The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1869-02-03
LAND GRABBERS IN con-
GRESS.
The Best Portions Of the Lands Civ
70 Spectators and mon0poiists.

The Rest Portions of the Lands Given
70 Spectators and Monopolisis.
The Washington correspondent of the
NsB York Tribune says:
HThe people of the United States can
have no clear conception of what their
Senators and Congressman are giving
away. The public land, which only at
ter long and acrimonious discussion was
parceled out in homesteads for all the
people, is now disappearing by hundreds
of thousands and by millions OF acres
almost daily. The public land, bought
with the peoples money and conquered
by their valor, is being transferred TO
loose and irresponsible corporations un-
der visionary and corrupt influences,
and two hundIed million acres of it are
already gone. Three hundred millions
more are now demanded by corpors-
tioas even more irresponsible than the
first.
These lands constitute all that is
worth possessing of the public domain
the arabic, the watered, the trayersi-
BILE portions. Passing out Of the hands
of the Government, they furnish estates
for future landed aristocracy, endow-
ed as no aristocracy in the world has
ever been. Those parts which are to be
sold are at once doubled in price to the
people. The Homestead bill is thus
practically superseded. Endowmentso Of
tyranny are created to plague prOsperi-
ty and embarrass republican govern
ment. And, finally, having robbed Us
Of our heritage and become the virtual
empire, King Railway now demands
money to fasten his irons on the lands
he has already received. He has taken
our estate, and now he expects also q
lnxurious income to enjoy it upon.
Surprising that this Congress were to
pass all the land grant railways either
already assisted or demanding help in
money or lands, there would be twice
the amount of railroad west of the Mis-
sissippi that there is east of it. The
first list shows the grants made already:
Acres
Total to 1865 lS5, ,O60 600
Additional grants to June 30, 1868. 100000
Total. lss, 600
To this add estimated grants for roads
since suggested by the introduction
OF Dlll5.
Grand total of nearly ............ 500, ,OOO, 900
Area of the United States, including
Alaska. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. ,sOOCOOOOO
Therefore, we have granted, or asked
to grant, to private corporations more
than one; fourth Of all our property, in
Guiding icebergs, and nearly the lCkOle Of
our arabic lands
A list of the railroad bills recently
introduced in the Senate shows the
madness of avarice and speculation
based upon the generosity of the Gov
ernment, first in giving land to the
Illinois Central railroad, next, in en-
dorsing the bonds of the Union and
Central Pacific railroad. We could bet
ter afford to declare war with the whole
of Europe than to undertake to build
asd endow these roads. 1t were better
that the Atlantic and Pacific were never
united by steam railway than that we
should try to do so.
And if these roads should accomplish
all that the widest dreams of their pro-
moters believed-build up the plains,
people the deserts, inhabit the Rocky
Mountains like the Alps-still nature
would be grieved that in this violent
way man had possessed her; for doubt
less this broad space was meant to be-
made useful to the gradual civilization
of man-nOt to be nodded in the insti-
tutions of particular age, nor cursed
with precedents as dangerous as we
may find the subsidizing of the Pacific
Railroad.