, 1859-03-02
letter. on the Lands Of the Illinois
Ceniral Railway Company.
HT JAkK6 CA1Rp, KAQ., u. F.

NJ 1AAA1 tA1Aus AAA's H 3s
7b George Acfdts. Ksq.. H. r.. Chairman o.
tas London COMMITTEE Of tk< l1ssou Ctatra
Railway Company.
Sic: Having undertaken In August last t.
vialt Illinois and examine tho lands Of the ILL
noiB Central Railway Company, lid n circnfu
stances may prevent me- from belng present .
the meeting Of the company on the 9Th inst,
beg to report to you, for their Information, MI
opinion Of the landed property. Having srsE
ersed nearly their whoie line on threa diheren
occasions, and spent many days besides in driE
ipg through the country from numerous points
nature and quality Of the eoll, and the condltio,
and prospects Of the settlers upon It.
Tho whole extent Of the lands Of tho conpa
ny il 2,595, 900 acres, which il more than th'
fourteenth part Of the entire S!ate Of Illinois,
and nearly equal to the fourteenth part OF Eng
land. OF this vaat territory, 1.244,0oo acre
have been sold, and ,S51, 600 renAins On hand
1t would seem to me = very moderate essinat'
to valuo these st II 42o 600 dollars, which, with
the price of the lands already sold, would leav'
$500. 900 dollars OF balance after the redemp
ton Of the whole mortgage debt :,
In offering this moderate valuation, which
less than Whist has been prerious'y put upo'
them. do not say that the unsold landa mal
not ret realize the fall aum at which they hsT'
been hitherto valued. The gradual rise in th'
vnIue OF land which the annual accumuiation O
gold il bringing about, and the increasing popu
lation Of Illinois, are circumstances that MAJ
more than counterbalance those which weiRhos
with me reducing the generally received va!uk
ton; and if the company were capitalists WHIT
had no other object than to wait till time devel
oped the yalue Of their lands, there can be n
doubt but that the first valuation would be rea
lized; their main object, however, is to orest'
traffic for the railroad, and b6lieTo it can b
demonstrated that every acre Of good land aloni
their line which remaln8 unhroken, OF in th'
hands of people who are unable to cultivate it
is an annual loag to the company ct at least on'
| dollar an 8cre. For that reason it IL 9eriainl!
| their policy to encourage early ssles.
With regard to the lands already sold, you ar'
aware that msjority OF the purchasers are per
Sons OF 7ery small meaus, who were encourag
ed by the credit system to bny more land thai
they could uae, and Who we're dependent on th'
produce of the land itself for the means of psy
ing it. am convinced, from personal observa
tiou and inquiry among them, thst the genera
failure of the last wheat and ost crop has Grip
pied them most seriously, and that few Of then
can have any fund from which to pay their liant
notes before at least one good harvest But
an also convinced that thsy afa apFiors to n
deem their obigations, and that they recko,
their farms Of considerably mora value thai
| the price at which they bought them from TIL
company. For, though they often offered Il
sell their .farms to me, it Was invariably at I
price which was meant to include both the 6rs
cost and reimbursement to themselves tor " I'm
proyements;" )" that is. for the building fence
and cultivation they had put upon them.
/ cannot. however, agree With the polio,
which has been hitherto adopted Of permitting
| persons to become the purchasers Of any exteu
Of land for which they could pay depoais Of ii,
per cent the compa1;; ce;shsr knowing, NO
caring to know, whether they had adequst
means to cultlrate the land. Such system We
sure to lend to orer speculation; for tha4gh th
sales in 1865, 1856 and 1887, which were Ii
enormous in extent, may not have been forces
by any undue exersions Of the land department
OF the Company, they were, undoubtedly, en
couraged by the facility offered by the credi
policy. The consequence il, that = vast exteu
| Of fine land is locked up in the hands of person
! who are unable 10 make prohtabie use Of it
and whose poverty and complaints deter other
from becoming purchasers.
The sudden demand which arose for the Cor1
pauy's lands in 1866. and which was followed b.
such seemingly prosperous and extensive sales
wss the result Of general and great riso IN th
| price Of all agricultural produce, and was By n
| means confined to the lands Of the Company
| The price OF wheat WAS one hundred per cent
/ higher in Illinois in 1855 than in 1858, and il
consequence Of this the public sales Of land b,
| the American Government ross from one mil
lion acres in 1858 10 fifteen million acres in 1855
| 1t is not to be wondered at that the Company
| sales should hare 1isen in an equal proportion
! especially when it il considered that men witt
| very little cash in their pockets could purcha1
| from the Company farm near railroad AMI
| good markets. ami Of rieh land, for an absolute
/ " smaller deposit of CASH than mnst hare bee
| paid down for public lands in the remote re
! gions Of the West. But if the Compauy's poll
| or had then been to drmand-in addition to I'D
vance interest-a deposit equal to the prize Q
| the public isenB, their sales would hare beel
| very little diminished, and the purchasers woul
have given better security for the regular an'
/ progressive cultivation OF the country. / fec
| convinced that one.fourth part of the laud tha
| has besn ao:G, if we'll cultivated, would bring
| larger produce traffic on the line than the who'll
does under its present management
With these views, whilst would advise, as
| matter Of necessity, every consideration TO b.
| 3vep to the persons already On the lands, syel
| though that should include an extenaon Of thei
| present 1oug credits, think that the COMPANY
! should adopt different policy for the future
They might with great propriesy demand do
posit Of ~ dollars an acre over and abov
whatever credit terms they may deem it righ
to grant + can be no hardship 70 any ms'
who il qualified to become purchaser, that th,
Company ask 80 very moderate gusranty =
fye shillings an acre, rbich, in the case Of 81
81 or 1G0 acre lot. would be Dash Paynaent Il
eitler cnae Of only E:20 or 440.
Ths great body OF settlers upon the lands o
the Company are farmers and tradeamen IRON
the Eastern States. There are slso some colo
niea Of French CanadiRuH And the tide Of emi
grafton had likewise sst in froEa Ohio, tn.
temptation Of Omen, rich prairie land being OF
inducemeut to the woodland farmer to 60 fur
ther West This is fact Of much interest Il
the owners of prairie land, as it shows beyous
question the higher value which working fsr
mer places on srch lands In the Ohio Stat
Report for 1851 this fact il referred to ct tom,
counties a decrease in the agricultural popula
ton hsd taken place, and thst in five township
named, in one Of the best wheat countieR OF tA
State, the farming population had decreased ri,
per cent By the emigration Of small fsrae7
seeking better home on the virgin soil Of th
West. 1t is not 10 be supposed that the move
ment undoubtedly going on Of tho Americsl
ut 1llinois- There are yast prairie countrie
weas of the AisBisaIppi 10 which many arc at
tracted. But having visited Iowa aud Ainueso
ts, the StRtes which most compete with Illinois
have not seen any lands Of equal quality, Ant
with the same faciiitiea of railway Access, WhicI
caa be bought in these States On lower term
than the lauqs Of the Company, while your land
have besides the immense advantage of beint
from 800 TO 500 miles nearer tho eastern market
This il an advantage equivalent to the wbo|,
prizes Of the land iu the diminished expense 0
transporting single czop, superiority 10 OBJ
vious, that it cannot be overlooked by men whit
have really the means to buy aud cultivate land
We must otherwise imagine men Of sense, will
their eyes open, prcfaErlng to buy land 800 nile
away from market 1T the sAtae price for which
they can obtain it Close to market; and grant
ing that the dlstsnt soil aud climate Were equal,
favorable, which they are not.
The rapid increase OF the population of Iii
nois-now said 10 be l.600, ,600-which is TEL
times what it was in 1850. ID Of itself q proc
sesses has been iu!ly appreciated By tbs Ameri
cans themselves. The fertile character OF bel
soil is 10 proverbia. that it has obtsiped for Ii
linois the distinctive appells:ion OF the s. Gar
den State Of the Union" Though not tantt
Of her soil is Jet cultivated she already pro
duees more grain than both Ireland and Scot
land, and Possesses twice aa many borses, cstt1e
and pigs ~ the latter country. The knowledge
Of such facts is sufficient proof Of the rich ant
festils quality Of the prairie soil OF Illinois Bul
an evidence not less convincing il 10 be found il
the character Of the soil itself, ~ explsined b,
chemical an1!yais- brought home with me foul
samples Of the prairie soils, taken from tht
Company 5 lands Ut different points, 30 distsn1
from each other as to afford an average Of The
country. l sent these to Professor Voe!cker
consulting chemist Of the Royal Agriculture
Society OF England, requesting complete anal
ysis TO bo made, but without Rlving any iotima
ton OF the country whenca the SOILS had beep
brought. The analysis has occupied several
weeks, And hiss been made with grest care, and
the results are now before me. 1annex fol you,
information copy Of the Professors lettef
with the snalJsis. and. for tbs sake Of >onpar1
son, columns showing the composition Of some
of the most fertile soils in this country. It viii
be found on examination, that in almost ever
element OF fertility these prairie soils excel oul
best lands. They aAe especially rich in nitro
genised organic matter, that nitrogen which
Jields the same ammonia for which Ne send mil
lions sterling annually to Perm.