New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-11-13
tiv.tion. Yet The Union has the hardihood to say

may be proved, too, that mo question haring been
raised as to the scompy character Of these lands,
it YVES right and proper for the department to
patent them to the State q" at the request Of Cor.
" Prioe." Now, LET me ask, how could the swampy
character Of these lands be raised il this a.cumu-
lated testimony could not raise the question:
Again: Tie Union says, Neither did the Presi-
eden, the Land Office possess any evidence that
" the lands so approved were not of the character
" intended to be granted by law" ask all can
did and honorable meD if the result of the pro-
ceedngs instituted by the Hannibal and St 10
seph railroad company is not evidence that
a fraud was committed in the counties
bordering On said road 1t will be recOected that
this company contested the right of the State only
to the odd sections within ak miles of the road and
the even sections within fifteen and nine miles Of
the same-consequently, the company did not con-
tett all the Ibid that had been frauduenty select
ed by the State within fifteen miles of the road.
But the company gained Thousands Of acres as be-
fore stated Were not the affidavits Of three hun
dred individuals made before justices OF the peace
sDd having the seal and certificate of the county
clerk, evidence Tie Land Office regarded these
sdavits as evidence for the register AM receiver
of this local Office have been Instructed to permit
more than one hundred individuals to contest the
States claim. Yet The Union says that there
" WAS DO evidence either before the Land Office or
" the Presiden; that the lands approved we're not
:" of the character intended 10 be granted by law.
In N this false hypothesis The Union iDfers that
the d, partment did right in agreeing patent the
lands ~ e:ted under the act Of 1850. on The request
ON, pOr, rnOr If Missouri.
II the "a, Is submitted are susceptible Of proof,
and the organ of the administration is challenged
10 disproye them, have shown that The Union is
not only fatsum IN .nn0 putJdtsum IN OMNIBUS upon
every material point
THE Union makes tbiS admission That lands
81 have been selected unher the swamp lsnd Law
which were not intended to be granted, We have
" no disposition 10 deny very liberal cOnstruc-
" ton has been given to the Law by parties acting
&" for some Of the States and an other instances me-.
hare been chosen to select lands nhOst elastic
sciences Stokied not at the preparation Of fraud
but the vigilance of the Government officials has
resulted, it is beiered. in the discovery Of every
case of the kind, and the prompt rejection of the
States claim TO the land" Now, observe: Fraud
was charged in the selection of land under the act
of 1850 by the agents OF the State. The admnstra-
ton organ accuses me of wholesale Islander, and
then turns round and cOnfesses /" that lands have
been selected under the swamp-land law which
were not intended to be granted, we have no dis
" position TO deny" This is the Identical thing
charged. AS to the vigilance Of the Government
officials to which The Union refers there is thing
of the kind No vigilance detect fraud of such
vast magnitude. Hence, we have been cOntending |
that Congress ought to give any and all individuals,
who will prove by credible and disinterested wit
nesses that given tract has been fraudulently &C.
lected, the preference-right TO enter the same at
one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. The |
Union say it in the duty of the Land office to patent
the lands to the State because the agents have |
complied with the Instructions, witnesses having |
sworn that high and dry lands were swampy on |
the 2Sth of September, 1850.
Now, | ask the people OF the United States |
whether the policy of the Administration shall pre-
vail and Missouri steal more than two hundred |
thousand acres of land under the act of 1850, or |
whether halt million of dollars shall be paid into |
the public treasury for these socalled swamp |
LANDS Thousands of acres in this land district,
wOfth from five to ten dollars per acre, would be |
contested but for the decision OF the commissioner
refusing to give the contestant the preference right
at the ordinary cash price over the Spectator. My
doctrine is that the contestant ought to have the
preference right because he is at the trouble and
expense of proving that the land is not OF the char
acter contemplated by law. And for the further
reason that the land in its present situation Is lost
to the general Government unless individuals Will
pay out Of their own pockets the expense oil prov
ing the fraud.
Let me nov briefly pay my respects to an art-
Gle in The JefersOn CITY ELdmin6r OF the 10Th
ult. This il the organ of Gov. Price. Before
doing so, however, let us inquire who Gov. Price
is and bog it happens that be holds the position he
doesi He was brought out by the Hon Thomas
H. Benton through the influence OF that gentle
man he obtained seat in Congress. Upon Benten's
recommendation he was appointed general in the
Mexican war by James K. Polk. He Was elected as
Benton DemCc at govern of the State. No sooner
was he iDauguratd however, than he proved Ri nseif
q traitor 10 his beDeiactor. But his treachery ana
treason does not end here. The Legislature of 1854
and 1855 convened, and there being United States
senator to elect Gov. Price Joined the Know
- IL ara of nA "a a
election, thereby hoping 10 secure seat in the
Senate. The Legislature, however, adjourned
without eecting senator and the governor, seeing
that the X. Ms had been defeated IN Virginia
Tennessee Georgia aud Alabama, withdrew from
the order and is now Simon.pure Pierce Demo
crst Is II 10 be wondered at that the official organ
of so mean governor and of such degraded po-
litica trickster should caption an editorial IN
answer 10 the charge Of fraud: The swamp
q lsnds-A MissOurlan Assailing the State through
THE n. Y TRIBUNE" Now have not, and do
not intend TO assail the State of Missouri; but L
have a right to oppose the perpetrators OF fraud
whether they live in Missouri or any other
State of the Union, and | mend to
exercise that right, though bis Excellency may
imagine himself the personihcaton OF the S'ae'
II the swamp lands claimed by the counties In
Missouri are really swamp, no power on earth eau
defeat the right OF the counties to 1t. BUT the
Governors organ assumes q fact TO be true which
every citizen of the State knows to be false
again assert am not opposing the State or educa-
ton but the perpetrators Of fraud under the act
of 1850 and those who give them aid and CON.
" fort" The fraud can be successfully arrested
and prevented if the General land office Will sus-
pend the issuing of the patents 10 the STATE uhsl
the next Congress can assemble and pass an act
reversing the decision OF the commis sionef 30 as
t. give the contestant of the States claim tue
rio M L