The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1859-02-02

bill and insert the following substitute THAT there be
granted TO the several States and Territories for the pur
pose hereinafter mentioned, 5e20 600 acres Of land 70
be appotioned ia the compound ratio Of the geographical
and representation Of said States and Territories IA the
Senate and House of Representatives OF the Congress OF
the United States after the apporonment under the cen
of 1860 Psopd That said apportionInent shall he
made after FIRST aotting each State and Territory nifty
thousand and provided further that the State OF
California may locate her portion OF the SAID lands upon
any OF the unappopiatd lands IN that State other IMAM
mineral lands and not then occupied by actual settlers
Mr. STUART moved 10 amend the section which was
proposed TO be stricken out in such manner that each
State should receive twenty Thousand acres OF the public
lands each senator and member in Congress to which
the States respectively object being to
provide for Minnesota which has been admitted into the
Union since the bill originally prepared The amend
ment also provides That to each State whose number OF
members in the House OF Representatives shall be IN
creased by the next apportionment under the OF
1860 there shall be granted additional quantity of TWEEN
ty thousand of land for each additional member
and that mineral lands shall be selected OF purchased
under the provisions of this act.
The hour of enc O'Clock having arrived, Mr. HUNTER
moved that the further consideration of this bill he post
poned and that the Sepae the consideration of
the Indian appropriation bill The question being taken,
the motion not agreed to---yeas rs, nays a.
Mr. PuGH spoke In opposition 10 the bill, and moved
that il DO recommitted TO the Committee Public
Lands, together with the proposed amendments lilo
said that it little remarkable that the bill had
received the sanction of the Committee Public
Lands in either house of Congress, This bill bad been
referred to that committee il was true but they had
reported IL without any recommendation either favorable
adverse So important proposition, II IL was found
ed in justice ought to receive the sanction of that
mittee and in default of that it became the Senate 10
pause before taking such step As to the statement OF
his colleague that the legislature of Ohio had instructed
her senators to vote for ths'bi he would remark that
resolutions Of that kind passed time ago but they
had since been rescneed, Seeing the into which
they had hastily fallen, they had rctaced their steps Mr.
H. proceeded TO length the various pro-
of
cultural college would be established under it,
The question being taken on the motion 10 recommt
it was not agreed toycas n, nays 2S-as follows:
yEAsscssrs Bayard Brown Chestnut Clay clmgman Davis
Fitch Fitzpatrick Green Gwin, Hammond, Houston Herson John
OF Tennessee, Jones Mallory, Folk Pugh Reid Rico Sc
NAYS Nessrs aieo Bates, Bell Bsicr Bright, Frederick,
Chandler ck oolame Dixon Doo DaFkec Fessenden Foot
Foster Hale, hamn Harlan Kennedy King seward simmons
wrght-as.
Mr.. RICE hoped the amendment which it was pro.
posed to adopt for the benefit of the State of Minnesota
would not be agreed to. He opposed TO the bill
and did not ask any such donation. IL seemed to him
that the effect would be that large bodies of land would
be taken by residents to the injury of the State
The granting of six millions of of land in the
States could not but exercise deleterious influence.
Mr. STUART thought senators need not feel SO much
alarm at the quantity of land which it proposed to
give. 10 be sure the bill donated about six millions
of but than sixty millions had been located
with bountyland warrants and the States had not been
materially hurt
Mr. MASON said that the decided vote by which this
bill had been made to superede Of the annual APP
propration bills indicated to his mind that it the
sense of the Senate that this bill should pass in
form. He would, however call the attention Of his
sttuents and of the country to the practical workings of
this federal government This proposition, to his
ception, of the most extraordinary engines of
mischief under the guise of gtutes and donations that
he could imagine to be entertained in the Senate 1t
using the public lands OF controlling the pol
icy Of the State legislatures 1t mssng the public
property in such mode to bring the proper functions
of the States entirely within the scope of the BILL under
the discretion OF Congress- by the controlling power
and it was doing this in the worst and most in
sdious formby bribery direct bribery and bribery of
the worst kind 1t robbng the treasury of the United
states Tor the purpose OF bribng the States. He could
see no distinction between giving away the pubcand
common property of the country and thn public asAy
te property OF the country in the treasury Of
the United States But of the provisions of the
bill were exceedingly Objectionable to him One clause
requires the States in accepting these grants report
to the agricultural department of the Patent Office and
20 the Smithsonian Institution this he considered part
OF general system to bring the domestic affairs of the
states under the control of the general government He
would not however discuss the details of the bill at
length; for they could not be than the principle
contained in it.
Mr. HARLAN could not any thing in the shape of
bride in this bill The State, in accepting the Donation
becomes the trustee for the government This govern
nent had become trustee to dispose of the legacy of
Smlthson, and it dcrogaton of the sovor-
eighty Of the States as trustees than it was of Con
Congress does not propose to her accept t
Much had been said about the unconstutonaty this
proposition but there provision in the constitu-
ton OF the United States authorizing Congress to act
trustee of the Smithsonian fund nor was there any pro
vision IN so many words authorizing the establishment OF
schools at Annapolis and West Point Where was tho
power to establish the Coast Survey In regard to the
injury to the States he remarked that il was as bad
to permit persons to enter lands with money if they
bought with land scrip One effect Of this bill would be
TO diminish the price of land TO permit large
Ders OF persons to become of land who
unable to possess it it would therefore be adyan-
e TO the poorer classes rather than advantage to the
millionaire.
Mr. GREEN remarked that the constitution gave Con
gres the power to dispose of the public lands but it had
no right to give them away. We must exercise ptu-
dence Judgment honesty and discretion in dposing of
them. Under this rule had given away public lands
in sense to the States for the purpose of making
railroads but in every such instance it has been prcdi.
Gated alone upon the idea = at the lands retained were
worth to the government than the whole would be
without making the grant But this bill could be sup
ported by no such argument that.
Mr.. SIMMONS wanetd TO know il the grant of lands
proposed by this bill any than giving away the
public lands for school purposes He could little
difference in principle betwec. schools aud colleges.
Mr.. GREEN replied that every grant for the aid OF
schools had been sixteenth section in the
middle OF township and the object TO induce pur-
ohasers to and buy the lands surrounding these
school lands. Afterwards they gave two sections in a
township, with similar view but to issue scrip 10
cover whole sections and townships and counties pre-
sented entirely different question and did not bring
ID within the power of Congress TO dispose of the lands in
that way.
Mr. DAVIS could no reason for extending this aid
10 agriculture The wide extent of country and the
great variety of its soil aud climate rendered the agrcu
IL. -