The true Democrat., 1856-12-09
The Swamp and Overflowed
 Lands

noble purposes of the donation. l We gather from the Governors message the following facts
 Amount of swamp land scrip is-
 sued before the 1st of October,
 1856, is, $1,797,O26 1 Amount of scrip redeemed before | the 1st October, 1856, 1,579,7O8 Leaving balance of scrip outstand- 1 ing and unredeemed en 1st Oct
 1856, amounting to $217,31S
 In regard to amount of swamp land disposed of, and the amount necessary to satisfy the un- redeemed scrip, We find:
 "The number of acres disposed of ] before the lst Oct, 1856, is 2,990, 782 1 The number of acres necessary to ! satisfy the unredeemed scrip, at i 50 cents per acre, 434,636 Total Mo- of acres thus disposed of 3,43341S And again we learn, from the same source that
 "The number of acres ofswamp and
 overfowed lands confirmed to the
 State, is 5,e7o771 Deduct from this the number of
 acres disposed of, as shown above s499,4lS And we have, remaining to the
 State already confirmed, total
 number of acres, 2,537 1858
 We also learn that there has been much swamp and overhowed land selected by the State agents and reported to the commissioner of the general land office, which is yet to be confirmed to the State, to wit:
 "Number of acres reported for con-
 tlrmation, 3,543,S47 Add to this the number of acres of
 confirmed, but unappropriated
 swamp land, to wit 2537,35 Total Mo- of acres of swamp land
 yet undisposed of 6,OSI,2OO
 Thus we show the State still has remaining Sjr milion eigay-one thousand and taoo hundred acres of swamp and overhowed lands for the purpose of completing the work of reclamation already far advanced. Allowing for errors in the reports of the selecting agents we can safe ly affirm that the State yet has fue million acres cfswamp and oOeyao,ced lands u,odisposed of
 In regard to the time when the work of con- tirmation will be completed, and patents issued to the State for all the swamp and overflowed lands to which she will be entitled, nothing de- tlnitely is known. In a letter to the governor dated the 21st of October, 1856, explaining the causes of the delay, the commissioner says:
 ''You may, however receive the assurance that as soon as tFe condition of business aoiN per- mt, lists of all the lands in Arkansas heretofore selected as swamp and not yet approved, will be prepared and submitted to the secretary of the interior, for his confrmatory action'
 From these facts it will be observed that the grant of swamp and overhowed lands is still one of great magnitude, notwithstanding near ly 3,5OO,000 acres of it have been disposed of We have yet remaining at least 5,OOOOOO acres, and as it will, according to the showing of the commissioner of the general land office, take time to complete the work of deeding them to the State, there can be no necessity of hasten- ing le yislaton without due deliberation. Five million acres of the best and richest land in the world are not to be lightly disposed of by State that has been for years past laboring un- der financial endorsements. The greatest er- TOTS in the management of this grant have sprung from nasty legislation. We'll would it have been for the State, had the legislature of 1850, never touched the subject
 It is always with Us matter of unfeigned diffidence tIlatwe allude at all to subjects pend- ing before the General Assembly, and it is ren- dered the more so in this instance that the pre- saDt t blu unlimited confidence. Their action upon one single questionable Cairo and Fulton Railroad grant of lands-has inspired us with the high est respect for their wisdom and foresight 50 far there have been few or no buncombe efforts while, on the contrary, the members seem de- sirous to discharge their duties periodically and for the best interests of their constituents. But as our opinion has been solicited, and some sur prise has been occasioned by our silence, we will not longer withhold our views. It was our intention, however, not to have uttered one word.
 The bill before the House, ripping up the old system entirely, and establishing a new one, proposes to distribute the lands to the counties In which they lie. This, we contend, miqht have been tairer at first, but now unhapply comes too late. To us, it would seem to be manifest injustice to many counties whose lands have been taken up, and whose levies have not been completed. It will, too, jeoparlize thou sands of dollars of work already finished, or render it useless, by imposing the duty of levy ing gaps upon counties to winch few or no lands are granted. It seems to us, too, greater injustice still to those counties in which there are not, and never were, any swamp land. The grant was for the benefit of the whole State, and when the work of reclamation is completed, the surplus should enure to the benefit of the whole. It is true there is a pro. vision in the bill that, after the work of reca- nation is finished, the surplus shall be returned to the State treasury but who does not know that no surplus will ever be found. Every county that receives portion of the grant, will receive 1t with the determination to expend every foot of 1t within its own limits, and, if there IS not sufficient work of State importance to consume all, it will be frttered away in levy ing mere branches and ditching mere frog ponds The experencc of every man will show him the correctness of this assertion.
 There is, too, another view of the case In the House bill there has been no provision made, and in the nature of the case none can be made, for frequently one certificate embraces land in several counties, to adjust unsatisfac- tory and conflicting titles to land already dis. posed of. To provide for this law was enact- ed by the last Legislature, (see page POP, Of acts cf l854-5.) We have ourself witnessed the happy and beneficial operations of this law, and we should extremely regret to see it disturbed There is much confusion of titles to swamp lands-there are hundreds and thnn.