, 1855-01-20
A Little Plain Talk.

this territory-a class Of men wi came to,
this distant coast to avail themselves Of the
benefits of the donation act, and now End
themselves, after having resided on and
cultivated their claims for four years, the .
period prescribed in the original law, With ,s
out patent or title in their possession, or
even very fattering prospect Of soon Oh.
tanning one, for the obvious reason. that
none other than township lines have as yet
been extended over thes0lAnds. isIai. -
When the Office of Surveyor General was
established in Oregon, we are informed
that that officer was instructed not to ser-
tiOmi=e the region Of country embraced 1.
within the boundaries Of the sxhorbitant
and fraudulent claims Ito q certain extent)
of the Hudson Bay and Puget Sound Ag-
ricultural companies. What Instructions
have been impaired to the new, appointee
for the this territory, we are rs yet uniu.
formed. But one thing we do know, which
is, that If this matter had, at the time Of
the establishment Of that Office IN Oregon,
been properly and correctly understood or
represented to our government, q portion,
at least, Of the settlers alluded to, would
now be in possession, in right of title. Of
what belongs to them. , HIgS zall 7H5 OF
1t is well known here, that there are
large tracts Of land in Clarke, Lewis and
Pierce counties claimed by these foreign
corporations, and that upoh these tracts.
claims were taken Immediately after, and
in some instances, we believe, before the
passage of the donation act. and Of course
extensive improvements have been made
on many Of them, Whilst the lands situa.
ted adjacent to the claims Of these com. .
panies have been surveyed, the lands cuIti-
vated by the pioneers Of the country-tho
men who turned the first furrow, and erect
ed the irst log cabin, haye been suffered
to remain until this late period unsurveysed.,
This state Of things Is true, to . certain r
extent, in Pierce county. The land both
sOuth and west Of that county, We We under {. ,
stand, has been sectionized, but 10 10 s,ecfion
Hns, have been extended over the lands
cultivated BY some Of its Oldest residents,
because, forsOOth. this presnnptuous cor
poratiOn has seen fit to set Up a pretended.
though fictitious. claim thereto - ~
From the best evidence that corporation n, :
is able to adduce, il appears that therrss'. .
were not over tsco AHadred aeyes Of land en-
closed and under cultivation at the time
the treaty was ratified, yet that company
has the audacity to lay claim to scope
of country twelve miles vide and City miles
loDg-or extending from the, NisqialIy to
to the Puyallup rivers, and from Puget
Sound to the summit Of the Cascade noun
tsins. The opinions Of Cas-, Benton, and
other distinguished statesmen are well en-
titled to consideration and rememBrancs,
that this corporation should be restricted
to the erections and enclosures made IN ,ihs.
year ls4e. Because the company has seen,
ct to erect new buildings, and enclose new
fields since that time, we fail e discover.
Aol0 they can consistently Or rightfpIly OBJ
tain any remuneration whatever for the.
same. That they should be paid an enOr-
nous sum. even, for what rights they do,
possess, no one contends. save the comr
panies themselves or their satellites, neither
of which, evidently, spares spy pains, 70,
accomplish this great disideratum, -. = !
The charter granted the 4udson's Bay
company in 1891, and subsequently renew:
ed, will not expire until the fifth day of
December, 1868, and VIII the settlers npoh
the lands they claim be obliged to await
the expiration Of agAt long years before
they are placed ip legal possession q their
claims BY way Of pateutf How much
more time must elapse before our govern
ment will allow these lands to be surveyedf
lands to which these companies Of bra
zen-faced eHfontery have not the shadow
of shade Of title These are questions
which every man with an American heart
should ponder. There is no matter Of 10.
cal character which demands the attention
of the people Of the whole territory. at the
present time, 50 much as the one which We
have briefly alluded to and we earnestly
hope that before the present session Of the
Legislature shall have terminated. some;
thing will be done in the way Of furnish
ing the general government with pano-
ramic view Of the whole matter. d lo5 s1e
bS- Read the message Of Gov. SrErEss,
on our FIRST page, relative TO the possessory
rights Of the Hudson Bay and Puget Sound