The dollar weekly bulletin. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1862-1864, 1863-12-17


obsrisbed opinion ofsome of our wlsest states
men that the people of the United States mad a
bioher and more enduring interestln the early
ssttlement and substantial cultivation OF the
nubIic lands, than in the amount OF direct
reyenue to be derived from the sale OF them -
This opinion has hada controlling lnnuence IN
sbanine legislation, upon the subject OF gour
rational domain! may cite, as an instance
Of tbis. the liberal measures adoptedsin refer
ence 10 active settlers and the grant to the
States of the overfowed lands within their
limits, in order to their being reclaimed and
rendered fit for cultivation The grant to rail-
road companies of alternate sections of land
nnon the contemplated lines of their roads
when completed, will largely multiply the
facilities of reaching our distant possessions.
This policy has received its most signal and
benefcent illustration in recent enactments,
granting homesteads to actual settlers. Since
the frst,day of January last, the before-men-
toned quantity of ,456, 514 acres of land. has
been taken up under its provisions This fact,
and the amount of sales, furnish gratifying
evidence of the increasing settlement upon the
public lands Notwithstanding the great strug-
gle In which the energies of the nation have
been engaged, and which has required so large
Q withdrawal of our citizens from their ac-
customed pursuits. L cordially concurin the
Recommendation of the Secretary of the In
terror suggesting a modification Of the act in
favor of those engaged in the military and naval
service of the United States 1 doubt not that
Congress will cheerfully adopt such measures
as will, without essentially changing the
general features Of the system, reserve, to the
greatest practicable extent its benefits to those
who have left their homes in defense of the
country IN this arduOus crisis. ~. 49,
invite your attention to the views of the
Secretary Of War, as to the propriety of rails
ing, by appropriate legislation, a revenue from
the mineral lands of the United States.
The measures provided at your last session
for the removal of certain Indian, tribes have
been carried into effect Sundry treaties have
been negotiated, which will, in due time, be
submitted for the constitutional action of the
Senate They contain stipulatiOns for extin-
gushing the possessive rights of the Indians
to large and valuable tracts of land 1t is
probable that the effects of these treaties will
result in the establishment of permanent
friendly relations with such of those tribes as
have been brought into frequent and bloody
collisions with our outlying settlements and
emigrants. Sound policy and our imperative
duty to these wards of Government, demand
our anxious and constant attention to their
material well being, to their progress in the
arts of civilization, and, above all, to that
moral training which, under the blessings Of
Divine Providence, will confer upon them the
elevated and sanctifying influence of the hopes
and consultations of the Christian faith.
I suggested in my last annual message the
propriety of remedying our Indian system
Subsequent events have satisfied me,of its ne
cessity The details set forth in the Report
of the Secretary will evince the urgent need
for immediate Legislative action.
/ commend the benevolent institutions es
tablished or patronized by the Government, in
this District, to your generous and fostering
care.
The attention of Congress- during the last
session was engaged, to some extent, with
rroposiffOD for enlaFOinn the
cation between the Mississippi River and the
north eastern seaboard, which proposition,
however, failed for the time. Since then, upon
a call of the greatest respectfully, a COnven-
ton has been held at Chicago upon the same
subject a summary of whose views is contain
ed in a memorial addressed to the President
and Congress, and which | now have the hon
or to Law before you. That this interest is
one which, ere long, will force its own way |
do not entertain a doubt, while it is su omitted
entirely to your wisdom as to what can be
done now. Augmented interest is given to
this subject by the actual commencement of
work upon the Pacific Railroad, under au-
spices favorable to its rapid progress and com
pletion Enlarged navigation becomes pal
pable need to this great road.
| transmit the second annual report of the
Commissioners Of the Department of AgIicul-
ture, asking your attention to the develop
ments in that vital interest of the nation.
When Congress assembled a year ago, the
war had already lasted nearly twenty months,
and there had been many conflicts, both on
lind and sea, with varying results. The re- !
belliou had been pressed back into reduced
limits vet the tone of public feeling and opin-
ion, at home and abroad, was not satisfactory. (,
With other signs, the popular elections, then
lust past indicated nneasiness among ourselves /.
while amid much that was cold and menacing,
the kindest words coming from England were
uttered in accents of pity that we were too
blind to surrender. Our commerce was suf- /
fering greatly by few armed vessels, built
upon and furnished from foreign shores, and /
we were threatened with such additions from /
the same quarter as would sweep our trade /
from the sea, and raise our blockade. We
had failed to elicit from European Govern
ments any thing hopeful upon the subject
The Emancipation Proclamation which was
issued in September was running its assigned
period to the beginning of the new year. A
month later, the final proclamation came In .
Guiding the announcement that colored men /
of suitable condition would be received into |
the war service. The policy of emancipation I
and of the employment of black soldiers gave
to the future a new aspect about which hopes,
fears, and doubts contended in uncertain con-
hict according to our political system, as a
matter of civil administration The General
Government had no lawful power to effect
emancipation in any State, and for a long time /
it had been hoped that the rebellion could be |
suppressed without resOrtiDg to 1t as militia
nv measure. 1t was all the while deemed pos /
eible that necessity for it might come, and that
if it should, the crisis of the contest would
then be presented. 1t came, as expected. it /
was followed by dark and doubtful days
Eleven months having been passed, we are
20 tako anothar revieuy The rebel /