Loudon free press. (Loudon, Tenn.) 1852-1855, 1853-10-28

serves, as TO the extent his all-impOrtant primo
pie is to be exercised by the Legislative depar
ment of the State; and that boundary should b
when fixed, the publlc necessity and not th
mere assumption of public convenience. A
companies incorporated for Internal In
provement purposes, may claim that they wer
created for the public good; and under the pie
OF public good, claim the right Of way, and
consequently the property condemned, and tn
rghtful owners compelled to part with the it'll
to it, and that, too, without their consent. This
among people calling themselves free, ant
who claim to have guarantees which will pro
tect them in enjoyment of life, liberty and prop
erty is a question of no ordinary magnittide
and Is entitled to their mature and profcand
raj Government, IN fegaru 20 s..o-
agement of our immense public domain, has
for some time, engaged the public attention,
and will continue to do SO, until some perma.
nent disposition be made of it by The General
Government. There is class of persons in
the United States, more properly denominated
land-mongers, or lsnd-monopolists, who desire
10 have the public land thrown into market in
lsge quantities, in the shape of land warrants,
and grants to incorporated companies, so as to
enable them to become the purchasers at reduc-
ed prices, and then to realize immense fortunes
from the landless thousands, who emigrate to
the new States and Territories, and settle upon
them. This spirit of speculation and plum
der in the homes of the great mass of toiling
thousands, ought at once to be arrested, and sti-
fed to death by timely and judicious legislation.
After some experience and much reflection, as
to the best mode of disposing of the public
lands, have come to the conclusion, that the
General government ought, and that without de-
lay, to set apart the entire public domain, by
enactment, permanently, as.homes for the peo-
pie. The homestead policy ought to be fully
carried out, and the further sale of public lands
confined to actual settlers, and to-them only in
limited quantities. The public lands should be
unsltersbly fixed and set apart as heritage,
for our chidren's children, in the far distant fu-
ture. They should at once be consecrated to
thereafter be disturbed.
The Homestead policy-the great idea of
providing homes for the thousands now living,
aud millions that are yet to come after We have
passed and gone-is one that has occupied
much Of my time and anxious thoughts for
many years past and l have not yet abandoned
the confident hope of its final consummation.-
The American mind has been aroused to the
consideration of this great scheme of every
head of family IN the UniUed rratgs Uvius 70
vided with home he can call his own. Z IS
based upon the eternal principles Of Justice,
and is repiete with all that is noble and good in
our nature, and sooner or later, must become
the settled policy of the Government never
recur to this great theme without an expansion
of all the nobler qualities Of the soul. 1t is one
npon which l delight to dwell, and contemplate
the future good that is to flow upon the coming
generations. l will refrain, however. from say
ing more, on the present occasion, upon sub
ject which is interviewer With the dearest sym
pathies of my soul.
The true policy of the Government, both
State and General, consists in the education and
diffusion of general information among the
great mass of the people, and at the same time,
employing all the means by which the toiling,
producing labor CT the country can be elevated
to its proper position. Our children should be
made tn roughly acquainted with the genius
and spirit of our beautiful, though complex,
form of government. The constitution of the
United States, and Of the States, with their COM
mentaries, should be made one of the principal
books to be studied and understood, in all the
schools of our country-and thus thorough
knowledge of the genius and character of our
free institutions acquired. And if it shall be the
pleasure of Divine Providence to exempt this,
40 far favored nation from all war for the next
fifty years, and it be permitted to go on as it has
been -cultivating the arts and sciences of
pesce-it will have no superior, if an equal
throughout the civilized or Pagan world. If
Agriculture, Mechanics, Internal Improvements,
with all their legitimate incidents, are permit
ted to approximate any thing like perfection,
we will be the most powerful and formidable
people upon the face of Gods habitable globe.
Why not, then, pursue the line of policy which
will enable us to attain this great and important
end, making this people the wonder and admira-
ton of the enlightened nations of the earth p
We should adopt, as a rule for our future action,
that which was laid down by the immortal JET
ferson, on the 4th of March 1901.
'Equal and exact justice to all men, of what
ever state. or persuasion, religious or political
peace, commerce, ard honest friendship with
all nations--entangling alliance with none."
Within the last few years-not to go further
back-the American people have given to all
nations, contestible proof of their powers, and
military skill and power on the field of battle
which has caused and will continue to cause
the rights of our citizens to be respected abroad
Let our people go on, rivalling each other in all
the pursuits of peace;et them acquire renown in
the civil, equal to that which they have acquired
on the field of military glory, and which is much
more valuable and honorable than all the glare
of the military world combined:
would be doing great injustice to my own
feelings, were / not in this connection, to de-
oIare-though II may be considered by some as