Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1857-03-25

the cessons made by North Carolina md ds =, MATER
can no longer be regarded as forming ANY, ~ ssrs'
practical element entitled to be brought iDo .s and
cussiOn OF this question at the present t~o Tue dis
lands IN these cess'ons were, and are spoker lhs
the Supreme Court as having been the nss' OF BY
the United States, but they no longer exs. operyd
from the simple fact that they have become ~, such
erty OF private owners Tue Prop
The United States owns some twelve NJ a..
hundred millions of acres Of which all hr VI Thirteen
siderable trife has been acquired NOT nv a., an incou
in their individual capacity, but by the United SSa
as such. No talk about cession will annln s,ats
lands are federal property as much 10 These
ships belsnging to the navy, the forts and ssn The
ments of the army or anything else which a equip
as belonging to the general fund An0Sa
The title to these lands, acquired bv tr.,,.
the United States, as the common trustee ;.l SIN
manage and dispose Of them for the conn.,, W nod
poses for which its trusteeship was created Pur
purposes certainly do not include the carrv;r, hse
State works, or the support of State GoyernsoA
out OF or by means OF, this fund, any more th.e
means Of any other federal fund or 6ropertr yuan oy
duty on imports for instance and the crr as The
ton being heavy in the States and that on.S aSa
be lightened by appropriating the public lsSds
State purposes, is about as sensible as s;,;, 10
would be to have State taxes reduced 5v m.l;v Try
call upon the revenues of the General Govarn"sa
collected at the Custom Houses '""s0s
But turning from the question of princinl. NIL,
should always hrs; be considered let us LOOK 'I .'
to the practical considerations connected with s
bearing upon, the subject. VIII and
The Federal Government which is simnlv H..
tee and agent OF the States in their united can,o
endowed by the States with certain bowers and IVY
enues to enable it to carry on: the objects for VIII.
its trusteeshp was created has no funds of it's o"a
no privy purse. Every cent taken out of its ,,".
sury must be replaced by the same amount ,slsr
out of the pockets of the people, increased b"
ever, by the expenses ofcoection and disbursos
1t is exceedingly questionable whether, il the who,s
history Of the public lands, from the first was c,ra
fully reviewed, any nett profits would be sboun,
and the distribution ofthese lands or their products
would be on par with the act of corporation n
declaring dividend upon money borrowed for iha
purpose. Let US look at the tedious and exnensv.
process through which the territories containing bs
lands, and the lands themselves must pass before
they show returns. The maintenance of military
po>ts-the carrying on of Indian wars, as in Oreson
and elsewhere-the cost of surveys and land asen.
cies-the salaries of Governors and oher territorial
ofhcers-the extinguishmeDt of Indian titles-,b.
sums paid by treaty to France and Mexico will in
the aggregate, show an annual charge fully equal 10
any amount which could reasonably be expected 10
arise from the sale Of lands at the average rate Of
clearance and settlement. Surprising the public
lands to be distributed among the States, one o. two
things must be done EITHER the States receiving
directly distributive share of the public lands
must directly assume their proportional distrbuivs
shares in the management and defence Of the lands
and territories, or they must indirectly bear the bur-
den in the shape of taxes, TO be imposed by the
General Government for that purpose. In either
case, it would be found that the arrangement wasa
losing one. That the direct defence and manage.
ment of the lands and territories would cost the dis.
tributes more than they could realize from their
dlstrlbutive quotas, and that the indirect cost
through the taxes paid for a similar purpose to the
General Government, would exhibit the same show.
ing.
But it is contended that the management Of the
public lands by the General Government has tended
to abuse and corruption. That by means of grants
to aid in the construction of railroads in the new
States and Territories injustice has been done. That
apart from the unfairness of giving to one set Of
men what is not given to another set, population
has been diverted from the old States especially Of
the South, to the States and Territories of the
North West.
Admitting for moment all that is here contended
for-admitting, for argument sake, the existence Of
these evils, let look at the nature and adequacy
of the remedy proposed Benefits Bill' broush!
forward few years ago. enables us to what that
proposed remedy was. 1t was the assignment to
each specified State Of specified number of acres
Of the public lands, to be assigned and located un
der certain rules and regulations not very definitely
understood.
What sort Of a land system, or, rather, what sor
Of absence Of all system. would we then have, with
thirty one sellers all in the market, and all anxious
to realize from their claims? What speculative
schemes would not then sec to induce settlement
and. of course, sale Ofland and the return Of money
to the treasures Of each and every of the Staes
II these lands and land schemes produce corrup
ton in Congress, would that corruption be lessened
or the tendency in that direction checked by intro
ducing this element of corruption into every Sta'
Legislature in the land? How would the SoutherT
abettors of this scheme relish the organization
every freesoil legislature at the North into ggan
tic Emgrant Aid Society, voting day and daily grant
Of lands to abolition settlers, for the purpose Of ex
Guiding Southern settlement? And yet this would
be exactly the result of things. And what engine
this would be in the hands of Massachusetts, and
Vermont, and Maine, and all that tier of States
Instead Of the public .ands if coded to the States
ever becoming source Of revenue, they would all
be squandered in heated contest after sectional su'
premacy. The South, or, at least, the States Of the
South, would be compelled to enter the field with
grants ofand to Southern settlers to counterbalancs
those made by Northern States to abolition settlers
The public mind would be excited, tire sectional
breach widened, population diverted from the old
States at terribly accelerated pece, and when the
wild excitement was over, and people returned 10
their senses, they would find the States poorer IN
their treasures, poorer in their populations more
deeply exasperated against each other, and paying
into the United States treasury largely increased
tax to supply the deficiency caused by the diversion
of federal fund from its proper and Legitimate
channel"
MEDICAL GRADUATEs-The following gentlemen
from North Carolina are among those whose names
appear in the list of graduates at the Jefferson Med
cal of Philadelphia, recently published: William
S. Bryan, J. G. Jordan, J. G.. Camp j. H. MAden'
j. Madison Earl, George W. Parker, Edwin F. h0'