The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1852-03-10
Nh<. sUMNEIt,s SPEECH ON THE; IOWA
LfF LAND BILL.


MIX. sUMAE,s,> SPEECH on THE low
| L'h LAND BILL
=, CoNcLUBED. -f
=, uon that the convention of the said State sh1
81 PROVIDE by an ordnance, irrevocable witho
or Tue consent ot United Sta'cs, that every an
each tract OF land sold BY the United State
: from and after the Ist DAY Of December ne x
- shaii be, remain, exempt from any tax laid
. oroer "f any authority Of the State, whcthe
:. ior STATE, count, or township, or any othe
! purpose whatever, for the term Of IL year
: from and after the day Of salr'' IS
1t Ihis clause does not stand by Itself in til
! acts admitting ihe more recent States but
n mixed with otier conditions will not belle We
: however, that any discrimination can be mad
It between particular land States, on the groun,
0 oi diftrence III their conditions which ma,
n properly be attributed to accidental circun.stan
$ ces. The provision just quoted Is found sub
s,antally in the acts for the admission of Ohio
e Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas. 50 far Il.
'hese states are concerned, it is IA complete
consideration, IN the nature Of satisfaction fol
the reservations and grants enjoyed by them
1t also helps to illustrate the value Of the ycr.
mnnem immunity from taxation belonging to
,he United States, by exhibiting the concess-
IONS made by the United States to assure tn:
franchise to certain moderate quantities of land
V,
Alter the constant charges of squanderins
!, the public lands and Of partiality to the land
states, 1 think all will be astonished at the
5 small amount to be entered the debtor side.
In the great account between the States ana the
National G,vern,nent This eo,sis 5 of grants
tor internal improvements, in the whole reach
Ing TO only eight millions four hundred and
+ seventy -four thousand tour hundred and sew
enty-three acres, which, at s 80 an acre, will
l.I
the estimated value Of the immunity from tax
atom already enjoyed by the United States, we
snail still have uppards IF $60,o0O,0o0 sur
| rendered oy the tand Suites to tie nati0u ; or.
II we call the annual tax two cents an acre more
than 1ouble this sum n,
In these estimates have brought tore her
all the land States. But, taking separate
States. we shall find the same prop ,ratnnate
result For instance, there is Ohio with lG,-
'7o,984 acres proclaimed for sale down to Jan
uary l, lo49 Adopting the basis already EN-.
ployed, and assuming that these lands contnu-
ed IN the possession of the United States after
being surveyed and proclaimed an average Pc
rod OF twenty-five years, and that the land
| tax was one cent an acre, we have 81 l92 725
as the value of the immunity from tnxation
already enjoyed by the United States in Ohio
From this may be deducted the value of | ISL.
IA acres being grants to this S ale for internal
i'nprovments, at 81 ,25 per acre, equ1l to 81,
41b,367, leaving upwa.ds of two millions
nearly three mIions-ot dollars yielded by this
State TO the Nation
Take another State-Mlssouri 1t appears
hat, down to January, 18i9, 3o,6S5,6)9 acres
had been proclaimed for sale in this State
Assuming again the basis already employed
and we have $9,90s,9o0 as the value of the
immunity frem taxation already enjoyed by the
United States in Missouri From this NAV BIZ
deducted the value of 5O0,000 acres, granted
to this State for internal improvements, which,
at 81 20 an acre, will amount to SG25 900, leav
ing upwards of nine millions OF dollare thus
yielded by this State to the Nation.
might IN this way proceed with all the land
States individually but enough has been done
to rePel the charges against them, and to
clue date their peculiar eou,tu in the ,nren.
ises. On the one side, they have received little
very little-from the nation; while, on the
other side, the nation, by every consideration !
"f equity. Is largely ndebted d to them This |
obligation of itself constitutes fund TO which |
the land States may properly resort for assis-
tance in their works OF internal Improvement, |
and Coagr IS will show an indifference to the |
reasonable demands of these, States, should it
fail t" deal with them, munlficenlIy-in some
sort, according to the simple measure of adyan-
tage which the Nation has already so largely |
enjoyed at their hands.
Against these clear and well supported merits |
OF the land States, the old States can present |
small claims to cons; ;deration. They have
waived no right of taxation over lands within
their acknowledged jurisdiction; they have made
no valuable CONCESSIONS; they have yielded up
no costly franchise. 1t remains, then, that,
with candor and justice, they should recognise
the SUPERIOR will not say exclusive-claims
Of the States within whose borders and under
the protection Of whose laws The national do
man is found
1t will readily occur to all, that the who.e
country will gam by the increased value of the
land still retained and benefited by the proposed
road. But this advantage, though not unim-
portant. is trivial by the side of the grander
ains-commcrcialy, politically, socially, and
norall (which will necessarily accrue from
the opening of new communication, by whion
the territory beyond the Mississippi will be
brought into connection with the Atlantic sea-
board, and by which the distant post of Coun
Gil Bluffs will become suburb of Washington
1t woud be difficult to exagerate the influence
of roads as means of civilization. This, at
least, may be said Where roads are not, civ
illzaton cannot be; and civ.lzation advances
roads are extended. By these, religion and
knowledge are ditfused intercourse of all
kinds is promoted; the producer, the manuac-
turer and the consumer, are all brought nearer
together commerce Is qulckened; markets are
opened property, wherever touched ly these
lines, is changed, as by magic rod, into new
values; and the great current of travel, like
hat stream Of classic fable, Of one of the rv-
ers of our own California, hurries IN channel
IF golden sand. The roads, together with the
laws, of ancient Rom ;, are now better remem-
bered than her victories. The Flaminan and
Appian ways-once trod by returning procun-
snls and trihutarv kinrs-ctill |
icent representatives of her departed grandeur.
Under God, the road and the sehoolmaster are
he two chief agents of human Improvements
The education begun by the schoomas er is
expanded, lihcralized, and completed, by inter-
course with the world and this intercourse
finds new opportunities and inducements IN
every road that is built.
Our country has alrecdy done much in this
regard. Through remarkable line Of steam
chiefly by railroad, this whole
population is now, or will be SION, brought close
to the borders of Iowa. The cities of the
Southern scaboard-Chares:on, Savannah, and
Mobile-are already stretching their lines in
this direction, soon to be completed conductors;
while the traveller from all the principal points
of the Nor'h, rn seaboard-from Por land Bos.
ton, Providence, New York, Philidrlphia, Bal
tmerc, and WaShington--now passes without
imped imrnt to this remote region, traverSipg a
territory of unexampled resources-at once Il
magazine and granary-the largest coal field,
and at the time the largest cnrn-held, of
the known globe-winding his way among
churches and school-ho among forests and
gardens, by villages, towns, and cities, along
the sea, al"ng rivers and lakes, with speed
which m1y recall the gallop of the ghostly hor-
seinan in the ballad:
FILED past right and left how fast
Each forest, grove, and bower!
On right and left fled past how fast
Each city, town, and tower!
e. Tramp tramp along the land they speed,
Splash splash along the sea-
On the banks Of the Mississippi he is now ar
rested The proposed road in Iowa Will
bear the adven,urer yet further, TO the banks of
the Missouri and this distant giant stream.
nghtiest of the earth, leapng from it, sources I
in the Rocky Mountains, will be clasped with
The Atlantic in the same iron bracelet In all