Daily national Republican. (Washington City [D.C.]) 1870-1872, 1870-04-30

A large and intelligent audienoe assembled
Wednesday cvcIiBg At Meiketott Hall to us
ten 70 = lecture ey p ~ Peters e'qr on the
W, X, l.Aughlint esq., president 81 the ffe.
omption Association, introduced the speaker
with approprtate temstks, dselara'oTy OF 'ne
Mr.. Peters said all arc owners OF some rear
estate In the common ownerahip q ~ 70
poTtloS o. The pSs whols sopuisaion which =
about "a, 900, 600 people, would hnord ABOUT ~
acres TO each person--yhleh !. o. i|PS,tanss
indepr ndercc, and home, no
III Wsot on to state The vast amounts Of
public lands given away TO talitoads. and the
tho still larger quantities being asked for and
urged by terrible outside pressure.
The benenis Of these large subsidlea are not
30 great TO tho eountTy a. IL claimed for thomi
while the lands given away are much more
valuable than T. acknowledged BY those to
Tie smount Of public lands already given
away TO railroads IL nearly half IS much a.
remains Of good lands, namely, given away,
elo,ooo, 900 a9res, aud remaininG l,2ao, 600 oo9,
leaving about 10 acres OF good land 70 saeh
person. Yin the country.
And YET, there are now before oonsrsss bill.
isndS now sS is5t Tor ssttIsmeni In The eountfy
and al tho rate ir which these lands have been
given away the past few wears, there would
lands would be swallowed up, except Alaska,
and we have not heard any company aaking
orthat region. These companies are shstp
very cream of the domain,
Sens,or. in ,helr speeches undorvAlas the
public lands, saying they are not worth ten
cents an acre Without these railroads, yet
In the States settled even before railroads
were made increased In value 100 per. cent or
more.
Railroads do not Increase value Of land or
increase populatlon-only carries further and
acattc.a over wider space, Settlers and Guilt
walton increase the wealth OF the country, the
49,. ia AZ aaA lWga a..
other proptietors does not increase value, only
cultivation does ~; hence, they should be
transferred only to actual settlers and Guilt.
RSliiosds through these dls.aul rocky re.
giona carry settlers beyond the borders and
markets, and prevent contiguous and eontin'
are necessary 20 bring the distant settlers to
narketi let them settle near ffontieta and not
place such distance between them that Their
Cannot ret out-iike the Keniuoky drovcf who
could not drive his cattle to a river ak miles
OF TO water because there were 90 many wide
Consressmen seem, some 81 them, ambitious
TO puff and swell out big enough TO AwAilow
up the whole continent. tApplapae ~.
railroad, which attn, after twenty years, holds
unaold large Quantities Of Its vast land grant,
and pioneers to the unsOid lands muht pass
free homesteads; and theJ hold their lands TN
they can be sold at their own exofhitant
prices. These monopolies, y not checked,
make few men rich and deprive the many
poor men Of the chance to get ehcsp lands,
aud command their own prices when the pub
lie lands are exhausted and no more TO be OBJ
tanned by the actual settlers
The North Pacific railroad IL the most prom
inent and outrageous IN what II has received
and still asks, add for Congress now to grant
what II asks would be q crime against the
American people and an outrage asalnSt pos.
terlty, - T.
Population Increased in the whole country
In about a. great ratio before as since We