Washington sentinel., 1854-07-26
THE LAND BILG

passed.
They may be briefly summed up under the
following heads:
First. That the public lands are an inherit
ance sacred to the general interests of the ma.
ton; fund reserved for the special purpose
of national finance.
Second. That it is unwise, impolitic, and
unjust to drain the old States before the lands
within their limits are fully occupied.
! Third. That compact population is
stronger than a sparse population; that the
advantages of prompt and easy intercourse,
would be insured by short distances and good
roads-while migration west would greatly
augment the distances and numbers OF roads to
be made, rendering it impossible to have good
communications, except at an onerous cost.
Fourth. That in addition to ceding the lands
at low price, it brought the products of
these cheap farms in immediate competition
with the more costly farms of the east, to the
endangering the prosperity, if not the very sta
bility, of the farmers Of the Atlantic States.
We propose, briefly, to reply to these objec-
tons AS to the first objection, we would say:
If the old thirteen States had the exclusive
management ofthese lands, it very question
able whether they could make them more
effective in ministering to the prosperity of the
country, to its efficiency financially and physi-
cally, than they have been made, by a system
of land distribution, in apparent antagonism
to all these objections.
To the second we reply--that the best and
the surest road TO national prosperity lies in
untramelled individual enterprise. AS rule,
people will not migrate, except with the pros
pect and probability of bettering their fortunes.
And it is unwise to determine, by law, what
should be left to individual judgment, and
under the notion that it is better to have dense
ly settled rather than sparsely settled lands, to
compel or to restrain people to forego their
convictions of the advantages Of . change of
location.
In reference to the third objection, although,
its mere statement might appear to be as i'm
pregnable as an axiom, We think, before we
conclude these remarks, that we can show it
has two aspects. And lastly, in regard to the
fourth objection, it may suffice to say, that not
withstanding the enormous occupancy and
tillage of western lands, the agricultural por.
ton Of the Atlantic States commands at this
time, higher price than at any antecedent
spece-paying period
Paradoxical as it may appear, it is yet true
that the diffusion of our people has made us
stronger, richer, and has done more to develop
physical and mechanical science than anything
else-that is, had the restrictive policy in re-
gard to our public lands been steadily pursued,
we would not have been the people we now are,
nor had half the wealth or strength.
1t was the distribntive land system, which,
diffusing our people over great extent Of sur
face, gave rise to the extraordinary demand for
steamboats,, coaches, railroads, and railroad
cars. To build these, to stock and man them,
took as many persons from farming as were
induced to go to farming by the land distribu-
ton. A spirit Of enterprise was begot, giving
immense mechanical and mining employment
to the Atlantic States which has been of incal-
culable advantage to the nation.
We may unhesitatingly assert, without fear
of contradiction from any quarter, that had our
population been hemmed in within the old
States, under the policy of filling them up be-
fore extending, that We would now be but
pigmy to the giant that we are.
These objections are akin to those which re.
sist an extension of national territory, upon the
ground that extension weakens us, and multi
plies the chances or dangers Of dissolution.
And yet who can say that the acquisition of
Louisiana has not added 10 our wealth and to
our strength. The same may be said Of Flo
rida the same Of Texas and the same re
marks apply to California. The benefits which
the Atlantic States have derived from these
States in the freights for the shipping and in
the markets they have offered for the manufac-
tures Of the old States, exceed computation
These references, for they are mere references
will serve to turn the thoughts of the reader
to the amazing enterprize and wealth which
had their origin in a liberal system Of distr.
button Of the public lands.
The idea Of enfeebling ourselves by exten.
sion, although thrown out under names of high
respect and authority, we hold TO be delusive.
We rely upon this simple proposition--that
equal rights make common friends-and ex-
tending our borders wherever annexation with
us is sought, or is made with honor and the
concurrence Of the inhabitants on the lands
annexed, will augment our power rather than
weaken it. With the single exception Of the
subject Of slavery, no sectional question of vi
tai importance can arise to separate us. To
do so would be TO separate into feebler States
only to reorganize under the same Constitu.
lion, gaining nothing and losing every thing
Europe is densely settled, and has all the
advantages the old States could have under
the restrictive policy; and yet, how incompara.
bly, more rapidly has the distribution Of the pub
lie lands led us 10 unexampled power and
prosperity. All these would suffice 20 ansver