Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1857-03-28

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~ DOMAIN NAV be Of general interest at this time
A. the commencement of the Revolutionary war
4bere belonged to some of the States large tracts Of
wild and unapproprated lands, whilst in others none
such existed Tie States possessing no such lands
claimed that, az the war was waged with united
means and esual sacrifices, the waste lands which
mioht be coiquered from the enemy should become
common rEoperty, and, under the recommends
t;ons ofyGongress, 10th October, 1880, = that the
sunav6Eopriated lands which might be ceded tc
stbSUnited States by any particular State, pur-
s.ant to the recommendation of Congress Of the
.oth of September last, shall be disposed of for
the common benefit of the United States"
Virginia promptly made cession of her vast do
I main north of the river Ohio out of which six
I States have since been formed The condition OF
her cession adopted substantially by other States
was, that all the lands conveyed shall be considered
as common fund for the use and benefit of such Of
the United States as have become or shall become
members of the confederacy or federal alliance d
the said States, Virginia inclusive, according 70
their usual respective proportions in the geneFll
charge and expenditure, and shall be faithfully
and bona tfde disposed Of for that purpose and
for no other or purpose achatsver." Thus we're
the lands ceded, accepted, and held IN trust How
they have since been disposed of, in total disregard
of the conditions of the trust, the history of the
country tells in the annals of Congressional legis-
lation.
In disregard of the plain obligations of the trust,
President JACKSON in the early days of his adj
ADMINISTRATION, proposed to cede the lands thus ac
snuired. and all subsequently purchased, to the
States in which they H. gratuitousy Or for nomi-
nal price.
To counteraet this moyemepG, which at that time
met with no favor N Congress, but which has since
been substantially adopted in the system of partial
grants, Mr.. C1Ar introduced his well-known dis
tribution BILL which was passed by Congress on
the I'd day of March, 1888, by vote of "a to 20
in the Senate and SO to 40 in the House of Repre-
sentatives This bill President Jackson refused to
approve and it did not become law, the popular
will as indicated by the vote of the House. to the
contrary notwithstanding. Some of the Western
members did not hesitate to ayow the purpose of
eventually appropriating to the States in which
thew lie all the public lands, and one of the most
eminent of them declared that after the census of
1850 the power to do would be irresistible. The
falflment Of this menace is almost complete, and
after the census of 1860 the old States will be ut
tery poweress unless they unite cordially for their
eomyaon protection.
1ne whole amount of money which would have
0e5ne into the Treasury of Virginia, under the pro-
isions Of Mr.. Clay land bill, from 1882 to 1899
period of seven years, would have been four
three hundred and sirty-nine thousand one hun
dred and sirtynine dollars or for each year sever
hundred and twenty-eight thousand one hundred
and ninety -four dollars.
On September 4 1S41, an act was passed to appro
pirate the proceeds of the sales of the public lands
amongst the several States The first section pro
vid.d that from and after the 31st December, 1841
there should " be allowed and paid 70 each of the
States of Ohio, Indiana Illinois, Alabama, Mis-
souri, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and
Michigan, over and above what each of the said
States is entitled to by the terms of the compacts
entered into between them and the United States
upon their admission into the Union the sum of
ten per eentum upon the nett proceeds of the
sales of the public lands, which, subsequent to
the day aforesaid, shall be made within the limits
feach of said States respectively"
After deducting the said per centum, the residue
of the nett proceeds to be divided amongst the
then twenty-six States of the Union and the Dis
trict of Columbia and the Territories of Wisconsin,
lows, and Florida, according to their respective
federal representative population as ascertained by
the last census, (lS40) to beapplied by the Legs-
latures of the said States to such purposes as the
said Legislatures might direct, provided that the
dstributiye share to which the District of Column
bia shall be entitled should be applied to free schools
or education in some other form, Congress might
direct In the sixth section of the act there was a
proviso that if at any time there should be an impo-
ston of duties consistent with the act of March q
1888, beyond the rate of duty twenty per centum
fixed by that act, the distribution should be sus-
pended until this should be removed
The proceeds were thus divided for year,