Daily national Democrat., 1860-02-25
Doubtful Move.

Qulred these llndS Tor the money Whlch
goes into the State treasury is for the COM
mon benefit but that which soes into county
treasures is for the benefit of those counties
exclusively. We are somewhat surprised at
finding paper in this county strenuously
endorsing and advocating such measure.
The Express says:
1--WE observe that our excellent Joint Sem
ator, Mr. Parks, has taken the matter in hand,
aud has introduced bill, which has for its
object the reclamation of these lands lie
proposes that all the swamp and oyertlowed
lands belonging to the State, and any lands
that may hereafter revert to the State by
forfeiture or otherwise together with all the
moneys having accrued from the sale OF any
OF these lands, be granted to the respective
counties in which they may lie, for the pur-
pose Of constructing the necessary levees and
drains to reclaim the same, the surplus If
any there be, to be applied to the construc-
tlon of roads and bridges lie proposes that
the Board of Supervisors of each county
shall have control Of them for this purpose;
the price to remain the same as heretofore
1--WE like the ill introduced 10y Senator
! Parks, and think it would be very beneficial
| in its results. The State is too large for its
officers to attend properly to this matter, but
! by distributing the lands among the several
counties in which they are situated, and
| placing them under the control of the Board
! Of Supervisors of each county, they can and
W II exercise healthful control over them,
and take such steps as will encourage per
sons to settle upon and improve them."
Now, we would like to ask the Express,
if it does not suppose that the swamp and
overaowed lands of the State, amounting to
five or six millions of acres at least, were do
mated to her for the common benefit Is
not every county in the State entitled TO the
advantages to be derived from their recama
ton? Were not the profits Of their sale de-
signed to go into the general Golfers? How
comes it, then, that ten Cr n dozen counties
are to have the sole and exclusive benefits
of this donation? If the proceeds of the
sales of these lands are to be given to the
counties, why is not every county in the
State included in the grant ?
The injustice of this measure is apparent
at glance Here is Yuba county with
scarcely a foot of swamp and overfowed
lands in her entire boundaries. and yet with
an equal interest with any other county in
the common benefits to be derived from the
reclamation and sale of these lands, totally
shut out by this bill, while Sutter county,
with precisely the same equitable interest
and no more is to have her Golfers enriched,
for no other reason than that she happens to
contain within her limits so, 900 acres of the
land belonging 10 the ,odole State. The opera
tion Of this bill would he to give thirteen coun
ties out of torty-four the entire proceeds of
the five or six millions of acres donated to
the people of California by the General G ov-
ernment Let us see now, if this is not so.
Alameda, Colusi, Contra Costa, Del Norte,
Fresno, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Siskiyou,
Solano, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tulare and Yolo
are the only counties which contain swamp
J and overtlowed lands They number. as
we have said, thirteen. Alameda contains
of these valuable lands Qor they are indeed
SOY about 10000 acres Colusi 10000; Con
ira Costa $4,000; Del Norte $500; Fresno
10000; Sacramento not less probably than
100000, for we have not seen the estimate of
that county; San Jotquin 20 600 Siskiyou
10000; Solano 10000; Stanislaus 10000;
Sutter sO,O0O Tulare a larger amount
than either of the preceding; and Yolo
! 100000. Thirty one counties are exclu.
ded by this bill of Mr.. Parks from all
share in these lands, towit: Amador, Butte
Calayeras, El Dorado, Humboldt, klamath,
Los Angeles, Mariposa, Marin, Mendoeino,
Merced, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer,
Plumas, San Bernardino. San Diego, san
Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa
Barbara Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta
Sierra, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne,
and Yuba.
The great bulk of the population of Cali
fornia, therefore, is to be ignored by this bill
and special flvors granted to a select and
meagre minority. And what is to be gained
by this, except the mere gain of the counties
benefited Nothing; for the lands are to
he sold at the same price that they now are
and the number of purchasers will not be in
creased in any greater ratio than formerly,
so as to make additions more rapidly than
heretofore to The taxable property of the
country out Of which to replenish the public
revenues of the State The reclamation of
the lands is entirely dependant upon the
sales, and the counties will have to wait un.
til sutiicency Of land is sold to pay for the
reclamation. VIII men buy land any faster
under this state of things that they do under
the present law2 viii they pay out their
money any quicker, because they have to
pay an amount additional into the Swamp
Land Fund Of the county for purposes of re-
elamation, and then wait an indefinite length
Of time till the county finds it convenient to
drain the land? They would sooner keep
their reclamation money and reclaim the
land themselves
, door is also thrown open by this bill to
enormous speculations in the public lands
speculGtions tending to monopoly and ruin
Gus to the interests of the masses. The
Board of Supervisors" says the bill, "may
at any time they deem proper, offer any, or
all, of said swamp aud overAowed lands at
public sale, by first giving public notice,
for six months, in one or more daily newspa.
pers, published in this State, that they will,
on some day, mentioning the time and place,
offer said lands at public sale, describing the
lands SO to be sold, by townships, ranges,
| sections, and parts of sections Said lands