the Legislature passed in 1888 ; and among 9TH
er conditions the deed explicitly declares "that
all the lands within the territory so coded to the
United States, and not reserved fer az propria-
ted to any of the before mentioned purposes, or
disposed of in bountes to the officers and soldiers
of the American army shall be considered COM
mon fund for the use and benefit of such of the
United States as have become or shall become
members of the confederation or federal alliance
of the said States, Virginia inclusive, according
to their usual respective proportions in the gene
raj charge and expenditure, and shall be faithfully
and bona fde disposed of for that purpose and for
no other purpose whatever" Passing by |
the cessions with other States prompted by a
magnanimous spirit of union and patriotism, sue
cessively made, we come to the last in the series
that of the State of Georgia in 1902. The ar
ticles of agreement and cesson entered into be-
tween that State and the United States, among |
various other conditions, contain the unequivoca |
declaration ''that all the lands coded by this agree
ment to the United States, shall, after satisfying
the above payment of one million, two hundred |
and fifty thousand dollars to the State of Georgia,
and the grants recognised by the preceding con-
ditions, be considered as a common fund for the
use and benefit of the United States Georgia in
Guided, and shall be faithfully disposed of for that
purpose and for no other purpose whatever
Thus, by the clear and positive terms of these
acts of cession, was great public and national
trust created and assumed by the General Govern
ment. 1t became solemnly bound to hold out and
administer the lands coded, as common fund for
the and benefit of all the States, and for no
other use or purpose whatever.
An immense addition was made to the public
domain, first by the acquisition of Louisiana in
1902 and afterwards by the acquisition of Florida
in 1919. For the former fifteen millions, and for
the latter five millions of dollars were paid out of
the common treasury of the people of the United
States.
In the year 1881 or 49, the legislatures of six
of the new States, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri,
Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, memorial
ised Congress in favor of cediug the public lands
to the States in which they were situated The
subject referred by the democratic majority
in the United States Senate to the Committee on
Manufactures, to which it did not egitimately be-
long, for no other reason than that Mr.. Clay lat
that time candidate for the Presidency was
Chairman of the Committee, and it was hoped
that he would render himself obnoxious to the new
States by reporting against their favorite scheme
of the public plumber. But the great statesman
of the West did not shrink from the fearless per-
formance of the duty thus imposed upon him. He