Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1857-12-05

cious aud beautifully eonstrNotsd, ornament tGetr
towns, while oil bsnehss Of knoWlsdss tiul sDssrs
and protection andcr" the lohy dSmss Of extensive
universities academies and scho",houses. What
wonder is It, then, that Il ia called the "miyAty
West t"-what wonder that Ia population swslls,
that tia representation In Congress increases, and
that al the eleasNts Of prosperity gather IN in boe
dersl What wonder On the other hand, tina, With
~ population s,agnates our representation grows
,Mstv,, sNd progress and improvement ave slow ana
On the enc hand an the public State works. beisd.
tnes and institutions are erected and sapportsd ny
donations from the general government, Whik We
obliged to tax ourselves for the setsane Objects
or 60 without ,hetns aud evcn our very soh9ec!s 81
taxation are drawn away 10 an the prosperity o'he
West, BY the very causes which produce our Ne
cline
TINS BAlrlNoRs PtArpKA.
Ever since lS&a, the Democratic party in its sew
eraa conventions passed RESOLUTION IN sahstancsh
That the public lands the common property ~
| all the States-that they are held BY the general
government in ,rast-t6 be sod and Their profits
placed ia the public treasury, and thus Appropriated
to the common benefit, by detfAyiAe the expenses 81
! the government" have often voted Er th's ,eeo'
luton and approved Il til saw deserted by dem.
ocrats from all sections II the eoantryS that 'nteed
the rery les7e's woasd retarN d'rc, t'sr BAR
more 60 Washington CITY and vote for the lar.
gest donations States and private corporations OF
this very land in utter violation Of the latent and
meaning aS vel as the letter uf the rrSolution.-
When ia lS4s supported Gen. Cass by speeches
in near twenty counties of this State advocated
the cause II q democrat who had given his aid and
support 10 every application for land donations in
tho Northwest, Mr.. Douglas, long my favorite for
the Presidency, and the second choice Of the demo-
cratic party Of this State in 1884, had built up Hin.
OILS by these donations and voted for nearly all the rest
When the democratic party in Congress made Mr..
Boyd Speaker Of the House Of Representatives they
voted for . man who had introduced and advocated
bill to give all the lands to the States in which
they lie, for a mere nominal price. K
Since then Jefferson Davis, Houston Of Alabama,
the Democratic Chairman of the Committee of Ways
and Means-ndeed, the whole Democracy of the
land States, have fed forever from the Baltimore
platform-have advocated and taken the benefit of
land donations Mr.. Perkins of Louisiana favor
lite of Gen. Pierce. and to whom was committed by
the State Department to reform the Diplomatic and
Consular system, introduced 4 bill but little differ
ent from Mr.. Boyds, by which the whole of the land
to be absorbed by the States in which they are
stnated-Only he postponed for ten years the com.
pleton Of the iniquity. Mr.. Andrew johnson, just
elected Senator by the democratic party Of Tonnes
Sec not only has favored these gifts Of land, bu. has
even gone far beyond, by advocating proposition
to give away at lunge, one hundred millions to
individuals, natives and foreigners, who choose to
settle them and call them theirs.
The Cincinnati Convention which nominated Mr..
Buchanan, broke down the Baltimore platform
this question, and passed a resolution to build the
Pacific Railroad out Of the public lands by giving
the necessary amount--a hundred millions Of acres
or more-to corpoI atoms one mammoth compa.
ny, and Mr. Buchanan acQuiesces in the measure
and supports it.
ORTHODOXY.
In no State out of Virginia, North Carolina and
South Carolina, is the opinion of a democrat the
land question. made test of orthodoxy. II is
| ifest that he who cings the Baltimore platform
on this principle, hugs ghost, phantom, that
melts before his eyes; and those who profit by
action, laugh in their sleeves at the folly of our sim
plicity and credulity.
put this question, and satisfactory answer will
change at once my convictions.
Why should the children Of Ohio and Illinois and
Minnesota and Iowa be educated out of the mutual
property Of the several States, given to them BY the
common trustee, and the children of North Carolina
90 uneducated? ... r.5 T..
RAILROAD DONATIONS
All the important Railroads of the West have been
constr Lcted by these grants of land and individual
subscription and State aid have done little moth.
ing. This system has been justified on the ground
that the alternate sections reserved sell for double
and thus the government loses nothing; that rs .
prudent proprietor the government does right give
away one half to double the value Of the other. A
more artful bait was set for any gudgeon and
no trout was ever more caught by artificial fly
than those Southern presses, and Southern
leaders who darted at this suggestion.
Has any man in North Carolina been ever asked
to give away one-half his land double the value
of the rest? Do railroad companies 20 through
mans land with US scot free on this principle? Or,
are there no prudent proprietors among our sturdy
Old farmers? 1t would take long argument to con.
vince any of them thus to diminish their broad acres
A grosser fraud was never attempted.
| take the case of the Illinois Central Railroad,
! and this is the most favorable case:
The number of acres received by this company
n of ansh1o
price 92l acres. The land granted the road
| was worth al government price, five millions two
hundred and forty Lone thousand two hundred and
ninetysx dollars, and il the whole Of the reserva-
fall short of this sum than hundred thous-
and doars But say to YOU, without fear Of truth
full contradiction that the whole Of the reserred sec.
tions hace neuer in single instance brought the
double price. Indeed. the Company usually absorbs
in its alternate sections the best land and the re-
ing the double price, is injured in value and does not
bring the original government price. The people
have no idea OF the corruption of this system or
they would not be blinded by this deusion.
But If it were true that these donations improve
| the remaining land and indemnify the government,
would not donation to North Carolina, in freeing
| her from debt, and enabling her to complete her
works. tend to improve her property, build up her
| population, and greatly increase the revenue to
| be derived from her by the general government p
The argument sustans distribution as well as the
| other system -..-.,. -a< ..s ....
| CoNsTITUTIoNAEITY OF DISTRIBUTION
The opponents Of distribution say that it is un-
constitutional Without claiming to find the power
to distribute in the clause authorizing Congress to
dispose Of the land" &c. l answer, the land has
Dee" distributed from the earliest periods of the gov.
eminent; only it has been partially and unjusty
distributed. But find the power to distribute ex-
acay where Mr. Jefferson found the power to ac-
quire territory. =
There is no constitutional right 10 acoure terrific