Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1856-10-11

Daniel Howell is IA, 1853 acres
Z. H. Gleason is 6,620 g
VIM. Chappell is 1859 "
r. McKinnon is 1854 g
John A. Bryne is 1,349
Roht. Chandler is 1,160
Making total of %, 305 G
It will be seen by the aiiidavits Of Robert
Chandler and DR.. Hunt that the statement of
Mr.. Seaver in regard to Chambers having as
Isigned certificates 10 Hunt in presence of Sea-
yer is contradicted. All the lands entered in
the name Of McKinnon- were entered by and
to the table marked 81 y and ssM,'' it viii be
seen that the whole amount paid for ssPrint-
lingn for the School and University Land Off
Ice has been So, SPLIT and there has been paid
for books and stationery $5,387,84- For APP
praising and selecting lands $50, 1858, IL
There was no necessity flor this large expendi-
lture. The whole expense of some judicious
system would not exceed one half the amount.
The present system is not only expensive but
announcement. 1t is open to fraud and specu-
lations. The whole system should be chan
ged If the sale Of School and University lands
is to be continued.
Your committee are clearly of the OPT Mon
that great loss has been sustained by the
School Fund through the haste with which
the school lands have been brought into mar
ket. The lands generally having been situa-
ted in the new and uninhabited parts Of the
State, and surrounded by lands Of the govern
ment, hav seldom been appraised higher than
ten shillings per acre, the government price
They have been brought into market under
low app easements, and readily sold on ac-T
count Of the credit given, whilst the lands Of
the government in tie vicinity remained unds-
posed of.
Your committee would advise that the whole
policy of the State should be changed in re-
specific the sale of those lands. The wants oil
the educational interests of our State do not
demand any material increase of the fund at
the present time, as this fund is now much lar
ger compared to the number Of children to be
educated than it will be twenty years hence I'M
der the most prudent management. Your
committee ear sec no great evil in the result of
keeping the 10th sections, and all other school
and university lands, wherever located, now
remaining unsoid, out of market until such
time as other lands in their vicinity shall be
settled, and until the further Withholding
them from sale would be a serious obstruction
to the settlement Of the country. BY adopting
this policy, The school lands could be sold for
a greatly EXCHANGED price.
The land would be more likely to fall into
the hands Of men who desire them for actual
the benefit of the advance in price which
would inevitably follow the purchase and oc-
cupation of the Government land, instead of
the land spectators, who under the present
System have seized upon them.
The argument always urged against the pol
icy of Withholding the lands from market that
it retards the growth and settlement OF the
country, is fully answered by the facts to be
derived from our experience under the present
system.
These facts show that the School Lands have
not fallen into the hands of those who want
them for occupation, but are held by specula-
tors in large quantities, ranging from five to
seventy-five thousand acres, thus more effect
ually retarding their settlement than il held by
the State.
This argument has but little, weight when
applied to the 9th section, for tney are so dis
tributed that their being Withheld from immedi-
ate sale cannot materially affect the general
settlement of the nnoccupied portion of the
state, and no serious complaint has ever been
made upon this subject by the older counties,
where these sections were Withheld tor several
years after these counties became settled. To
carry out this policy your committee herewith
report bill repeating all laws authorizing the
appraisement and sale of all school and univer-
sity lands, and recommend the passage Of the
same.
lie lduitc VI TIE plcStHl sySlcui VI hcSpiiif5
and loaningssThe School and University Fund"
are too many and too great to be remedied in
detail. And it should be materially changed.
Under this system it is necessary that those ow-
ing interest to the 'Ipcome Fund''in the sew
eraI counties in the state should remit the va
rious amounts to the state treasurer at Maids
on. And the same money, after it is appor-
toned, must then be sent back to the several
counties from which it was received. Many
losses and much Inconvenience result from this
system. And it would be far better in every
respect and equally safe that the money
should be paid 10 the treasurers of the respec-
tive counties in which the debtors of the fund
reside. The Committee therefore report back
a bill entitled can Act to amend chapter "a of
the Revised Statutes and establish system for
the safe keeping and management ofthe School
and University Funds" and recommend its
passage. The Committee, however, not
unanimous in relation to this recommends
ton.
Your committee find .as per schedule mar