The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1860-01-13
THE PILOT.
MANITO &C:
FRIDAY MORNING, JANRY -, 1s6

has been publishing three or four long-winded
rtieles on The subject Of rail roads and land
grants. The las: number winds up with the pro-
position that the rail road grants be taken away
| from the present holders, on the ground OF cor
ruption in obtaining them, and the dishonesty and
untrust worthiness OF the parties that got them.
/ VIII transfer of one both of the grants TO
| the parties ct Mantowoc aud Aenasha who are
fishing for them help the condition of things any?
We think not, and our advice to the Pilot is, If
it wants to serve the State, to 20 in for retro
cession Of the grants to the General Cover ment,
upon the condition that all the public lands IN
the State shall be held open for purchase only
| 6y actual settlers. Let the State in addition to
this give the Fox River Improvement grant a
| thorough overhanrg and compel it to conhne
its sale to settlers only and have the sales Of the
| School and University lands limited to settlers
also. Lines of said roads will be built where
they are needed, ard improvements made much
faster than they will DE in the present condition
/ Of the grants. It's doub ed by some CT the most
sagac:ous observers whether land grant has ev-
| er been made to this State or any Of the new
States, which has not proved a curse rather than
q blessing. set of rsiircai biack-legs at AL
bany and Chicago have been gambling with Wis
consin land grants for the past three years, deep
y to the injury of the Interests and credit OF the
Stae. 1t is high time the whole concern was cut
| up by the reDts and put an end to. 1t will not,
/
| politicians are INTERESTED Nth and erS under the
control ofthe specuiatcrs-F aukesha Democrat,
| January 5.
| We advise friend CARNEY to read more
carefully the articles in the Pilot before
arriving at hasty conclusions. In our
issue of December Both, we advised the
repeal of the Legislative ensctments con
felring the r. r. Land Grants upon GER
tain corporations, and we gave what we
consider good grounds for such repeal
based upon the gross corruption and bril-
berry, practiced by those corporations to
secure said grants-the base and dishon-
est purposes for which they had been used
and the utter neglect and violation, up
on the part of the recipients, of the condi-
lions upon which the grants were made.
! We counseiled also, that after the State
had resumed the control of the lands, that
they should be appropriated in a manner
more consistent with the spirit and inten-
ton Of Congress in making the Grant, 50
that the great works which Congress in
tended to aid, might receive the benefit
contemplated by the acts making the
grants to the State.
For this we are hauled over the coals
4xhy the radical editor of the Waukesha
Democrat, aud because we do not advo-
cate the resumption of the Land Grant
by the General Government, and the prac-
teal adoption of Land Reform principles
in the future disposition of those and all
other public lands belonging to the Ma
tional and State Government In the ad-
yocacy Of ultra, radical Land Reform doc
trnes, as not only just, but polite, the Pilot
will join hands with the Democrat; and
we would be glad to see those principles
applied universally in the disposition OF
Public Lands, including those given to this
State for Railroad purposes, and for the
improvement of the Fox aud Wisconsin
Rivers.
We were always sverss to Land appro-
priations fer Railroad purposes, for We
readily foresaw the wickedness and corrup-
ton it would inevitably engender in our
State Legislature; and that all such grants
would only become gigantic corruption
fund, to be used for personal and political
ends, and the public morals Of the State
receive stain which would never be clear
cd away. We were opposed to such a
grant Of the public lands, because we be-
lieve they, by right, belong to the actual
settlers; and that all grants of public
domains made to States Interpretations for
any such purposes, has an inevitable intiu-
ence to withdraw such lands from market
| for long time-most of them finally pass
! ing into the hands of spectators, and thus
greatly delaying the settlement aud i'm
provement of the country. But while we
would gladly see carried out the policy in
dicated by the Democrat, we have not faith
enough in the good sense and integrity of
our Legislature to believe that they will
adopt it as the policy of the State much
less do we expect any such wholesome and
righteous legislation from Congress, until
they manage to get rid Of the ubiquitous
niger and in despair of carrying out all
we desire with regard to the Land Grants,
we have advocated the greatest good we
thought possible of accomplishment.
The MILWAUKEE SENTISEL-Greatlyt to
our dislike we have missed the above ex.
cellent paper from our table for some
days. We have been constant reader Of
it for eighteen years, and cannot well do
without it now. As newspaper it has
not been surpassed in the West, and the
Pilots news columns will suffer on &C.
count of It's non-reeeption. Shall we not
get it, General
New LIBRARY PAPRR.-We have re-
ceived the first number of the SATURDAY.
Gaz cite, new literary paper just estab-
lished at Milwaukee by Messrs. MEsERvEY