The Kansas herald of freedom., 1855-08-04

W ftftFliClpdtlOn LII tue Hid1a9eI1enL anC
disposal of the land upon which said
town is located, which right is granted
by the law of 1841 to all who occupy q
town site, and in which we are protected
by the Law of 23d May, 1914, which has
special reference to the relief of citizens
OF towns in such cases, and is as follows:
Whenever any portion OF the surveyed
public lands has been or shall be settled
upon or occupied as town site, and
therefore not subject to entry under the
existing pre- emptionlaws, it shall be law
full. in case such town or place shall be
incorporated, for the judges of the Coun-
ty Court for the county in which such
town may be situated, to enter at the
proper land Office, and at the minimum
price, the land so settled and occupied,
in trust for the several use and benefit of
the occupants thereof, according to their
respective interests" &C., beg leave re-
spectfully to submit that they are deeply
dissatisfied with the settlement entered
into in March last between your Associ-
alton ON the one part and Messrs. G. w.
Babcock. j. P. Wood, VIM. Lykins,
VIM. and John Baldwin, on the other.
We are dissatisfied with this so-called
settlement, because it is extremely well
calculated, in our opinion, to impair the
interests and check the progress of this
town. By Its operations nearly one-haf
of all the land embraced in the town plot
is monopolized by half dozen persons,
whose right thereto emanates from the
Association alone, while the number of
actual inhabitants at the present time is
not far from FIVE hundred. At an early
period the Lawrence Association adopted
a policy with reference to those who de-
sired to settle and acquire property in the
town, weh designed to stimulateitS growth
and increase its prosperity. That Asso-
citation adopted a resolution, Oct. 9th,
1854, "to set apart every fourth lot in
the city to be given to those who would
build upon them, or to those to whom
the Association might deem it proper to
donate the same" On the 10th Dec,
1854, it also enacted "that every person
who was then, or might become a resi-
dent of the town, and sheuld remain dur
ing the winter, should be entitled to three
city lots of the standard size, on condi-
ton of making Improvements, respecting
the rules of the Association" DC.
These measures were just and Judi
-cious. They were just because they
served to distribute the land upon which
the town was located to all the inhabit-
ants thereof upon terms graduated ae-
cording tothe amount of service respect
lively rendered in building UP the town
and making valuable the lands upon
which it was located And being just,
they were also judicious, because they
extended fair chance and solid interest
to all who thought proper to accept the
same, and.in this way secured the settle
ment of large number of persons who
otherwise would not have come, and
whose exertions and Improvements con-
tributed greatly to the advancement of
the town; by the adoption of this settle
ment their wise and bene6cent policy was
necessarily abandoned, and nearly half
of all the land pertaining to the city site
allowed to pass into the possession of five
men, thus creating monopoly which is
already showing Its deleterious and in
furious effects upon this community, by
the rapid decrease in the value of real
estate, and the uncertainty which rests
upon all business transactions. In con-
sequence of this, also, the Association
was compelled to disregard, in a number
of instances. its engagements with those
who had come into the town upon the |
conditions of its previous policy. So |
was it stript of its resources
by this silly transaction that it was con-
strained to repudiate some of its most
binding obligations. The impelling mo-
tive to the adoption by the Association
Of this strange measure seems to have
been the desire to get rid of claim,
made by the gentlemen above named, to
3 portion of the city site, and the Asso-
citation seems to have assented to the ar
under a gross misapprehen-
sion of the true grounds upon which that
claim was based, but claims can now be
seen by the foregoing argument were
without the slightest foundation.
There is another feature about that set
lement to which we must alIude, in or
Ter that it may not be used as an obsta-
lie to the full accomplishment of our OBJ
ect. We refer to the pretended location
If land warrant or Indian grant, on the
present site of Lawrence, thus purporting
o secure a valid and indefeasible title to
he land, although the site was previous
y taken and occupied. Such thing
;ould not be done, as the law specifically!
provides against the location upon lands
llready occupied, without an utter and
Ibsolute abandonment of such premises
~ the occupants, and REIMBURSEMENT
If their interests therein. This was not
lone, nor were the steps taken to accom-
,lish that end and vitiate the interests of
he citizens, of a legal nature. In the.
irst place, the abandonment was quit
;lainl deed, which has no Legislative en-
in this Territory to sanction it,
md if it were so, that deed was void, be-
,ause it was signed before it was filed up.
Blackstone says that in every valid
Iced there must be something conveyed,
md that the last act in It's creation is the
'attestatien," and that any erssures. un-
ess noted at the time of execution, will
roid it.
In view of this state of things, the un
lersigned are solieitous of taking some
Iction by which this most unwise, un-
and unjust arrangement may
,e broken up and discarded, and one
peter calculated to promote the interests
If the town and give satisfaction to the
inhabitants of the place.
We, therefore, propose to your Associ-
ltion the appointment of committee of
i've of your members, to meet commit
ZEE of like number, appointed by us, TO
axe the whole matter into consideration,
md to report such action in the premises
IS may be thought advisable. The re-