The Davenport daily gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1869, 1857-08-20

A short time since We rcpubl,.hed an ar
iele from the Chicago Pres reviewing the
action Of Government in making privat'
ale Of the Fort Smelling Reservation To on,
Frank Steele. Every effort bad been made
by private individuals and companies to pur
chase portions Of these splendid lands, wort!. |
II the lowest valuation from one hundred t. |
one hundred and Fifty dollars an acre, and
probably in the aggregate TO three million,
Df dollars. As the Pes says, the Govern
ment "was fully advised, both Of it, actua
value and Of the competition that ~oul
follow for the possession Of it. in ease IL wa,
offered at public sale But the .alc va
conducted with perfect secrecy. Tbs P.tss,
in later ARTICLE goc, on a. ~at. that Tie
first thing the public knew 81 the matte.
definitely was an announcement IN H.,
krst iastaiiGaeat of the purchase money TO,
the entire Reservation having been pat
into the United States Treasury, order, hat
bcen issued b. the War Department e..
putting Mr.. Franklin Steele into possession
Of the property. The public was lett cn
tirely in the dark a. To the price I.aid IL
acre, what proportion q the n..oie amount
constituted the . first in>tahncnt," aud how
long credit was given on the remainder
All this was State secret WATCH our Den.
ocratic Administration did not choose 10
entrust the people vita. Bu; enough w
apparent to warrant tic conviction that
stupcndous swindle Aai been perPctfaicda
the expense of the public, ami We ~ ci.ai
actcrized tic transaction. our dcrn"crttl,
contemporaries maintained studied siicnc,
-cs,eetiaA tue matter, and Tins further co.,
ursnei u il tat belief We have isow bv
sorv us TIC ;irst reference to Tie subject tiia
We have seen Ia an administration juIrI,
beyond the announcement Il tic SAFE by L., |
Ca,yn The St Paul Piyat-r 4 IA Dsav-r |
t-cat- Of il in tue following ginscyly wa. |
We copy ito eatire article:
Sale OF FoRr SMELLING RrsrRvE.-W,
are informed taat the Military Re>ervatio.
OF Fort Suellins has been recently sold b
;ac Secretary Of War to Franklin Steele
Esq, al Sll per acre. IL contains bctwcel
seven anu e.snt thousand acres. TN Tia,
whole, We think the salc . fair one. Niue
Of tine land is worth more--and some of ii
much less. Doubtless spectators wouls
have been glad If II had been sold nj auction
but we tank il IL better n il il. At auc
ton Il would have been mere contest BE-.
tween SPECTATORS and tho Government, H.
wuicu cAss the latter would have probably
failed to open up tue reserve Ia the improve
meut, o. was doubtless the intention H.
making the sale.
Tue Reserve il no longer needed for mill
tary purposes and "a IL hss been an ol,>,a
Gle u tue progress of M,nneapol,s, Shake
pee and St. Paul, indeed TO the whole coun
try arOund, the citizens Of tuesc place, vii
be pleased to learn of its disposal Sevcra
important tnorougniare> are stretched aero
II, but hitncrto tine crossing 81 tue rive
has 6een slow, difficult and expensive Nov
We shali soon have tine br.,ye and con.
municatiou, travel, etc. will he cheap, "a,
and expeditions. We Congratulate GA
neighbors VI Hennepin county. upon ..avin
20 nne portion of ITS coanty ln4dc ,ubiec
70 TAXATION, and also 10 Ia. operation u
private enterprise.
From this we learn the price TO bo pal,
per acre. We get no intilnat,on OF nov
much Of the amount was paid down, MOI .
the length Of credit given on the remainder
Neither do we learn VINO Mr.. >terlcs uart
ners arc in the speculatioa---aow nuel,
assigned To tho President and 1abinet--.o,.
much TO Mr.. Douglas and Col. Richardson :
how much to Gov. Mcdary--how much I,
Col. Orr and Mr.. Toombs--nlcthcr O..
Walker gets any Of il, or whether il j. il.
tended he sail make his pile in kansa
All that We learn is that III. price 10 i,
paid Is ese<a dollars per acre, But tina, i
quite enough to prove the Transaction 10 h.
thoroughly corrupt one, aud IL ought 4.
cover the Administration taat Ia, sane
toned II, with tue deepest obloquy. H.. |
statement that some Of the land is wort
les than tho price mentioned, i. "a pitiul mis-
The whole of il l. first ella.
land, and, considered with reference to ID |
location, il would have been great bargain
1t oas hsadrsd and ffgy do,lars per acre, W.
venture the assertion that any man VIII,
might otcr Mr. Steele and his psrtners than
price for IL, would be shown out of tie dpol
in double quick time.
The servility Of partisan pre-, was ncye.
moro apparent than in this attempt 10 a,,ol
ogise for tho corrupt practice el our GOV
ernment officials. Why, here tic pcopl, |
are openly swind!cd ont Of mort tlan |
mlil,on Of dollars TO reward the service. o |
partisaa>, and public journa
defends the corrupt act "0n the whole, |
says the P.osu.s ead Democrat, I'VE thin.
tho sals = fair onc.' The editor u tia
paper thinks no such thing he knows IL.
Transaction TO 6e what we have characterize
it-but lac susta:ns the ra.cality which coli
coctcd and perfected il. bur we need nu
omnent upon ;hia miserable eilor, 10 saie
. transaction Of suca amazing oaornlty .
tie part VI the government We has
copied the article IN full, and trust no CA
viii Essss II hy unreal. A NOR. liyh-hande,
piece Of official sllainy las no, been pcrp
srAted slncc tue organization of the goverl.
mont. VIA, do the people think a il
u Is their property that has thus been pu.
into the greedy clutchc. Of senal partisan.
For every pound u tea, and every bu.hel
salt the poor man buys, he payn something
towards making this swindlc good scor,
Or more Of corrupt politicians have hao
princely fortunes put into their Possessions,
but 1t al comes cut Of the pockets OF th.
people in ths end. Will this fostering cor.
ruption b. tolerated We shall sec.
NJ xev Consela sllen.
The following from the Burlington HaKG.
we, shows that others beside Ourselves be.