The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-01-05
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The Depressed Price OF West VIr-
sinIa Il cal Estate I'm Markets Abroad,
arising from the Unsettled Condi-
tIon OF the Titles In Many OF our
Counties, and UnfrIendIy LeRisla-
tIOn---HOW Can ttbe RemedIed7
y No. 8. w E IL
Editors IlteILigencer:
The first marked catering of the new
State Legislature to the squatter int1u-
ence that I have observed is the 10th
section of an act passed March I'd, 1865,
entitled can Act to provide for the
sale of certain lands for the benefit of
the School Fund."-[Session Acts OF
1865, page S2.l The act proposes to car
ry into effect sections and of article
9th of the Constitution, viz: "All lands
vested in the State by forfeiture, or by
her purchased at the Sheriff's sale, and
which have not been released, or exon
Grated, or redeemed before the 21st OF
June, 1868, shall be sold" &C., in the
manner provided in the Sd section of
the same article; and section 6 of the
same article of the Constitution pro-
vides that the balance of the proceeds,
after paying the taxes and damages,
| (which are to go the School Fund, } and
| the cost shall be paid to the former
otOneT, or his legal representatives, if
claimed in two years. It will be OBJ
served that the Constitution expressly
directs that all lands that are SO vested
and not released or redeemed, are to be
thus sold and the proceed thus disposed
| of. The 10th section of the act of the
| Legislature, before mentioned, under
| takes tc diVest so much of the lands as
squatters may have possessed ten years
| and paid the taxes assessed to them,
! from the course of disposition thus
| pointed out by the Constitution, and
gives them outright to the squatters.
OF course the section is nullity,
as it is in direct conflict with the
Constitution; butit nevertheless shows,
to an extraordinary degree, the same
old spirit of catering to squatters, and
| unjust discrimination against mon
resident proprietors" as we'll as a readi-
| ness to defraud both the school fund
and honest owners, for the sake of con-
ciliating and getting the votes of these
| squatters. Messrs. Ferguson, Max
well, Lamb and other lawyers of dis
| tinction, were members of the Legisla-
ture that passed this law. That section
should be swept from the statute book.
True, the political demagogue, for more
| than forty years have aimed to Justify
| such outrageous Legislation by pretend
| ing that their object was to encourage
! actual settlers and build up the country.
| This is false. Their object has been to
conciliate the squatters and get their
! votes by depriving honest ''non-resi-
dent proprietors" of their land. Be-
sides, the unsettled, wilderness condi-
| ton of so much of our lands at this
time, demonstrate the entire futility OF
| such purpose, if it were true, which
should stop its repetition.
The act passed the 24th of February,
| '66 entitled, "An act to dispense with
! the assessment of back taxes, in certain
countless" session acts of '66, page so,
affords another striking illustration OF
| Snirit FNhiG RI
relieve the assessors of all counties in
which taxes were not assessed and re-
turned to the Auditors office for the
years '61, '62, '63 and '64 from their
obligation and duty to assess them for
those years, with this exception: .'that
are situated in such counties shall be
| tGred :" and section I'd releases all
persons and property, both real and
personal, from all liability to pay taxes
for the years aforesaid, with this pr
viso; ''Provided, however, that the
lands owned by 7lo7l-TeStde'ltS of the
State shall not be exempted from tara
tIon." Nearly all the Inhabitants of the
counties contempl plated were rebels, and
off in Dixie; so no assessment could be
made for those years under what they
termed the "bogus" government, and
returned to Wheeling. Was it this fact
that induced the members of the last
Legislature to make this unconstitu-
tional discrimination in their favor
against loyal "non-resident proprie-
tors" living in loyal States; and this,
too, in direct violation of the tunda-
mental conditions of the ordinance OF
separation, and the provisions of our
constitution before recited? If the
Legislature had intended to dis
criminate in favor of loyal men even,
and such course of Legislation, if per-
sisted in, cannot fail to stamp her char
acter abroad, as being moro perhdiOus
than the old State has ever been. This
legislation, Su bmit, should be at once
modified, so as to conform to the fun
damental condition of separation laid
down by the mother State, and to the
constitution established by our people;
and future repetitions henceforth scru-
puIously avoided by their legislative
servants.
Having stated what seemed to me to
be the cause and nature of the evil,
will venture to suggest that the coming
Legislature, after repeating these un-
constitutional laws, pass the following
bill, or substance of it, as an additional
tremedy, viz:
| "A bill to settle conflicting claims to
land and quiet the Titles thereto"
WHEREAS, By the practice ofgrant-
] ing patents heretofore by the State o1
| Virginia, for lands West of the Allie.
| ghany mountains, without first ascer-
tanning the fact that they were waste
and unappropriated," successive pa
tents were granted for the same land
or part, or parts thereof, by reason
whereof claims thereto have become
conflicting and interfering, and the
title uncertain, thereby depreciating
the value and preventing the settle
ment and improvement thereof; And,
whereas, it is of the first importance tC
the State that the title to land should be
ljudicially settled, and quieted, anG
shadows removed as soon as practica.
BILE, and the gross frauds stopped which
are being practiced upon the public, by
sales of worthless patents that beal
the seal and signatures of former Gov.
ernors of Virginia-which can be done
more effectually, expeditiously anC
economically by proceedings in equity
than by suits at law, in the form now IL
use, which afford but inadequate relief
for remedy whereof
Be It enacted by the Legislature of Wes
Vuginid:
1. Any person having valid title t
land, legal or equitable, divided me
diately or Immediately, through grant!
from the State of Virginia, to which, o.
part, or parts thereof, in severalty, o.
otherwise, there are adverse claims de
rived, mediately or Immediately
through grant or grants from the Stat
OF Virginia, which are Junior to his
may, within five years from thu
passage of this act, file his bill il
equity in the office of the Clerl
of the Circuit Court, for the county
wherein the greater part of it shall lie
to be sworn to by the complainant, set
ting forth the grounds and chain of hi