Hannibal journal. (Hannibal, Mo.) 1852-1853, 1852-03-11

alternate sections reserved to the Government
were sold at the price Of 81 80 per acre, and
this is in the grant to Ohio for extending the
Miami canal from Dayton to Lake Erie. So in
1928, grant was made to company in Flori.
da Of every alternate section Of land for the con.
struction Of road from Tallahassee to St
Marks.
i The, bill which has been reported bv the
chairman Of the Committee on Public Lands
provides for grant Of every alternate section
of land-1 believe even sections---about the
width OF six miles on each side, and running
the length Of these two roads. The bill also
provides that the alternate sections which have
been reserved 10 the United States shall be sold
at not less than 81 80 per acre. desire here
TO answer an objection urged by some gentle
men, and that is, that the old States are equal
ly interested in the public lands with the new,
that therefore these grants should not be made
to them. Let us examine this objection, and see
whether or not the old States are benefited by
grants such as ere proposed by this BILL Under
the present system the lands are offered in mar
ket for sale at fixed price. The Government
is the proprietor, and holds the land for tho ul-
innate benefit of all the States; but so long as
they remain unsold, they are of no profit to any
of the States, and are dead weight upon the
States within which they lie for they are not sub
Ject to taxation, and consequently yield no rev.
epus ta tex SAFES Shey do Hot sei, ana coIise-
quently yield nothing to the General Govern
ment. In this condition of things one of the
States proposes to the Government, that if its
aid is extended in the construction of railroad
by grant Of part Of this unsaleable land, that
she will construct road that will at once give
value TO these refuse lands. The proposition
goes further il is, that the refuse lands will not
only be made available, but that thee lands
which before would not sell fcr. 81 % per acre,
shall be advanced to 60 30 per acre. The STATE
also proposes that sEa will transport all the
ucoPs, all the munitions of war, and all the sup
Pies Tor your Army, al! the annuities for your
indian tribes, over the road she proposes 10
make, without one cent of cost to the Govern
ment. And further than this, the State propo.
ses that she will carry the United States mail
over the road for whatever sum Congress may
agree to pay for this service. Now, sir, let me
ask gentlemen of the old States whether, as
land holders, they are not greatly gamers by the
grHnt9 1t is at least certain that they lose no.
thing.
There is one fact, which think the history
OF the settlement of the western States fully sus-
talns and that is, that those lands are always
most eagerly sought for, where there is not too
great disparity in the fertility of the soil, which
are contiguous to our great navgable streams
The reason is obvious: it is because of the IA
cilites which those streams afford for the trans
portation of produce; and the emigrant will Of
ten select inferior lands near to those great tho
roughfares, in preference TO those Of more beau
ty and greater fertility, but which are more re-
mote. Hence, the refuse lands are most usually
found in the Interior parts of the State, remote
from the neyigab!e streams.
IL will he found hv n refaranoa 70 the foots 70
which l will call the attention of this House,
that they fully prove and sustain the position |
have taken. In thirty-two counties lying upon
the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, as is shown
by the late census report, there are 1852 ,222
acres of improved land, while in the other sixty
eight counties of the State--almost double the
number-there are JAG 200 acres of improved
lar d, making $4,000 acres less of improved
land in sixty Eight counties remote from the
Missouri and Mississippi rivers, than in the
thirty two counties which lie upon those streams.
Now, presume this state of facts will be found
to exist in every State Of the West. Those
lands are first sought after which lie upon the
great rivers. l ask you, il you make a canal
if you make road or highway where nature
has furnished no advantages, will not the result
be inevitably the same, and the land upon the
line of those roads and canals be as eagerly
and Mississippi rivers?
beg leave to refer to some other statistic
which have gathered from the report of the
Superintendent of the Census. While Msscu-
ri is only the thirteenth State in point of popu-
lation, and the fourteenth in quantity Of improv-
ed land, she is the tenth State in value OF live
stock, the eighth in value of manufactures, the
sixth State in quantity Of corn, the fifth in the
number of pounds of tobacco She is the second
State in the production Of dew-rotted hemp, and
the first State in the Union in the production of
water-rotted hemp. The fact to which desire
to call the attention Of the House, and prove the
position have assumed, is, that where there
are thoroughfares and highways opened, either
by nature or by art, the lands will-be in greater
demand, and people will select and settle upon
them. Take the case Of the article of tobacco.
The whole amount of tobacco raised in the State
of Missouri in 1850 was little upwards of sew
enteen millions of pounds, and Of this amount,
more than twelve millions was raised in twenty
counties on the Missouri and Misssisippirivers.
Out Of one hundred counties twenty counties
produced more than two-thirds Of the whole
amount Of this great staple. And why? Not
because those lands on the Missouri and Missis-
Sippi are better adapted to the growth of this ar
tcle, but because of the want Of facilities for the
trans pOration of the article from the interior
counties Of the State to our great rivers.
Take another article--that of dew-rotted
hemp, one of the great staples of that State, and
that in which Missouri stands second of all the
States in the Union. In the one hundred coun-
ties comprising the whole number of counties,
there is, nroanosdd a little over sew enteen
thousand tons. OF this quantity tAere are
fifteen thousand FIVE hundred tons produced in
twenty counties upon the Missouri and Missis-
sippi rivers, while in eighty counties off those