The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1858-03-25

ton Of every twenty miles, and this with
only one qualification, namely. that the
lands shall be included within continuous
length Of twenty miles Of the road" What
does this meang Only that the $500 acres
must be located in a body, in analogy to the
practice Of the Lani Office. There can be
no doubt, iftwenty miles is constructed from
Saltwater towards ST. Anthony, although
not vacant acre can he found along the
line, that the company may take the whole
100 sections in the Big Woods or west,
wherever on the located line the company
shall find the requisite quantity. No other
construction can carry the Land Grant into
effect, and such is the practice Of the govern
ment. A recent case was the La Crosse
and Milwaukee. Railroad Company. They
had constructed forty continuous miles. I'm
der the legislation Of Wisconsin, above re
ferred to, the General Land Office recognized
their right to sah $50 sections--three times
l20-but there were no lands or a small
quantity, adjacent to the forty miles Of fa-
ished road. What was the consequence
Was the company deprived of the right to
sell the above quantity of lands BY no
means. The company was allowed to 60
out upon their line until they coald find the
whole 3OO,4O0 acres included within
continuous length OF strty miles OF road" 1t
is in this way that the lands arc made avail
able to help the roads; and il will be thus
that the 2i0 seetions to he conveyed to the
State, will be designated.
8. What remains We can gather
nothing from the mass of epithets which
have been current with the opponents of this
measure, except the hald assertion that i'm
migration will be diminished by the loan Of
State credit Did it diminish ia Tennesseey
Who does not remember how, few years
ago, lands in that State were almost given
away, and her people were leaving her bor-
ders? She authorized loan OF State credit
for railroads to nearly twenty millions, and
what has followedg We find in Hunts
Merchants Magazine for March, that on the
lst of January, Tennessee had ss7i: miles
Of road in operation that during 1857 the
taxable property increased forty millions:
and population, instead of leaving, is pour
- 80 O. - ,,,n,,:
the line Of the Hannibal and St. Joseph
road, thousands of acres were sold, few
yelrs ago, under the graduation law, at
shilling per acre-but since the advance of
thu twenty-iour millions Of State credit to
railroads, those lands cannot I've bought at
ten dollars per acre, and emigration at this
moment is being turned away from Mime
sofa 10 Missouri. But why multiply instan-
cess There is no exception TO the beneficial
effect of railroads, and the State policy Of
fastening their development.
But we postpone the further eonsidcra-
ton Of the emigration question to another
article. 1t constitutes an aflirmatiye--the
unanswerabIe. argument in favor OF TIE loan
measure.
Our reaiers will exc,ae the space which
we have given TO the so-called arguments Of
the opposition. Perhaps as an act OF coar-
tesy to those who may have incautiously
supposed that amidst so much sound and
fury there was some hidden substance, such
an appropriation of our columns is admissi-
ble We anticipate no further necessity of
recurring to the topics above considered.