Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1860-06-25

The HOmouteud Conference Biii. q i
The provisions Of the Conference Home
stead Bllas it finally passed both branches
ofCongress and only awaits the signnturso 0
the President to become a law, are q deep in-
terest to the West. The report of Mr. Colfax,
ofIudiana, from the Committee Of ofConlerence,
presented to the Huuse, not only gives a
clear statement Of the pFosisioas of the bill
bat of the action Of the Republican members
Of the Committee, aud what they demanded
and intend to demand at the next session Of
Congress. Read the report;
Mr.. OoLFAx.-I rise to a question Of priv
iloge. lam instructed BY the COMMITTEES Of
Conference on the disagreeing votes Of the
two Houses on the Homestead bill, 10 report
that after twelve meetings Of the three DIFF
fereHt Conferences that have been appointed,
they this morning finally agreed. l hold in
my hand the report Of the COMMITTEES, which
can be read if any gentleman desires it. But
perhaps il would render the report clearer
and more htelligibleif If should briefly state
its leading features. The Senate bill all the
members ofthe House are familiar with. The
Conierees upon the part Of the House finding
after the most earnest efforts, that i would be
utterly impossible for them to induce the
/ Senate TO agree TO the House bill, have been
discussing what changes could be made in the
/ Senate bill, so as 10 render it acceptable
enough for the House 10 accept rather than
/ the whole should Gail. They have finally
agreed upon a report as follows; In the first
! place. viii say that the bill, IS it passed
the Senate, provided that the pre-emptors now
upon the public lands might remain there two
years before they should be required TO pur-
chase their lands, but should then pay for
them at the rate Of 81 % per acre thus re-
moving them entirely from within the pur-
view Of the benefits which would apply to
the settlers hereafter upon the public lands
This point Tie House Conference refused to
acccde ~, and if persisted in, We should have
Hgain reported a disagreement Finally,
however D COMPROMISE was arranged on this
point and to protect the prI-smptori now on
the Government land, which was to be ad-
yertised this Fall for sale, we changed the
Senate bill 50 as to protect them for at least
two years, from land saies, and to allow them
then to secure their homes at one halt tine
Government price, namely 62@ cents per
acre. ! need scarcely add, that If the Senate
could have been induced 70 give them the
benefit oftheir twenty-fiye-cent nt-per-aere pro-
yisiOn we should have insisted or il in
hexibly; but what have stated is the very
lowest point that could be obtained. The
second change we have made in the Senate
bill is in relation TO the scope of land coming
under the operation Of the law. The House
bill embraced all the Government land offered
or not offered, except such az was specially re-
served The Senate bill confined It's pro-
visions TO land subject to private entry, ex-
clusively. As have explained on a former
occasion, the expression subject to private en-
try means such lands as are left after the lands
have been once regularly brought into mar
ket exposed to public sale /; and the speculators
have taken such as they see fit to purchase
The difference between these two bills seemed |
so radical as to be incapable of adjustment;
and the scope Of farming land covered by the /
Senate bin was 50 limited, there being but
little, ifany, in Minnesota Kansas, Nebraska, /
California, Oregon, and Washington that the
House eOnterees declined to accept it. But /
on this, too, we finally effected comprom- /
Use. By our report, all the land subject to \
private entry is included, and IN addition,
all the odd-numbered sections of the surveyed /
public lands, which have not been opened to |
public sale-a most material and bene6cent |
enlargement OF the Senate bill We were
offered, after this agreement, whichever hal
Of the unolfered lands we chose, and we took |
the old-numbered sections. The reason for |
this was, that the l6th section ola township /
being reserved for school purposes by our |
land laws, the four Joining sections to it, on +
the north west, east and south, are sections I
9, 5, II, and q, all odd-numbered seetions, I
which are thus saved for homestead settlers, |
who have reserved for them l8 oat of the .
IS dispOsable sections in each township ofsix
miles square
On all these lands, actual settlers, whoare /
heads of families, are allowed, after having |
occupied the land for five years, to purchase |
at % cents per acre, which is about the average
cost price of the public lands to the Govern 1
ment We struggled ofcourse, to include all /
young ineu over twenty-one who are not /
heads of families, and to ad6pt the Free |
Homestead principle Of the House bill bat /
on these points the Senate was intiexibIe, and 4
we took what we did because it was the very /
bestwe could get The Senate bill original
" provided that the Homestead settler might I
acquire title to his land at any time by pHy-l
ing full Government prices; but desiring to /
promote actual settlement We now provide |
that he cannot do this till after he has been 4
on the land six months. When he stays, or
his family, if he deeeases, the fun five years,
he obtains Il at twenty-five cents per acre /
The Senate have also agreed to strike out the /
eighth section of their BILL which made it inn 4
perative upon the President to expose all pub |
lie lands TO sale within two years after which /
they shall have been surveyed, which we held |
would be peculiarly oppressive upon the pi- /
oneers who had gone to the frontier TO settle 1
upon the public lands, and to which we could |
never have consented. Now, Mr.. Speaker / 1
desire to state, in conclusion, that the |
compromise we have made upon this snh- |
iect Is not in ACCORDANCE with what should |
desire to have passed, ifI had the power to |
frame the bill myself but it is the very
utmost we could obtain from the Sen /
ate, as now constituted. The Senators who [
served with US on the Conference have been
notified by me, and also by my colleague /
(Mr. Window Of Minnesota that We regard I
this as but a single step in advance toward a I
law which we shah demand from the Amer
can Congress, enaeting a comprehensive and /
liberal Homestead policy. This we have .
agreed to as merely as aUalf courier. We l
shall demand it at the next session of Con- |
gress, and until II is grahted until all the /
public lands shall be open to ali the people Of |
the United States and / state this publicly, |
that no one shall regard US as estopped here /
after, because we accepted this halfway meas /
ure rather than to allow the whole to fail 4
should have added that an persons, wheth- 1
er citizens or those who have only declared /
their intentions, are allowed TO 60 on the (
lands under this bill but are required to .
perfect their naturalization befors the FIVE (
years expire, and the patent issues. ! now
demand the previous question on concurring (
on the report of the COMMITTEES, and passing 4
the bin as thus amended.
Mr.. FARssBORTH-Id desire to ask the gen. 4
tleman from Indiana whether this bill con-
fines its benefits to those who are heads Of |
eoruflias