Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1854-01-20
The Public Lands---A Great
Mistake Corrected.

and among them is one introduced by Sena-
tor Bright, making grants Of land TO GER
toin railroad companies, for he benefit Of The
States in ,chich they are saaaied-N This prop
oslton has aroused the attention Of the ex-
cellent editor Of the Boston Daily Adveris
er. and he has been led to remind the good
people Of Massachusetts that they have an in
terest in this matter. First he shows that
Massachusetts was the owner of Western
lands, until 1854, when she ceded them to
the United States Mex, he shows that the
cession was condiona--the condition being
that the lands shall =" be disposed Of 10y the
United States for The common benefit Of the
same next that Congress i,eitei this ces-
sion in 1880, and'itsef aft xed the condition
and finally closes by quoting from the deeds
of cession Of various states.
The deed of cession from the State Of
New York was made on the LIST of March,
1891, and was accepta by Congress the
29th day of October, lisa One of the
conditions was, that the lands ceded to
the United States shqH be and snure for
fhs use and benefit Of such Of the United
States as sh1ll become Numbers Of the feierai
alliance Of the Sid Siaies AND ron No ORR
Err USE OR BENEFIT Whatever"
The Virginia deed of cession was execu.
ted and accepted on the lst day Of March,
1854. One Of the conditions Of this ces
sion Is as follows.
"rhat all the lands within the territory so
ceded to the United States, aud not reserved
for or appropriated to any of the before
mentioned purposes, or disposed of in bonn
ties to the officers and soldiers OF the Amer
lean army, SHALL az CONSIDERED As A
COMMON fuND for the use and benefit Of
such of the United States as have become
or shall become members of the u States
pirgind Inclusive, according TO their usual
respective proportions IN the general charge
and expenditure, and shall be faithfully and
bona fde disposed OF for that purpose, AND
for no other USE OR PURPOSE wHATsoEv-
Err"
Massachusetts, Connecticut, North Caro-
lima, South Carolina, and Georgia afterwards
coded their public lands on terms almost pre-
cisely similar.
1t will be observed that the lands were not
merely coded to the u. 5 for the benefit
Of the states in which they are situated" -
as per Senator Bright's bill No but for
the common benefit of all of the States =
ofthose admitted since the confederacy, as
well as those which belonged to 1t IN Eco
Of Vermont, Kentucky, and all the new
states, as well as of the old thirteen. The
new states an whloh The lands lie are now Ia
king care of themselves but what of the I
Old states what of Vermont? Not an a.
ere has she got--not dollar of the pro /
Seeds, except what came indirectly thanks
to Henry Clay and the Wing party y through
the surplus revenue act. We hope she will
get a little more, through the fourth install
ment of the surplus, the payment of which
Is provided for in bill recently Introduced
by Mr.. Meacham Of Vermont. Nassachu-
sets has Jared no etter; aud the Advertise
er well exclaims--" What grave breach of
trust does Congress commit, when it alien
ates the common property OF all the states :"
=" A breach of trust m--aye, that it is ana
il is without excuse Heretofore it has been
claimed that the U s. had nothing to give
10 the old states--that the income from the
lands had not been equal to the expense Of
managing them. This, ii now turns out,
was a mistake Yes an errlr, which has
escaped the notice of Presidents, aud Secre-
taries, and Members of Congress. Presi
dent Pierce reveals this fact IN his ge /:
"You will perceive" said the President,
from the rep ri Of the Secretary of uterl-
"or, that opinions which have often been
expressed IN relation to the operation Of
" the land system, as not being a source of
"revenue to the federal treasury, acre orr7.
=" ne0us The NET PROFITS from the sale vi
"publc lands to June 30, 1853, amounted 10
"ihe sum of FIFTY THRrr MILLION rwo
"BUNDRED AND tIGuTY NINE THOUSAND
"FouR HUNDRED AND sixTY-Fivf DoLLAHs.n
Now, mark this the President speaks on.
ly of the net profits Of The sales We sup.
pose the lands gipen diody by Congress 10
the new states do not come into the account
II So, there is an immense debt due to the
old states, to equa,ze the grants. But aside
from this, the President shows that the Uni
ted States oiees the several States the sum of
iiity-three and one fourth millions of dolers.
Let Congress pay that honest debt to begin
with tins will relieve the treasury of that
surplus which is just now the source of so
much trouble. In the next place, when
Messrs. Bright g. Co. bring forward their
projects for giving lands for the tenefl of
the states in which the lands lie,r we would
have somebody remind these gentlemen that
the lands are to be disposed of Z" for tie
common benefit of all the states, and at
the same time invite them to take course
which will save Congress FROM being fur
Their guilty Of BREACH or TRUST. There
is Benefits Land Bill in the House, and the
bill Of Senator Foot of Vermont in the Sen.
ate we hope Mr.. Bright will have a chance
to vote for these before he geta another acre
of land for railroad corporations, under COW
er Of " benefit to the states in which the
lands lie"
Following the principles of the Wings OF
Vermont on this subject-prnciples which
they have annually expressed Tor twenty
years or more, almost, if not quite, without
exception,l we have about as often invited
the attention of our readers TO this import
ant subject We do SO now with more than
ordinary pleasure, since We can record The
testimony Of President Pierce that the old
snd only tolerabie excuse Cor the injustice
Of Congress towards the states, is err.
roneous." The policy of the loco TOGO party
on this subject has always been errone-
GUS" Now that locofoeo President has
corrected the error on which that policy has
been defended, we think II s time to looh
TO Congress for reform ia this matter. Read