Spirit of the times. [volume] (Ironton, Ohio) 1853-1858, 1855-12-18
The Land Question.

DuRIxo the past five years, the liner
lean people have been clamorins q
the doors Of their Congress, for the pas
sage Of an act to prevent further specula
sion in the Public Land. either by grant
ing ihs same TO Incorporated Companies
osselling them to spectators. ..l
The conviction is deeply rooted in The
hearts Of the people; that the land i:
for improvement and culiva ton, and
thar the cheaper the cu!livAtor can gel
It, the better for tho country. The mon
ey tha, the Pioneers now have TO pay
ior unsubdued, wild land, they, in mos
cases, need in preparing it for cultiva'
iion, before it can become productive
and also for the purposes Of meeting
other expenses, incident to frontier life
and 10 educate their children.
The people who own the land. so far
ss thers can be any property in unoccu'
pied soil, believe that each man has a
right to so much land as he needs to
cultivate, in order to provide home
and subsistence for himself, his wife and
children. ,oithoat any price beyond thai
paid to the Indians.
The Bankers and Stock jobbefs
will be on hand the present Congress,
as usual, begging for appropriations fol
various Railroad schemes. Already
millions upon millions Of acres Of tbs
best public lands in the nation, have
been transferred to Railroad corpora
tions, out Of which they are building up
stnpendous fortunes at the expense Of
the industry Of the county.
II any class Of men should be lightly
burdened il is the tillers Of the SOIL
The policy. which the government has
for years pursued towards the pioneers
has been oppressive to them. and uu'
profitable to the nation. Because no
fact in political economy is any better
established than this: "That the force Of
State is in proportion to its popula.
ton, population is in proportion to plen.
y. plenty is in proportion to tillage, and
tiliage to personal and immediate inter.
est, which is the spirit Of property
Hence the greater the number Of propri.
etors there is in country, the more ex'
tension is given to the forces Of indus
try, to The produce Of the lands, and to
the general prosperity Of the State
The number Of true patriots in county
i.irealiy in proportion to the number o.
freehold propretors; they are the ones
who have fixed interest, and who neveI
become corrupted. ,ay1r g
In speaking Of agriculturists, Thomas
Jefferson. in vol. 8, page 4o5 Of hi'
works, says:
'Those who labor in The earth are the cho
sen people Of God, if ever He had n chosel
people whose breasts he has made His pecu
Ietdeposit for substantial and genuine virtue
II is the focus in which he keeps alive the sa
cred FIRE, which otherwise might escape from
the face of the earth. Corruption of moral
in the mass Of cultivators, is a phenomenal q
which no age nor nation has furnished an ex
ample. 1t Is The mark set on those, who, no
looking up to Heaven, 70 their own soil and in
dustry, as does the husbandmen for their sub
sistence, depend for it on causualities, and tn
caprice Of customers. 4
''nepeBdence begets subservience and We
nality, sufocates the germ of virtue, and pre-
pares fit tools for the designs Of ambition. Th
proportion which the aggregate Of the othe
Glasses OF citizens bears many State to that
its Ansbandmen, is the proper ton Of its un
sound 70 its healthy parts, and iss good enoug
barometer whereby 70 measure It's degree {
corruption" ~.
The Land Reform Bill" has been b
lors Congress for ysars, and has twic
passed the House Of Representative
snd twice been stranglsd id the Senat
The masses Of the people ,hroushol
the county, North and South, Eas, an
West. everywhere. demand The psssal
of that act. ssSias .1t
Let The Homestead Bill once becon
law, tbsn. such an exodus would oce'
from thAail States TO the nav, and in
shssTssiA6kiss. % wouh cOser the prs
siss. aSd s6ftn.Hs lsolitsry places iof !!