Minnesota weekly times. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1859, 1854-05-23

value Of the public domain No man having
tsncs now dsmanded BY the public lands;
There oecasoned BY long and continued mis-
would bring upon frontiers, where live, activ
workers. the idle population, willing declare them
man Who would take grant Of land under the provons h
e pes o has
byuate stamped him irremovaby a. placed there b
eoss and to the Of our osou
Their presence would be an insult to our fruitful
generous soil.
We copy the above in full from the Daily Pho
neer of Wednesday, that the public may know thu
correct position it occupies on the subject of Fret
Homes to the Homeless. We cannot agree with
our cotemporary in the doctrine put forth, fol-
we believe that his assertions are at variance with
the facts, and reflect unjustly on the laborng poor
We think his language-s'lasy landless," eidls
population sshiftless," "lasy," "pauper-by.
nature" clogs and hindrances,'' is out of taste
uncalled for, and very wide of the truth, and w
shall proceed to demonstrate this position as ar
act of justice to those who are thus basely Ii.
belled: os
First--We deny that the majority Of those who
ask Congress to pass the Free Land Bill fand-h
are the persons to whom our cotemporary un.
doubtedly alludcs) are either "lazy," or in any
way entitled to the epithets applied to them
They are men of enlarged views, whole souled,
philanthropic-who have means to live comforta-
bly, (many Of them) without grant of land, but
who are impelled by sense Of right and justice
to advocate q measure, which is intrinsically
worth more to the West and to the country at
large, than hundred schemes introduced and
propelled through Congress every year, for the
benefit of land sharks and monied, monopolizing,
railroad companies.
There may be some who are lazy, but is that a
reason why others should be debarred the right
to use and cultivate q small portion Of the inn
mense unappropria.ed public domain? Granting
that five out of ten are "shiftess," and that Gov
ernment gives each l60 acres of land, what then ?
Can they live on barren wastes? Must they not
develope the soil to raise sufficient to subsst on
And If they do this, are they not enriching the
country, and enhancing ssths value of the public
domainf'' Most assuredly. 1t would be the
heig ght of absurdity for a person to accept q
quarter section Of land, (Which he cannot SELL and
then sit quietly down on it and starve to death !;
aud yet this is prognostcated by the opponents Of
find our neighbor of the Pioneer.
Second-There are very few persons who come
West with lack of s'energy." "Energy" is their
characteristic, and they come here because old
fogyism and a want of means at the East will not
allow them to exercise those traits Of character SO
we'll adapted to pioneer life. They are mostly
young men-not nigsardly, not "lazy," not
"sh;ftless," but upright and enterprizing-who,
though industrious, have failed to accumulate
more than one or two hundred dollars, (part Of
which is paid for their passage) and who are will
ling work the moment they plaes their feet upon
our SOIL Now then, does our cotemporary mean
to say that such persons would bring upon ''the
frontiers the curse of an idle population," CIVIL
ling to declare themselves paupers and always to
remain so?" Oh no, he can't mean that-he
means those who are left behind! Well, who are
those left behind? They are those who married
at the age of twenty one, and who, though econ
omical and Industrious, find that at the end of
each year they are no better off than the last; So
hearing of the s'boundless West," they sell out
their furniture and embark with from three to
four hundred dollars. They pay over one hun
dred dollars for their passage and freight. Sick
ness may overtake them, which takes of fifty dol
lars more, and by the time they reach their desti
nation, they are reduced to one hundred dollars.
They must have food, and place to sleep, and
before the husbands can get work the last hundred
dollars arc gone, and the families are left poor.
Now, how is it possible for these men to procure
the ''small pittance demanded by the Government
for its public lands?" Aye, it was the last fcath-
er that broke the cam.ps back, and they, poor, in
dustrious, hard working men, because they have
the audacity to ask Government for few out of
its unlimited number Of acres of land, are denom-
mated s'the curse Of an idle population, and him
ORANGES to the development Of our glorious North
Westp
Third--Does our contemporary mean what he
says when he asserts that s'the able-bodied
Though poor mani who would take grant of
land under the provision Of the Homestead
Bill, has shiftless, 'lazy," rxuper- r-by-nature''
stamped upon him? This certainly is a strange
assertion. What consider the poor but sable
bodied NAM "shiftless" because he accepts a
grant of land Of government which has bill.
lions of acres Of waste soil and $25, ,00o, ,OOo
N its treasury Why, there is scarcely day
passes but s'able-bodied" men accept town lots Of
companies, in our own territory, and are these
s.lazy." ssshiftless,' sspauper- by -nature?" No,
no, This doctrine won't win. It il . doctrine Of
the dark ages, and as such will find an early
tomb.
It is all wsll enough for those who have never
felt the pinch Of want to sit in their Office and ex-
patiate upon the manner in which the public do.
main shall be disposed Of, but let them be thrown
upon the world poor and friendless, and they
win very soon appreciate the blessings to be de-
rived from the passage Of the Homestead Bill.---
They viii no longer talk Of granting land TO the
lasy landlsss," Of sscloss and hindrances," Of
''the curse Of an idle population" /" but will b
willing to conceds at least that trial Of ths
measure is preferable to 'sshiftless" and prema.
ture denunciations." 3
Tm EncssoE.-This vessel, which was sunk II
the late gale, il soon to be raised, BY placing Z
canvass drawn tightly around the ship. Th'
Ericsson, At the time Of the accident, was OF
its way 70 New York, for the purpose o.
giving the editorial fraternity an opportunity Il
witness the success of the invention. We hop.
it win be rescued from the wstery element, an,
accomplish all if not more than its owner claim
Co.