Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-10-09
WASHINGTON NEWS AND GOSSIP

washington correspondent otstne rev 1 OK
Times, to create the impression that The decis-
ions of Secretary Thompson In the natter of
the titles to the town sites Of Supefior City,
Waverly, &c, were contrary 10 any former In
depreciation of the Ian. Of 1874, and 50 viola
tion of the established usage of the, General
Land Office" In the course of our remarks
We quoted the law in full, and de6ed the
Times correspondent to show single instance
where the General Land Office had recognized
q different Interpretation than that put upon
1t by the Secretary. Subsequently, the same
writer has published two remarkable articles
In neither, however, has he attempted to show
what the established practice Of the General
Land Office has been, from the very fact that
he well knows he cannot instance q single pre-
cedent that will not prove the falsity Of his as
sertions. He resorts to the trick of strength
ening his declarations by quoting telegraphic
dispatches, which he probably sent hence him
self, and in which it is declared that these de-
eisions "break up the old routine practice of
the Land Office" He, also affects to believe
that the dispatches he quoted emanated from
Secretary Thompson, and were intended to Off
set the damaging influence Of his silly epistles.
1t is well enough to have good opinion Of
ones self, but the display of too much self-cen-
ceit generally leads us to believe the party
guilty Of such folly extremely shallow. Now,
the truth is, this correspondents deep interest
in the subject of townsites has caused him to
make an egregious fool of himself. He has
fabricated plan by which a few monopolists
and spectators could be allowed to acquire all
the townsites on the public domain, irrespec-
tive of the rights and privileges of actual set
tiers, and gravely asserts that it has been the
uniform practice of the General Land Office to
recognize such unauthorized appropriations or
selections of the public lands in total disre
gard of the spirit and object Of the pre-emp-
ton laws. ...
We again repeat that no such system has
ever been adopted in the General Land Office,
though it may be true, as we have heretofore
admitted, that cases in which there was no
contest and to which the attention of the Com
missioner had not been specially called, may
have passed into patent, in fraud Of the law
No single instance, however, can be adduced
in which any head of that bureau has ever
recognized or countenanccd a system of such
wholesale fraud and corruption as is so ear
ncstly advocated by this anonymous scribbler.
1t is really supreme folly to assert that any
lawyer, or any man of sound judgment, ever
entertained such views as he unjustly attrib-
utes to former Secretaries and Attorneys Gen.
eral and all assertions to that effect are as
bold and impudent, as they are baseless. You
will look in vain through the opinion of Hon.
Mr.. Cushing, on which so much stress is laid,
for a single sentence or syllable which recog-
nizes the right of nonresident spectators to
deprive honest settlers of their pre-emption
claims. You will search the files and records
of the General Land Office in vain for single
report to the head Of the Department, in which
the very opposite view is not taken. Fa|
To permit a few itinerant swindlers TO go
upon the public lands to select, here, there and
anywhere, embryo town sites in the woods, and
to drive away the honest settlers who are in
search Of homes would be to carry out the pre-
emption system with a vengeance. But the
graranaan of the lugubrious fluctuations of
the TiDies's writer is, that the Secretary of the
Interior refuses to adopt system so pernicious
and absurd. .....
Secretary Thompson has decided that the act
of 1874, for the relief of citizens of towns -
refers to towns composed Of houses and inhabi-
tants, and not of hog paths and brush piles,
and blocks, squares and streets on paper. The
act authorizes the entry of lands " settled on
and occupied town site, and therefore
not subject to entry, &c. 1t provides that such
lands shall be entered for tho use and benefit
of the occupants thereof, and not for the spec
ulative purposes of swindling land sharks. But
argument is unnecessary to elucidate the stat
ute. Read the law. 1t explains itself. The
ingenuity of thousand such minds as that OF
the Ttmes's correspondent would be exhausted
in the vain attempt to throw a cloud or shadow
on the business and correctness of Secretary
Thompson's construction Of it.
JoURNEYING ACROSS THE PRAIRIEs-THE
WAYFARER's ADVENTURES. The following
interesting letter is from a subscriber to the
Star, full or adventure, careful to note down
his experience, and intelligent in communica-
ting it, as the reader will perceive. We are
compelled to divide bis letter on account of its
length. The portion we publish to-day will
doubtless insure that the balance will be
eagerly perused by all anxious to comprehend
the realities of life in the wilds of the great
basin Of our Far West:
Ell PAso, (Texas,) Sept. 3, 1883.
wrote to you from Westport, Mo. when was
about setting out on my journey over the plains
me postmark OF this letter will inform you
where | am now, before you see the inside: and
from my long travels and long silence YOU will
infer that have &c seen the elephant - and ner
haps a description Of the animal will not be ont
OF time or place. haze him, and he is al
noble and majestic a creature as ever moved
snout. And such tusks. the purest ivory, and of
a length and breadth that dsfes competition
Leaving WestPort, was for some time lost In
thought was musing over things past and
things To come; for in a short time We were 10 he
on that long and lonesome road which REQUIRED
twenty days to pass over Every foot of 1t has it's
history OF some dreadful catastrophe or heroic
adventure, where man and beast vie with each
other In acts OF ferocity. few miles brouy bt n,
into bleeding Kansas, aud we thong hit II tin
further. -h
While halted ] may as well give you some ac-
count OF our outnt aud the accommodations we
ssts OF at least two carriages; is for the pur-
pose OF carrying passengers, and part of their
baggage. the other tn TAX A he