Litchfield enquirer., 1859-06-16

manager should not be comfortable after his
 first year or two, and thenceforth take the
 world as easily as need be- He who comes in
 with but $2,000, $l,0OO, or $500, must of course be much longer in working his way to a position of comfort and independence but if he will work right ahead, wasting neither days nor dollars, and keeping clear of speculation and office-sscking, he can hardly fail to suc- ceed
 As to tlie inferual spirit of Land Spccu- Iation and Monopoly, think no State ever suffered from it more severely than this. The spectators in broadcloths are not one whit more rapacious or pcrnicious than the specula- tors in rags, while the latter are forty times more numerous. Land speculation here is about the only business in which man can embark with no other capital than an easy con- science. For example rode up the bluffs back of Atchison, and out three or four miles on the high rolling prairie, so as to have come fifteen to twenty square miles in view at one glance. On all this inviting area there were perhaps half dczcn poor or middling ha bita- tions, while not one acre in each hundred was fenced or broken. My friend informed me that every rood saw was "pre-cmpted," and held at thirty up to hundred dollars or more per acre. Pre-empted !" I exclaimed "how pre-empted by living or lying p "Wcll," he responded, " tn ey live little and lie a lit- tlc." l could see abundant evidence of the lying, none of the living. To obtain pre- emptIon, the squatter must swear that he ac- tually resides on the quarter section he applies for, has built a habitation and made other i'm provements there, and wants the land for his own use and that of his family. The squat ters who took possession of these lands must every one have committed gross perjury in ob- taining pre-empton-anJ so 1t is all over the Territory, wherever lot is supposed likely to sell for more than the minimum price. heard tir-boy on to a quarter section, and, on the strength of that martin box swore that he had house there eighteen by tweuty"-he left the officer to presume tie feet. So it is all over the wretched little slab shanty which has suficcd to swear by on one "clain," is now moved off and serves to swear by on an other when the first swearing is done. 1 am confident there is not at this hour any kind of a house or other sign of improvement on one fourth of the quartcr-scctions throughout Kan sas which have been secured by pre-emption. The squatter who thus establishes claim" sells it out so soon as practicable to some spec ulator, who follows in his wake, getting from $50 to $500 for that which the future bona fde settlers will be required to pay $25o to 5000 for. Such, in practical operation, is the system designed and ostensibly calculated to shield the poor and industrious settlers from rapacity d ex orton, bat which, in f;ct, ope- rates to oppress and extort from the real set tler-to pay premium on perury-to foster and extend speculation--to dcmoralize the people, paralyze industry and impoverish the country.
 But the fierce, chilly gale has blown away the tempest of last night-the clouds fly scat tered and brassy-it is time to look for the Leavenworth Express, whereof two stages west from this point will bear me beyond the bounds of settlement and civilized life. Adicu to friendly greetings and speaking Adeu for time to pen aud paper Adieu to bed rooms and wash bowls Adeu (lct me hope) to cold rains and flooded rivers Hurrah for Pike's Peak H. G.