The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1859-02-10
Homestead Bill.

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ls5Eu Homestead Bill. lr
re- Mr.. Grows Homestead Bill pas
sed tie House Of Representatives on the
lst inst, by the very decided vote of
100 yeas to 76 nays, every Republican
but one, we rejoice to say, voting in the
affirmative. ~.
This is measure which the west and
the country long since needed, and one
which we fondly hope they are now to
have. How immeasurably better off
would our own and contiguous States
have been to day, had such policy been
pursued half decade since. Instead Of
having the best portion Of our fair coun-
try lying unproductiye and unpromising,
asiis now the case-instead of having a
non resident tax-list double that of the
esident-instead Of compelling the pi-
oneers unassisted to open roads, build
bridges, and make other improvements
enhancing the value of the non-produ-
GERS land-we should have our vacant
prairies burdened with the products Of
cultivation, and peopled with an active,
hardy, industrious yeomanry. ready and
willing to help forward the work of i'm
proyement to which the present owners
contribute nothing, though reaping the
benefit thereof. The monopoly of land by
Spectators, which has and will be cry.
ing evil for our State, would have been
thereby, to a large extent, prevented, and
hundreds who yearly suffer in cities the
fluctuations in trade, would now be tilling
homestead of broad acres-a benef! to
them,and Blessing TO the country at
large. t' t'i - 'a'i
As an auxiliary to the cause of free
labor--as means Of extending the area
Of free territory-this measure is one of
vast importance. It is not a proposition
intended for, or adapted to, such an aris-
tocracy as upholds the right OF property
in man. They who regard the laboring
class as the mud stills, the scum. of hui
mainly, are not the men or the class who
viii 60 forth to the Wilderness and build
up for themselves home. 1t wants the
energy, the enterprise, the brain, the
hardened palm, and the strong right arm
Of the greasy mechanic" for such work,
and wherever he goes, there will be
found believer in human equality. foe
to human slavery. A system which dis
honors his position, debases his powers,
sneers at his honest efforts, and regards
him. and would treat him. as common
ohat.el, viii receive but little sympathy
from him-must ever be opposed by him.
The measure must rebound. then if pas
sed, to the benefit of freedom-must tend
to preserve intact the primary purposes
OF our government. es5
The bill, as passed by the House, and
as now reported to the Senate, provides
that any person who is the head of u
family. or who has arrived at the age, Of
81 years. and is citizen of the United
States, or who shall have filed his inten-
ton to become such, as required by the
naturalization laws of the United States,
shall, from and after the passage of the
act, be entitled to enter, free of cost, one
quarter. section Of vacant and unappro-
priated land which may. at the time the
application is made, be subject to private
entry at Sl.25 per acre-or quantity
equal thereto-to be located in body, in
conformity with the legal subdivisions Of
the public lands, and after the same shall
have been surveyed.
On application to the Register of the
Land Office in WHICH he or she is about
to make such entry. the person isrequir-
ed to make oath that he or she is the head
Of family, or is 81 years of age. and
that such application is made for bis or
her exclusive benefit, when permission
will be granted to enter the quantity of
land specified. Patents are not to be is
sued therefor until at the expiration OF
tive years from the date Of the entry. and