The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1853-01-27

soon as the road from Toronto to Gecr-
gian Bay is completed, within fiity-six
hours of Toronto. In addition To the
arguments usually urged in favor Of
grants of public land to railroad and
other improvements, two particular rea-
sons upp'y in this case, which should
induce the federal government to aid
| the enterprise. The road will run
through an unsettled and unsurveyed
tract of country. aud will open ii to set
Element. Few other roads are so situ-
ated IT will terminate i'm Territory
/ of the United States, and will so eXpe-
dite its settlement, as to shorten the Pc
riod Of its territorial existence, and re-
ievc the federal treasury of the burden
Of its support Hitherto railroads have
, been constructed because the settlement
and business Of their respective locali-
/ ties were supposedto demand them. The
experiment of building road, in order TO
settle country and make a business,
is yet to be tried. Mr. Whitney pro-
posed such an experiment in his Pacific
scheme, and if VIC reflect what the
Erie caual and the railroad Upon its
banks have done for the settlement Of
the Northwest, we have significant
hint of the efficacy of such means.
The construction Of the various i'm
provcmcn,s to which allusion has been
made, must to some extent require as
sistance from tie general government,
and it might be well for the Legislative
Assembly, at its present session, to me-
morlallzc Congress for grants of public
land in aid of each of these enterprises.
Especially would commend to your
consideration the expediency of suitably
mcmorializing Congress for such a gilt
OF the public domain as Will insure The
construction of 50 much of the project
ed Louisiana and Minnesota Railroad,
as lies within our Territorial limits
The federal government is the largest
landed proprietor in the world. OF Tie
area embraced within the limits of the
United States, it has been estimated that
only about onc-tHird is in the pisscss-
ion Of private individuals. MNrcly,
then, as revenue measure, tho policy
is dciensible which seeks to grant land
to The landless and pass the public de-
main rapidly into the hands OF the cuI-
ti"ators. For unless direct taxation be
, resortcd to, the chief source Of the fed
cral revenue must be duties on foreign
imports. AS lmportations increase rev
enucs will increase. Hence q system
which muifiplics the number of a.yicul-
turaI producers by putin. western land
under cultivation, mu!'ipics also the
number of import consumers, and at the
same time increases their ability to pur-
chase for consumption. Ia this way the
federal treasury derives annually. even
at the present time, a much greater rov-
enuc from the cultivation Of the new
States aad Territories, than from the
sales Of lands within them
! The whole country, "a unit, and i'll
all its parts, has the deepest intcrcs, In
increasing the amount Of this cultivation,
and the most cfiectual way of doing this
would seem to be by gratuitous grants
OF land in limited quantities to actual
settlers. To the new States and Terri
tories the extinction of the federal title
to the lands lying within them, is only
secondary in Importance to the eXtnc-
ton of the Indian title. And in consid-
erlng the practical bearings Of liberal
land system upon the cid States, which
contain no public lands, am Of the
opinion that equivalents will be found.
fully or more compromising them for
any loss they will sustain by it, What
is it that has caused the Atlantic States
to vie with each other in extending
their public works 10 the West: 1t is
TO make these works the channels. and
their cities the marts of western trade.
Tho surplus of the West is agricultu-
raj; and every one knows that the
greatest profit or less is not made or
sustained in the mere production Of this
surplus, but in the carving and ex-
change trades arising from it, These
profits must always to a great extent
be monopolizcd by the old States; and
the greater our production, the greater
the profit realized by them. The West.
too, is valuable customer of the old
States; a purchaser and consumer Of
the fabrics Of the East, and Of the pro-
auctions Of the South. Every axe cp-
piled to the forest of Minnesota, every
plough to our prairies. sinking its share
IN the wild grasses in which they abound,
increases our ability to purchase, and
adds to the general wealth OF the whole
country. In the proportion western
population and production are incrcas-
cd, in like progressive and correspond
ing proportion are the interests Of the
manufacturing and commercial States
advanced.
The third public sale Of lands lying
in the Territory Of Minnesota, was held
at Saltwater in November last. The
whole number of acres disposed of in
the year 1852, is 33 39l. OF this ag-
greSate 80, 500 acres have been located
by military land warrants. The num-
Der of acres prc-eInptcd in the same
period is -, 81.
BY act of Congress Of August IS,
IS:nC the military rpSpryn NJ I.orf G,nl