Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1852-04-21
VOL. VIII II.
WHOLE NUNBIR, 419.


now often referred to with interest, besau,s
when the dark forest marked it as the
wild hunting ground of the Indian, it bad
received the impress Of the Father OF bis
/ Country.
The area Of the public domain, inssead
Of having diminished in proportion to set
Element, the increase Of population, aud OF
emigration, has increased almost without
limit, by purchase and by conquest We
have an immense extent unsettled and
uncultivated; and under the hest legisla-
ton we can adopt, a great d. al Of it must
remain unsettled and uncultiy ated for sges
it may 10 for centuries.
Th. number Of acres Of public land
unsold and undisposed Of in the twelve
States of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois,
Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas,
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and
Florida, is 200, 900, ,OOO-equal in area to-
the old thirteen States that carried u
,riunphan,ly through the Revolution.
{ The area Of the lands remaining undis-
proscd of in the Territories is 1,2Ol, l23.-
557 So acres, sufficient in extent to FAKE
t6rty-tuo States Of the size Of Pennsylvs-
MIA OF this, much is possessed by the
Indians, and will be for many years to
come but all of it eventually will become
the property of the United States, from
the certain operation OF the same causes
which seem to doom the Indian race to
ultimate extinction-a result to be de-
plored. but which seems to be inevitable.
They have already 80 far disappeared
before the advances of civilization, until
their homes are now far beyond the angry
waters of the Mississippi and ~ they
travel towards the setting sun, the council
fire will gradually disappear in the gorge
Of the mountain, and the war hOo y
finally be lost iu the murmurs of the great
Pacific ocean.
In this vast region there are certainly
large districts that are Enou infamous, ISrts
of which are unfit for Improvement, aud
for the residence Of man but, after ma
king all necessary deduction on this
account, there will yet remain inmense
districts which will support dense popu-
lation,a and sooner or later will be converted
to tue great purpose Of civilization and
production. What 10 to be done with
this vast region, that IL may Ss converted
from an uucultivated wilderness 10 its
natural purpose, and made to bring forth
it. fruits abundantlys Pass this bill
encourage and secure its settlement.
This Government Was founded by the
people for the good of the people.
Its great basis Is popular affection.
1t Possesses an immense property which
il can Rot sell, but by q process equal
In time to period of centuries. Com
pare the number OF acres sold up TO
thi, date and the length of time tslxty-
four years) that has been consumed in
making the sales, with the number Of
acres now undisposed Of, and it will be
seen that it Will require, at the saline pace,
nins hundred years to dispose of the
same. The progressive spirit of the age
Is impatient of DELAY, and demands q
Quickened step. Vast forests and prairie
separate our Atlantic and Pacific regions.
" hich every consideration Of security and
of Intercourse require should be settled.
Its settlement would place upon a distant
frontier force able and willing to defend
us against hostile savages, and thus spare
required to defray 1t would be justice to
the new States in which PORTIONS Of the
public lands are situated, by converting
them into private property bjeeting
them to taxa;ion-and thus requiring
them to bear their legitimate proportion
Of the burdens of State government.
With all of our unexampie,l prosperity,
Mr. Chairman, Ill the arts and scicnees, in
the progress of improvement, in the extent
of our commerce, III the growth and sue
cess of our manufactures, Ia wealth and in
power, it is nevertheless true that there is
great inequality Ill Il condition Of life !,
and that much can be done to ameliorafc
that condition without doing injustice ~
violence to the rights Of any. There is no
Government that has so much to spare 40
ours, and bone where the gift would be
productive alike of mutual benefit. 1t
would lie the exhibition of union.of phil
n hropy aud national interest, eon>umma-
ting "a measure by which worthy citizens
would be made comfortable, nos by wasting
the property of the State, not by e1sctions
from the property of others, but by mode
rate grants of wild land, the cultivation Of
which would swell the productive property
of the country, and thus contribute its
proportion to the common necessities, in
peace and in war.
No inconsidsrabe portion of our popu-
latiou is III able, for the want of mean,
to push forward to the frontier, and there
form settlements DESTROYS Of doing so,
it requires an expenditure they can not
meet All that many o. them can do, is
to reach the country and provide for their
support, until the land, improved BY their
labor, becomes productive. To require
them to pay beyond that for the land,
amounts TO prohibition against their going
there. The pre-emption sysiers stimulated
emigration and settlement; but experience
has shown, that inability to pay the Gov
ernment for the title after a period Of &C.
we're trials incident to such new settlement.
gave the land, in many instances, into The
clutch of the speculator, aud drove the
b,r,iv u nlooner ayain tn tho fnrax,