St. Paul weekly Minnesotian., 1861-01-11

demanding stringent laws for their protaci5
ton. "A II "a
The proceeds of the kswamp lands are
Intended, by the terms Of the act granting
the same, to be used for the purpose Of
draining and improving them. Congress-
has specified no method by which this
shall be done, and although it is usual in
other States to apportion a part of The
proceeds to the counties or townships 70
that purpose, am unable to learn that
any useful results have been effected by
that policy. 1t will be sufficient to make
the drainage and Improvement of the
lands incumbent on the purchaser as one
of the conditions Of the sale. l
From the different nature Of the trust
involved the principles proper in the dis
posaf Of the school lands are not applicable
TO the swamp lands. The primary inter
est Of the State in the case Of the latter
is to procure their improvement and set
element 2 and as the proceeds are not
necessary to 60 into a perpetual fund for
a specific purpose they may be sold to
meet such exigencies of our social gr6wth
as are out OF the ordinary lineA of civil
expenditures, in founding eleemosyna,y y
! and other public institutions, and in ulti-
mately paying off our public debts. - A
minimum of $1 25 would accord with the
example of other States. mia
But the adoption Of a conservative
policy In the disposition Of the State lands
will fail Of its objects, unless carried out
under proper system of administration,
/ and these are certain principles to be
observed in the organization Of the system
itself, which experience has shown to be
| Indispensable to its efficiency and success.
IN the first place the financial and topo-
graphical supervision over the public lands
| should be vested in central department,
| at the seat of Government, under the
| Immediate scrutiny OF tho Legislature. In
other States this has been found necessary,
firstly. to the economical, efficient, intelli--
glble and safe administration Of the various
landed interests, and to prevent q sacrifice
! of tie lands to local combinations,-and
| secondly,-what is even more important,
Ito the management of the resulting funds
with view to the security of the princi-
pal, and to its productiveness as a certain
and regular source OF revenue, which are
| the essential objects of the whole system.
The necessity for the centraliz ton of the
land system,. will appear, in a sufficiently
strong light, from what has happened in
Iowa, which has veniured TO depart from
the policy of the older States in this re-
gard. Under the laws OF that State, the
sale of the school lands, and the investment
and control OF the resulting funds, have been
entrusted to certain County Officers, elect
ed for the purpose, and called School Fund
! Commissioners, The results of this sys-
ten, have been precisely. what might have
been anticipated from distributing duties,
requiring for their proper discharge, high
order of financial ability and prudence,
among numerous irresponsible local agents.
Frequent defalcations for large amounts,
covered up under an inextricable confusion
of accounts--cOuntless blunders and dis
crepancies, arising from tie. impossibility
Of securing uniformity, or even intelhgibiIl.
ty, in the complex details of book keeping
among SO many persoDs-are the least oi
the evils which Iowa is suffering from their
system. The pismanagement of the funds,
the investment, TO large degree, as loans
to private persons, IN false or inadequate
securities, have. produced an amount Of
losses, the extent Of which has not yet
been ascertained but which am informed
already amounts to over a quarter OF
million of dollars. Add to this the tota
unreliability Of the income Of these invest
ments, and you have u category Of evils
incident TO the Iowa system. which are
necessarily fatal TO ali the objects of the
school land grant The radical error OF
this system is, that the officers entrusted
| - ~ tb, a. f,tp pt
, the State, are not directly responsible to
the general authority Of the State, and that,
if they were, they are too numerous, and
, at too great remove from ihe seat Of gov
ernment to be effectively scru!inized.
have commented thus freely. on the
the evils of the Iowa system, because pro-
; positions for its introduction have hereto
ore been favorabiy discussed in our Legis-
lature A central land department on the
other hand having supervision Of all the
various landed interests of the State, is
well recommended by the successful exa =
ple of other States, as we'll as by the iDher-
ent simplicity and economy Of that admin
istration. This plan gives unity and effi-
cjencv to the. land policy of the State, it
concentrates the responsibility of the agent
whose proc 3edings are thus open at all
sides to the scrutiny of the public, and sur
rounded by effectual guarantees for fidelity
and competency. ~
As our land system becomes developed
to sefsustaining point, it will doubtless
be found expedient to establish State
Land Office as "a separate department,
similar IN its plan to that OF Michigan, com.
bined perhaps with some features OF the
Wisconsin system. The Land Commits
sioner should be entrusted with the entire
snperntendence and disposal of the State
Lands, while the State Treasurer should
have the management of the resulting
funds and the di.tEbuti n Of the income !;
while both should be under the control, in
specific cases involving important discre-
tionary powers, of Directing Board, COM
posed Of some of the Heads of Depart
merts, of which, in cases relating to the
School Eands the Superintendent of Public
Instruction might be one. In the details
Of the system, some OF the errors CT the
older States may be avoided.
| When in the opinion of the Directory
the resurvev and further subdivision of the
Government lots shall be deemed expe-
dent, contracts for the survey should be
made with the Commissioner at establish
ed prices, each contract to include several
counties, and in the case Of swamp lands
full land district.
Accurate descriptions of each tract, the
quality of soil, timber. &C., with plsts of
the same, should be filed in the Land Office.
The lands should be Classified in grades,
with a minimum price affixed to cash class.
They should then be appraised, and not
sold for less than the appraised value. The
terms of sale should be as liberal as com
patible with the security of the principal
and prompt payment of the interest, non
payment Of which should work forfeiture.
In the case of timbered lands, the whole
purchase money should be required.
All tracts Of land, which upon appraisal,
shall be found to have reached or exceeded
the minimum value, shall then he offered
at public sale, unless the Directory
should deem it for the interest of the fund
to withhold them If not then sold the
Commissioner should be authorized to sell
at private sale at not less than the appraised
value. ..,,.s..-,.s,.
The Michigan plan Of conveyancing
seems to embody all the necessary
checks. Under this system the moneys
arising from sales, instead Of being en-
trusted to the caprice of County agents to
loan on real estate of doubtful value or
falacious title, aud subjected to innumera-
bic risks of principal and interest, would
| be paid into the Treasury TO be invested by