The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1859-06-30

he arrives on the verge of settlement, finds
that for miles in front Of him, the lands are
owned and offered at prices he cannot pay.
In fact his money is exhausted, and he must
stop in the settlement, and work other peo-
pies enclosures, to subsist his family, and
accumulate something to buy second handed.
If his means and courage induce him to
venture forward, where he can -empt land,
his first seasons living exhausts his means,
and when the time comes for entering, he
has not the money to pay for the entry
This know, from personal observation, is
the effect of our present land system. 1t
requires several hundred dollars to move,
subsist, and settle small family on piece
Of public land, besides great deal of toll and
privation. By our pre-empti,n laws, we
keep the word Of promise to the ear, but
break it to the hope" Land in this country
is beyond the reach Of The poor. They cam
not buy because they have not the, money;
they cannot rent because they have not teams
and implements to carry on an improved
farm; and they cannot pre-empt, because
they have not the means to move, subsist,
and finally pay the entry. There is yet no
provision for the laniless. Yer the Govern
ment holds 4 vast domlin west Of Us, more
than thousand miles square, WHICH is un-
cultivated, and therefore unproluctive to the
- y, r
sale it would bring nothing, except aohere it
lies contiguous to settlements and cuEtieGtioa.
This is fact pregnant with many sugges-
tionS. 1t is settlement, and cultivation, and
railroads, and schools, and churches that
make the land saleable. What you get from
land sales is, therefore, the product of The
frontier labor, and enterprise, aud aecslep-
ment, and it is tax on those who subdue
the savage, the prairie, and the forest. A
gift ola quarter section of land to one W ho
cultyates it, is better than sale to specu-
lator attwo hundred dollars. demonstrate
this proposition in this way. The farmer
who cultivates quarter section ofland, must
require annually, for his tools, clothing, &C..
at least one hundred dollars worth orimports;
from which the Government derives tacenty
d9Jlars duties. The two hundred dollars
derived from the sale to specuator, would
only produce annually to our Government
six per cent, which wOuld be t1cclQs dollars
By the gift, therefore, to the farmer, the
Government receives, annually ". $50 90
BY the sale to the Spectator the "
Government rec YES an interest of II 90
Which shows an advantage to Government
Of 56 90 Year in favor OF the gift to the
farmer, and proves my enunciatiou that,a
'.sift ola quarter section OF land to one who
CultivateS il, is better than sale to a specu-
lator at two hundred dollars" ''It is better
to give than receive" This proves also The
advantage ofnsakiag tie earth produce TO
augment the national wealth. The result,
then ofmy argument, and the remedy for
the landless, is what proposed by resolu-
ton which | submitted to Congress, which
was to stop the sales -four public lands, and
give them in. limited quantities to those who
will improve and cultivate them. ..-..........
Such apolicy is better for the Government,
better for our Western States, and will Sc
cure the early occupation of our territories
thai are now worse than useless because
they separate our settlements and serve as a
harbor for ferocious and annoying savages
that we try to restrain by expensive armies.
The Homestead bill, which essentially embra
ces The principles have suggested, received
all the Republican votes of the House, and
was opposed by most ofthe Democrats. Yet
ii passed the House, and was, like other bills
Of most Importance To the people, stnothered,
despite Republican effort, in The other branch
of Congress. But the principle has become
fastened upon public expectation, and Re
publieans have earnestly and | think sincere
ly determined to press it to final and sue
ceSSful ISSUE With me, ''land lorh he land
less" is 20 catchw0rd or rheadlesSconceptinn
dtttt IL ltohi SdiiiSSt SoiiNiItiph w
wisdom, and fitness to the nature of our
Western prairies. Al this time, when so
many feel the reverse OF fortune, surrounded
with dependent families, the future full Of
doubt and gloom, when old homes are COW
cred with mortgages and the fond endear-
mentS that surround them must be severed,
let che cry go forth from every convention
and assembly Of. the people, Land for the
land'ess," homes for. the homeless, and
houses for houseless. As dark shadows sink
over the fields and fortunes of other days,
let ray of hope, home IN the West, rise to
guild the dark cloud that overshadcws us,
and lend new energies to despoldmg human
ity. 4 home for the poor, the toiling millions,
the outcast, the wretched, how many would
rise from the ashes Of despair and from the
dregs Of pollution to seek what they never
conceived Of a home Of their o,on 1t is an
appeal to the cities, where the poor throng
the streets or lodge in crowded garrets; it is
an appeal to the South, where the poor oc
cupy the barren hills o: hanyi in rags on the
corners explanations; it is an appeal to the
North where our last tariff has eytiuwlIished