Wabash express., 1860-03-28

on land monopoly. The Rothschilds. the
Barings, or any other of the worlds mil
} lionaires. may become the owners of untold
acres of our public domain. to be re sold
to the settler, or to be held as an invest
ment for future speculation.
Congress, the trustee Of the whole people
is vested, by the condition of the grants
! from the States and by the Constitution
itself, with the sole discretionary power
of disposing of these lands. But, in the
} exercise OF sound discretion, il becomes
its duty to dispose Of them in the way that
will best promote the greatness aud glory
ofthe Republic. And how can that be ac-
comPlished SO we'll as by policy that will
secure them in limited quantities To the &C
tual cultivatcr. at the least possible cost,
and thus prevent the evils OF a system Of
land monopoly-one Of the direst, dead
liest curses, that ever paralyzed the eDer-
gies Of a nation or palsied. the arm 81 in
dustry? II needs no lengthy dissertation
to portray its evils. Its history in the Old
! World Is written in sighs and tears. Un-
der its blighting influence ysu behold in
dustry in rags. and patience in despair
Such are some of the fruits Of land monop-
oily In the Old World; and shall we permit
it's seeds to vegetate in the virgin soil Of
the New? Our present system is subject to
like evils. not so great in magnitude per
haps, but similar in kind
/ or the 1886, ,S56, ,325 acres OF land dispos-
ed ofby the Government to September 30.
1859. lat ,0ss .273 acres were sold for cash,
and 24l ,770,052 acres were donated in
grants TO individuals. corporations, aod
States
The Government had received from the
sales Of the public lands. as appears from
the report of the Commissioner Of the Land
Office, to June 60 1853, $l42. .2S3, ,47s, to
which add s3s. 1896. 1 60 80. received since
that time. would make the gross amount
received from the lands to September 80,
1889, $50 .6l9 ,635 80; while the,entire cost
including purchase money. extinguishing
of Indian title, surveying. and manageing,
has been, for the same period, k9l 1894 ,0l3,
leaving ne, revenue to the Government,
over and above all cost. of SIS. .725. .625 80;
with l36. .97o,94l acres surveyed but'u
sold. Of which 80, 900 900 acres are subject
to private entry.
Ofthe lat ,Oes. 273 acres sold by the Gov
ernment, not more than one half of it, prob
ably. was bought at Government rates by
the actu al cultivator; the other half, as
sumo, cost the cultivator, on an average, at
least four dollars per acre over the Govern
ment price. So he would pay, on 73,544,
l36 acres, being one-half the quantity sold
by the Government. 1894. .l7s .544. On the
PAL ,77O, ,052 acres donated to individuals,
companies, and States, including over sew
enty million acres for school purposes, and
over fifty million acres for railroads and
internal improvements, assume that the
cultivator must pay on an average for these
lands at least five dollars per acre, making
the sum Of 81 ,2Os $50 .260. The actual cul-
tivator, then, will have 70 pay to the Gov
ernment and to the Speculation for these
lands, ift the foregoing estimate of prices be
correct, at least 81 ,663 SAG. .442 80, of which
$SS, ,625 80 has been paid, in net revenue,
into the Treasuryo the United States; the
balance to be absorbed by the speculator.
The Government, by its existing land
policy, has thus caused to be distracted
from the earning of its hardy pioneers al
most ST., ,70O, 900 900 for the mere privilege
Of enjoying Que Of Gods bounties 10 man.
This large amount has been distracted from
equivalent, save permit from the State to
occupy a wilderness, to which not a day or
hour Of mans labor had been applied to
change it from the condition in which the
God Of nature made it. Why should Gov
ernnents seize upon any of the bounties of
God to man, and make them source Of re
the whole human family, and was made its
abiding.place through the pilgrimage of this
life and since the hour of the primal curse,
ain the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
bread" man has been forced to the caltiva-
tiou of the soil to obtain subsistence for
himself and the means of promoting the
welfare Of the race, why should Govern.
ments wrest from him the isht to apply his
labor to such unoccuPied portion of the
earth's surface as may be necessary for his
support until he has contributed to the reve-
nues Of the State. any more than to permit
him to breathe the air. enjoy the sunlight
or quaff from the rills and rivers of the
earrh9 1t would be just as rightful. were il
possible to be done, TO survey the atmos
phers of into quarter sections, and transfer
it by parchenent titles; divide the sun into
quantum Of rays, and dole it out to cropping
mortals al price; or arch over the waters
! of the earth into vast reservoirs. and sell II
to dying men. In the language Of remarks
heretofore made on this subject. why ha'
, this claim of man to monopolize any of the
gifts Of God to man been confined, by lega
codes, to the soil alone? Is there any othe
. reason than that it Is a right which, havinl
its origin in feudal times--under system
, that regarded man but as an aPPendage o
the soil that he titled, and whose life, liber
', ty, and happiness were but means Ofin
cressing the pleasures, pampering tn
= passions and appetites of his liege lord
. and, having once found place in the book
il has been retained by the reverence whicl
: man is wont TO pay to the past and to time
honored precedeDtsf The human mind
SO constituted that it is prone to regard a
right what has come down to US approve
. by long usage, and hallOwed by gray ag'
y Itis claim that had ITS origin with th
'e kindred ideasthat royal blood flows only
N the viens Of an exclusive few. whose sou
are more ethereal, because born amid Il
y glitter Of courts, and cradled amid the pom
;! oflords and eourtiers; aud, therefore, the
y are to be installed as rulers and lawgivers