The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-10-06
WASHINGTON CITY, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1858

pare the senator proposition and that of the bill in this
respect His amendment Is to issue each head
OF family The population of the United States is now
estimated at about twenty-eght millions Let us assume
for the sake of illustmton that there three million
heads of families in the United States. His proposition
then is TO issue and throw upon the market three mil
Lions of warrants, each warrant emitting the holder TO
one hundred and sixty acres Of land Ii that DONE
and those warrants thrown upon the market what
would they sell for Little OF nothing II such land
warrants thrown broadcast the country, who
would enter another Of land at 81 25f Would not
the warrants pass into the hands Of land spectators and
monopoiists at merely nominal priceG Would they
bring than quarter Of dollar an acre? If you
to throw three millions of land warrants into the
market at time, would they bring anything Then
the effect of that proposition would be to do but little
good to those to whom the warrants issued and by
throwing them into the market it would the
from public lands entirely, for would enter
land for cash long warrants coud be bought That
proposition then is to aid and feed speculation say
that il the motive intention but is the tendency and
effect Of the senator proposition to throw large portion
of the public lands into the hands of specuator and to
cut them off from the treasury Of revenue
But what does this bill proposes VIII 1t diminish the
receipts into the treasury from the public lands The
bill provides that the entries under it shall be confined
to the alternate sections and that the person who OBJ
tains the benefit of the bill must be actual settler and
cutyator In proportion as you settle and cultivate any
portion of the public lands do you not enhance the
value Of the remaining sections and bring them into the
market much sooner, and obtain better price for them
than You would without this bill What is the principle
which proceeded all railroad grants
you have made 7 They have been defended upon the
ground that by granting alternate sections for railroads
you thereby brought the remaining lands into the
ket and enabled the government to realize its a
much earlier period making the remainder of the public
lands more valuable than they before. This bill
proceeds upon the same idea. You have granted i'm
amount of lands to railroads this principle, and
now why not do something for the people?
say that instead of wasting the public lands instead
Of reducing the receipts into the treasury this bill would
increase them In the first place. 1t will enhance the
value Of the reserved quarter sections This may be IL
Illustrated by example. In 1913 had nine million
quarter sections in 1858 we have about millions
Let suppose that population is twenty eight mil
ons and that under the operation of this bill mil
lion heads Of families who producing but very
little and who have land to cultivate and very scanty
of subsistence shall each have quarter section
of land, what will the effect be At present these per-
sons pay little nothing for the support Of the federal
government, under the operation of our tariff system,
for the that they have not got much to buy with
How much docs the land yield to tho government while
it lying in state Of nature, uncultyated Nothing
ct ALL At the rate have been selling the public
lands about three million dollars worth year. estima
ting them at 81 20 acre it will take fraction less
than hundred years to dispose Of the public do
main
want to take case that viii demonstrate as clearly
as the simplest in arithmetic that this is
measure. Let us take million families who
hardly procure the neceesaries of life and place them
each quarter section OF landhow long will 1t be
before their condition will be improved as to make
goyenmenta Now here is soil producing nothing here
are hands producing but little. Transfer the from
the point where he Is producing nothing bring him in
contact with hundred and sixty OF productive
SOIL and how long viii it be before that changes his
conditions AS as he gets upon the land, he
to make his improvements, he clears out his field
and the work of production is commenced In short
time he has crop he has stock and other things that
result from bringing his physical labor In contact With
the soil He has the products of his labor and his SOIL
and he enabled to exchange them for articles OF con-
sumption. He is enabled to buy than he was be-
FORE and thus he contributes more to the support of his
government, while, Mt the time he becomes better
man. and reliable for all governmental pur-
poses because he is interested in the country in which he
lives
To illustrate the matter further let us take family
Of seven persons in number who have no home, no
abiding place that they call their own and transfer
them to tract of hundred and sixty Of land
which they are to possess and cultivate Is there SEN
ator here who does not believe that by changing their
position from the place to the other they would pro-
duce at least dollar than they did before will
begin at point scarcely visible-a single dollar Is
there man here anywhere else who docs not know
the fact to be- that you increase man ability to buy
when he produces by bringing his labor in contact
with the so2 The result of that contact production
he produces something that he convert and exchange
for the necessities of his family Suppose the ncreass
was only dollar head for a million of families, each
family consisting of persons. BY transferring
million of families from their present dependent condi-
ton to the enjoyment and cultivation of the public do
buy foreign imports to the extent of dollar EACH you
would create demand for millions worth Of inn
ports Our rates of duties under the tariff act of 1896
are about thirty per cent and thus at the almost nys
ble beginning OF single dollar head, you in this way
increase the pccuniary and financial means of the gov
eminent to the extent of 81, 100, 900.
This would be the result, supposng that there would
only be an addition Of dollar per head to the ability
Of each family by being taken from condition power
y and placed upon hundred and sixty of land
This is the result supposng them to have dollars
more, with which to buy articles of consumption than
they had when they had home, soil TO cultivate,
no stimuant, no induocmcnt to labor If you suppose
the effect would be TO ncreazc their ability dollars
per head, you would increase their consumption to the
amount of Sl4, 600 000 which, at Thirty per cent duty
would yield Sl200 600. II you supposed it increased
the ability of family four dollars per head the total
amount would be S2S 0000 600, which would yield
nue. Of SS, 400 000 think that this would be below
the truth, and If you gave family hundred and six
y acres of land TO cultivate, the effect would be to in
crease the ability OF that family to buy ffty-six dol
lars worth more than they bought beforesevcn dollars
head. That would be small increase to a family who
had homo, compared with the condition Of that family
when 1t had The effect of that would be to run
up the amount they buy to $50 900 000 which, at duty
Of thirty per cent would yield the of SIC 800 900.
show you then that by taking million families
consisting of persons each and putting them each
upon quarter section of land, making the soil product
i've you thereby only added to their capacity to buy
goods to tho amount Of tysix dollars per family you
would derive OF nearly seventeen million dol
lars, When you have done this how much of the pub
lie lands would you have disposed OF Only one million
quarter sections, and you would have nearly six million
quarter sections left BY dispong OF onesxth OF your
public domain in this way, upon this little miniature es