The Cass County Republican. [volume] (Dowagiac, Mich.) 18??-1880, 1859-01-13

monyes received from the sale of said
lands shall be, and remain, a fund for
the purpose of retaining. said lands
in conformity to the provisions of the
grant" Thus did the State take upon
herself the duties and obligations i'm
posed upon her by the proviso of this
act of session, and she IS now bound
by every principle of honor, as well as
law, to apply the proceeds arising from
the sale of these lands, $50 far as is
necessary" towards the retaining of
them They are principally located in
the unsettled portions of the State, and
when reclaimed, will be the most valu-
able : for agricultural purposes of any
lands we have, but, until reclaimed,
they disfgdre the country, retard its
settlement, and are the. source of fatal
diseases. 1t is impracticable, in my
opinion, for the State to enter upon a
system of drainage, with view. OF
retaining these lands, to the extent
that an individual would reclaim his
farm but there are many large swamps
embraced in this grant, where an APP
preparation for drainage, Of a portion
of these lands of the fund arising from
the sale thereof, could be made to ad-
vantage. In such cases, ] think it is
your duty to make the appropriation,
so far as is necessary, to carry out the
spirit of the grant. The early settle.
ment of these lands is of more i'm.
portance to the State than selling them
at distant day for ten, or even twenty
shillings per acre. As You increase
your population you increase the wealth
of the State, and the weight of taxa.
ton is thereby easily borne, because
there are more people to share its bur.
dens. These swamp lands, when re.
claimed according to the intent OF the
respective acts of cessien and accept
ance thereof, will be capable of sup
porting a population one-third as large
as the present population, of the State.
While they remain unsold the State
derives no benefit from them. In my
opinion, it is far better to give these
lands, in small quantities, to the actual
settler, subject, on his part, to drainage.
than to keep them ten or even five
years, unreclaimed, the source of dis
ease and death. By disposing of them
in small pieces of forty acres to each
actual settler, subject to drainage, you
would thereby, be appropriating the
land in kind towards the great object
of the grant, and, at the same time,
you would add more to the wealth and
prosperity of the State, than if you
sold them to the Spectator at the price
fixed by the present law. There are
hundreds of hardy, industrious men,
scattered through our own, and our
sister States, and still more from foreign
parts, daily seeking our shores, who
would gladly embrace the opportunity
of settling upon these lands, if thereby
they could secure permanent home
for themselves and their children. Such
a course of policy would soon people
portions of our State that otherwise
must remain, for years, wilderness
| recommend that you so amend the
present swamp land act" so as to give
to the actual bona tide settler forty
acres of this land, to be by him selected
and that he take it, waving all claims
of drainage from the State. I would
so frame the law as to make his actua
occupancy of the land for the period
of five years, a condition precedent to
the passing of the title, and make the
land subject to TAXATION, from the time
that he enters into the possession
thereof. / would allow any one to be-
come the purchaser of any portion Of
these lands Except as against the rights
of the actual settlers) at the price now
fixed by law; but the money received
from the sale thereof, ought to be, and
remain, a fund for the purpose of re.
claiming said lands in conformity to
the provisions of the grant 1t is the
undoubted right Of the Legislature to
determine how much of this fund is
necessary to be used in retaining
these lands, and at present it may be
impracticable to so determines; but
until this determination be made, | re
commend that the money arising from
the sale of these lands, 60 into the
general fund, to be used by the State
70, all legitimate purposes, until she
can better determine when, where, and
how much of the same ought to be
used towards the reclaiming of these
lands according to the spirit, true in
tent, and meaning of the grant and O
the act of acceptance thereof g 81
! IS Concluded on fourth page. p-ii