The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1852-04-08


or the General Government. In many
regions OF the country there are public
lands, as have already stated which have
been exposed to sale for many years for
one dollar and quarter per acre, but re-
main unsold, and will remain unsold for
fifty years to come, unless improvements
OF this kind are projected, and the lands
brought into market.
l might speak of the lands in Florida.
The committee on public lauds will report
bill for the purpose of constructing
railr,'ad there, extending from eighty to
one hundred miles in length, where there
are no settlements at ALL In my own
State, railroad was constructed from
Charleston to Hamburg, passing through
aplne country, where lands was not worth
more than ten to fifty cents per acre
These lands rarely found purchaser be-
cause they were valuable only as range.
Since the construction of that T5adi, the
lands have increase in value along the
line Of the road from ten cents per acre
to two dollars and a half and five dollars
per acre, not for the purpose Of cultiva-
ton, but ou accoont Of the valuable timber
and turpentine these forests afford, the
road offering cheap and speedy transit
to r1arket, that the lands had risen so
much in value. / undertake to say that
in Florida, the description of lands of
which | have been speaking, will remain
nnentered for one hundred years, unless
some public improvement of this nature is
projected and carried out. The Govern
ment, by making these donations, not on
ly benefits the State and its citizens, but
1t also benefits itself, and brings hundreds
of thousands Of dollars into the treasury.
which otherwise would not be derived
from the lands. suspect when you 90
to the West you will find in many places
valuable and fertile lands capable Of pro-
dncing wheat and corn and cotton, which
are not entered at one dollar and a quar-
ter per acre. And whyi Because they
have not facilities for market. The in
crease IN value Of land in the new States
consequent upon the construction Of works
internal improvements, will be greater
than in the old Statesi Add whyss Be
ceuse the lands of the New States is bet
ter. the soil more fertile, and consequently
the production greater. 1t Is a virgin
soil better than that ofthe Atlantir slope
l1loapot believe, from all my knowledge of
l'hysthat there is a untsS upon the
tee @ the earth that has such an extent
ofrich isnds as the Mississippi valley
lands that will produce from a thousand
10 fifteen hundred pounds Of cotton per a.
ere, and from sixty to seventy bushels of
corn. Give the cotton planter or the far
mer facilities for market, and is he not
better JaAle 10 pay one dollar and a
quarter Fcr land which was forty or fifty
miles irosa market aud where his corn
would Ret be worth more than five to ten
cents bashcl, and the cost of transpor-
ting cotton OF tobacco or flour from one
half to one cent per pound The COM
mittee have assumed, in framing this bill,
that as n Ecsseral rule, the lands living
within six mikes On boih sides ofa railroad
will certainly iacrcase in value 100 per
cent. tlSiak I can bring some testimony
hee ~AAcA nigat satisfy the gentleman
6Nsn Georgia, {Mr. 'Toombs) that the con-
structi,'n Of railroads increase the price of
lands, and that greatly. Idesire to state,
(and if do not state the fact correctly
hope tn gentleman will correct mel that
in the Cherokee country, q region that
twelve years ago had no facilities for mar
ket at all, their corn was not worth more
than ten or twelve cents per bushel and
but little cotton was raised in consequence
# the enormous cost Of transporting it
by land carriage to market. That coun-
try now teens with an industrious and
thriving population, and the former for
rests have been converted into beautiful,
productive and profitable farms. The
State Of Georgia constructed road there,
and in conversation with an intelligent
gentleman from that country, a day or
two ago; he said - me, Lat :....e ianGs
lad increased in value along the line Of
that road, for thirty miles on both sides,
from 100 to 1000 per cent. The com
mittee assumed that land lying along the
lines Of these roads for six miles would
certainly increase in value 100 per cent.
IN snasy instances, / have no doubt il
will greatly exceed 100 per cent, and reach
500 per cent and in some favorite locali-
ties reach even 1000 per cent But six
miles is assumed by the committee as the
distance upon the average Of either side,
and that the increase in value will at
least reach 100 per cent. think the
settlers in the new States ought to be lib
orally treated by this Government, for it
requires a bold and enterprising man
to give up and renounce all the conveni-
ennces and luxuries 70 be met with in the
old States--to take leave OF the home Of
his childhood, the friends Of his youth,
and the oompahioas Of his maturer years
10 plunge into western forest. All this
requires courage aud enterprise. These
people deserve generous consideration,
from the Government, and are especially
entitled TO receive it, when the Govern
ment does not injnre itself or the other
States Of the Confederacy by extending
IL They have but little capital there and
lint = one reason why these donations
1Is.skl1 Ia ....I. yuko. .o-.r.. -.