The Mountaineer. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1859-1861, 1860-04-14

j TOR imports. you increase the "
home products and manufactures: "a tl,at IN,
L So Element of the wilderness by Thriving ~,
q yHla.l0n y g much the Interest of THE Old
3 States ~ of the new The aInol,nt nav n.
!. ceiyed w the Government on the settler n,
i the land, would enable him 10 furnish hiI,s.l
y with the necessary stock aud flnnis,neIlta 4 I.
I commence cultivation ','N s'ss u
For the purposes 81 elucatian, building nil
\ roads, opening all tho avenues 81 ttlsdc ana s
subdnlng the wilderness the best slispositioi
A 10 he made Of these lands III 10 grant them II
limited quantities 70 the settler. and tItIs 4,
cure him IN his earnings. BY which ha wouIs
haEe the means to surround himself will ss1nI
fort and make his iireside happy; Is erect III,
\ school house, the church. and nIl the otllel
] ornaments of a higher civilization, and prai
his ilircn educated and respected memhcF,
fof society This policy Will not only adj Il
the revenues Of the General Government mi
the taxable property Of the new states, hut vii
Increase the productive Industry and commerce
ot the whole country. while strengthening All
q the elements ct national greatness
iIt.. The first step In tae decline of empires 4
The neglect Of their agricultural interest. and
II with Its decay scrumbles national D0Mef III a
Il the great fact stamped ON all tho ruling thal
strew the pathway Of civilization When the
world unwiitten history shall be correctly
II decipheted. the record Of the rise, progress
VI VIII ue nut the history
Il the rise, development, md decline Of aRricul.
4 ture Hooke, in describing the condition of
agriculture among the Romans more than two
Thousand years ago the process Of absorption
II Of the lands by the rich and their couselufnf
critiyation BY slaves. furnishes the student 81
history with the secret causes that undermined
the empire and destroyed lis liberties read
from 4 book six chapter seven. Of his History Of
Rome. volume two, page 522: 81
From the earliest times OF Rolac. had
Il been the custom Of the Romans, when they
sHbllled any of the nations III Italy to ,Ieprive
i them OF a part Of their territory Al norton
Of these lands was sold, and the rest given 10
the poorer citizens, on conditions, says Appisn,.
4 q their paying annually a tenth OF the corn
and q fifth Of the fruits Of trees, beside d Ger
i tain number OF great and small cattle In
process Of time, the rich, by various means
fgot possession of the lands destined for the
Il Subsistence Of the poor. 4 q t.The rich
/ and themighty contiiyed t0 possess Themselves
of the lands OF their poor neighbofs Al first
Y they held these acquisitions under borrowed
4 names: afterward openly Ia their own. To
Ecultisate the forms, they employed foreign
Il slaves; 50 that Italy was in danger 81 losing
liz inhabitants II free condition (who had nc
encouragement 10 marry, and no means 4
III educate children, and Of being overrun Will
slaves and barbAtians. that had neither affec
II ton for the republic nor interest in her pre-
s=4 s.t
sTiberius GfAcchns, now ! Tribune az Il,
people: undertook % remedy those disorders.
/ Never. says Plutarch, was proposed 4 N,
more mild and gentle against ini0ility and 81
|. preston; yet tho rich made i mighty claIno
about the hafdshipof being stripped OF thief
honses, Their lands, their inheritances, tht
burial places Of their ancestors :. =
The poor, on the other hand complained 81
the extreme Indulgence to which they were 70.
dueed, and Of their Inability To bring up chill.
fdren. They enumerated the many battles
where they had fought In defense Of the Re-
i public, notwithstanding which they were all
i lowed no share 0f the public lands; nay. the
nsnf peis, 70 cultivate them, chose rather to
employ Foreigners and slaves than a items 81
Rome Gracchns view was not to make poor
men. rich, but to strengthen the Republic by
an increase Of useful members, upon which he
thOnght the safety and welfare of Italy depend.
ed The instruction aud war Of The slaves In
fSicily, who were not yet qnelled, furnis he'd
him with Sufficient argument Tor cxpaiiating
ON the danger OF filling Italy with slaves. =
HE asked the rich whether they preferred a.
slave To . citizen; aman unqualified 10 serve in
war 70 a soldier; an alien 10 q member Of the
4 Republic; and which they thought would be
more zealons for It's interest. Then as 10 The
misery Of the poor: The wild beasts of IiaIy
have cRyes and dens 10 shelter them; but the
people, who exposed their lives for the defense
Iof Italy, are allowed nothing but the light and
air; they wander up and down with their wives
and children, without house and without habi.
tation. Our generals mock The soldiers, when,
In battle, they exhort them TO fight for their
sepnlchres and their household gods; Cor, among
i all that great number OF Romans, there Is not
lone who has 81 her a domestic altar or q sepuI.
fehre Of his ancestors, They fight and die
solely TO maintain the riches and luxury Of
othelsi and ave styled the lords OF the universe
while they have not single foot Of ground In
their possession. . :ss:5 s:ss
Smith, In the second volume, page 2gI, OF
his Greek and Roman biographical Dictionary,
speaking OF Tiberius Gracious, and the reasons
! for his proposed legislation, says: &.
! His brother Glias related, In some Of his |
works that Ifberius, on his march 10 Spain, |
I In {B. O. 1877, as he was passing through |
EtTuria. observed with grief and Indignation
the deserted state Of that fertile country; thou-
sands Of foreign slaves IN chains were employed /
in cu!tiyating the land and tending the locks |
upon the immense estates Of the wealthy while
the poorer classes Of Roman citizens, who were
thus thrown out 0f employment, bad scarcely
their daily bread, or clod Of earth TO call
their own. He Is said to have been reused
through that circumstance 10 exert himself In
endslvOring to remedy this evil. : iss.59zS .,t
4Itan Ihe pDliCy alBQCANeu DY hEacGnuey o.
distributing the public lands among the land
less citizens Of the nation. been adopted, the
Roman fields would have boon cultivated by
free men instead Of slaves, and there would
have been q race of men 10 stay the rayages Of I
the barbarian. The eternal city would not L
then have fallen IN easy prey to the Goth and
yandal; bat the star Of her empire might I
have waved Ia triumph long after the Ivy
twtned her broken columns.
4 With homes and fiIesides TO defend, che
arms and hearts OF an independent yeomanFy
are a surer and more impregnable defence than /
baitlement, wall, Or tower. While the popu-
lation of a country are the propTietoEs Of the |
land which they till, they have an interest," 70 |
surround their 6resides with comfort and
make their homes happy the great incentive |
to industry, frugality and sobIiety, II Il such |
habits alone that give security 10 a govern |
ment and form the real elements of national
greatness and power.
National disasters are not the growth