Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1854-01-13
v,r.in,. and the Public Lands

nor hes,re both Congress and the Legislature
the former. in the shape of Benefits bill, some
what altered since last winter and the latter IN
she form Of proposition to take the sense OF the
people'of Virginia, upon the question OF instrue-
ting our Senators and requesting our Representa-
elves in Congress to procure the passage OF bill
distributing the public lands, or their proceeds,
among the States. The democratic party are
largely.in the majority in the Legislature. They
prcfess.to be, par erceiienes, the party Of the
rneople to recognize their authority aud wisdom
in all things 10 rely with unialterng trust upon
sheif capacity to direct political affairs will
thev now show their faith by their works VIII
they agree IN consult the people upon this impor-
tant question. and obey their instructions We
confess that we have such expectation, be-
cause we have long since concluded that their
pretended regard and generation for the people
was all .rammoni We recollect how unanimous
Nv they voted down the proposition of an Angus
ia member winter or two ago, to submit Ia the
people the question of receiving Nirginia's quota
of the land fund, now living unclaimed in some
government vault The wishes fthe people are
sacred to them when they coincide with their
own-and then only.
A late article in the National lntelligenoer pre-
sents the right of the States To the use and on
oyment of these lands, and the injustice of the
present partial system of distribution, in so for
chile and conclusive "a shape, that we cannot
conceive how any sensible mnn compromising
the subject, can for a,momont doubt the power
or duty Of Congress to apportion to the states
their distrbutive shares, either of the lands, or
their proceeds We avail ourselves Of its argu-
ment and citations of authority:
.'Mr Benefits Distribution Bill, says the In
telligencer, now before the Land Committee of
the House of Representatives, seems to be more
in conformity to the objects of the cession OF the
public lands made by both New York aud Nir
gina than any measure heretofore proposed.
1.-The deed of cession from the State of New
York was made on the lst of March, l7el, and
was accepted by Congress the Goth of October,
1872 One of the conditions was, that the lands
ceded to the United States, 'shaH be and enure
for The use and benefit Of such Of The United
States as shall become members Of the (ederai al
hance ofthe said States, AND FOR No OTHER USE
OR BENEFIT WHATEVER
1.-The Virginia deed of cession was executed
and accepted on the LIST day of March, 175f,--
One of the conditions of this cesson is fol-
lows
"That all the lands within the territory SO ce-
ded TO the United States, and not reserved for
or appropriated to any Of the before mentioned
purposes, or disposed of IN bounties to the oih-
GERS and soldiers of the American army, SHALL
BE CONSIDERED AS A COMMON FUND, for the use
and benefit of such of the United States have
become shall hecome members of the United
States, pirgind inclusive, according to their us-
ual respective proportions in the general charge
hall l. f1Ift full al hmm
fde disposed Of for that purpose, AND FOR No
OTHER USE OR PURPOSE WHATSOEVER"
Massachusetts, Connecticut, y. Carolina, ).
Carolina, and Georgia, afterwards coded their
public lands on ternls almost precisely similar
'rL4.s - aisposition on the part of many poll
iticians to reeur frequently to what called the
jackson doctrines upon this and other subjects.
In his celebrated Land Bill Veto Message, plesi-
dent jackson quotes these and other authorities
to show that the public lands can only be dispos-
ed of for the common benefit of all the States
How this distinguished man would act ON the
subject at this day il living and in authority, it
is not for us to say; but the positions above quo
ted would ,ertainy put him in opposition to any
partial distribution of either the lands their
proceeds.
In his objections TO the Land Bill of 1892,
President jackson took the ground that the dis
tribution unequal teeause twelve and n hall
per centum Of the proceeds was Ia be first given
Virginia and other States which had ceded the
lands, and therefore that the bill proposed VIC
lation of the eompaets, which he declared to b,
''invaluable monuments oi an age of virtue pa
trotsm, and disinterestedness.n
The difference between the Land Bill of l531
and that pending is, that the first proposed
to dispose of all the proceeds in the unequal
manner Objected to by the then President, whilst
the latter proposes a more equal distribution OF a
portion of the lands.
President jackson seemed to have had high
opinion of the Western peopei in reference to1his
matter Of distribution. He said;
with the just men who inhabt the new States
it is sufficient TO reject this system that
it is in violation of the Fundamental laws of the
Republic and its Constitution"
If this position be impregnnbe, what can be
said of u system, which is daily gaining strength
of making donations oflnnd ''for objects of 10.
scal character within the Statesl" The Western
people do not conceive it to be at all in conflict
with their ideas OF justice On the contrary, they
daily asking for grants for -'loosI purposes, y
and fthey wanted any precedent as to the best
method of making any werk national, they weuld
resort TO the Jack sonian for notable examples
A VIRGINiAN IN CALIFoRNIA.-IR the Shasta
lCal.) Courier of the 10Th Nov. last we find tho
following .netce of young Virginisn, Jndee
j. NJ. Peters, formerly of Nelson county. The
distinction he is acquiring in his distant home i,
"a source of much grati6oatiou b his friends here
JUDGE PErERs.-Judge Peters has ju con
cluded the NOV. term of the District Court fr
Siskiyou county. and returned to hi residence i,
Crescent-City. The Herald pays him the fol