The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1870-05-04

land good by selections from among the
| sections reserved for the government
This road passes through the very richest
portions o. the State, and land will be of
immense value.
Mr.. Cole, of Cal, proposes that the gov
| ernment give to the Sierra Iron Company
| 10000 acres of the richest mineral lands
in the country for the royal sum of $l,25
per acre, though the swindle is covered
by provision prohibiting the company
from selling their patent and requiring
them to prosecute the development of the
said mines diligently for the period Of five
.years.
Mr.. Upton, of Nebraska, who has II
bills now pending in the Senate, sends in
a request for lands to the amount Of five
alternate sections per mile to help build
road from Springfield, Dakota territory,
to the mouth of Rock river, in Iowa. The
i land near the eastern terminus of this
road is now worth from 10 to $50 an acre.
1t Is asked from the government as a gift.
Mr.. Wilson, of Mass, coolly proposes
to set aside 100000 acres of the public
lands for school purposes, in whatever To-
callty the assignees may deem fit to select,
for the benefit of the District of Columbia
| darkies. The bill reads, ''to be used in
the support and maintenance of schools
/ without distinction of race or color of the
children attending them," but it Is the
negro element in the population only that
asks or wants such help. Mayor Bowen
Is an ardent supporter of this bill, and cod
probably, ,sifit were to pass, by the amount
of patronage it would throw into his
hands, perpetuate his reign indefinitely
Mr.. Mcdonald asks for a grant of land
and money to provide leyees to secure
the lowlands of Arkansas and Missouri
from inUndation, and Mr. Osborn wants
100000 acres OF public lands to aid the
/ Wlthlacoochie and Lake PansoffkaSteam-
boat and Canal company to deepen the
| Wlthlacoochie river, IN return for which
it will admit of the free passage of gov
ernment vessels.
Mr.. Kellogg presents a very shaky bill
| 1t comes from the North Louisiana and
Texas Railroad Co., and asks for an addi-
| tlonal grant Of lands to aid in the con-
| struction of railroad from the Texas line
| near Greenwood to point on the Missis-
sippi river opposite Vicksburgh, because
the company was prevented from work
| ing on 1t during and in consequence of
| the-war
LAND GRADERS IN THE HOUSE.
The House Is also a scene of operations
for the land grabbegs. Here they rally in
especial force, finding no reader tools,
however, among the members than among
the Senators Some of the bills offered
are positively ludicrous in their impu-
| dence. Amasa Cobb wants Wisconsin to
| get hold of all the islands in the Missis-
sippi and Wisconsin rivers lying within
the jurisdiction of that State The Kan
sas City and Memphis Railroad company
want ten sections per mile along the line
of that road, although there are no richer
| lands in the State. Mr. ChaveS asks for
public land to the width of four miles on
each side of certain wagon roads to be
constructed within the territory of New
Mexico,
| Mr. Johnson, of Cal, asks that there be
granted to the Sacramento Drainage, r.
ragatlon and Navigation company the
right Of way to a width of 400 feet, and
ten sections of land per mile for canal
from Colusi county to the Sacramento
river. This Is one of the most thickly
settled portions of California, and the land
thus asked for would, when sold, more
than pay for the entire cost of the canal.
No efforts appear to have been made to
conceal the Job in this bill 1t is hardly
necessary to say that there is not the
slightest chance of its passing.
I Mr.. Strickland, of Mich, has friend
who owns some stone quarries, and this
Efriend would be much obliged to the gov
ernment if it would help him to build a
railroad to the Qnarries to get his stone
out
Messrs. Rogers and Wilson delicately
insinuate a similar policy IN the case OF
Arkansas and Ohio. Other members,
mostly from the South, are equally clam
orous for soft things for their States In
. / nf foo 70 ho h,
House of Representatives to day, coming
from district west of the Allegheny
mountains, but has made one or more
grabs at the public lands
THE PACIFIC RAILROAD JOBS.
The history OF the Pacific railroad is so
well known as to render comment almost
unnecessary. They all have to be subsi-
died, although net necessarily in the
shape of money. The subvention of the
Northern Pacific from the general govern
ment, which was incorporated July 2
1864, consists of a grant of lands merely
including 25, 600 acres p5r mile or q tetal
of 47,000, 600 acres, or 74,429 square
: miles. No loan OF government bonds has
been promised for its construction The
commissioner of the land Office think:
: that the day of such extraordinary en-,
: dowments is passed 1t certainly looks as
if railroad ought to be content with
} subsidy which gives it a belt of land sc
miles wide, even though the section be al
: ternate and no money bonds be issued il
its favor But this is not the case. TIL,
} Northern Pacific has several other bill!
l on foot, looking to still further concession
= of lands from the government, notwith-
| standing that the belt referred to GOV
ers double the amount granted to any 9th
er road. One OF its grabs is at 500,00(
r acres contiguous to Lake Superior, Il
a build harber at Duluth, although along
! side is the fine natural harbor of Superior
: formed by the confluence of two rivers
D | Next year this company, it Is understood
s will endeavor to obtain subsidy of mon
r ey bonds from the government, after i
3 shall have gotten all the lands possible
/ under any pretense.
8 The Union and Central Pacific road
!, ! the only one now in operation, after OBJ
tanning unprecedented aid from the gov
}. ernment, in the shape of lands and money
n now refuses to pay the interest accruinl
: on the government bonds loaned to it
n thus devolving new burdens on the shoul
e ders of the government.
a A bill Incorporating the Southern Tran
4 Continental Railroad Company was intro
4 duced into the House on the 2Sth ult., nm
4 der the usual conditions of right of wa
; and land grants, which mean simply tn
3 Memphis and El Paso railroad under an
! other name, which failed in securing th
n right of way even across the continent
d and about which one Chesterfield, minis
5 ter at France, had the recent spicy discu;
n sion.
e These grasping jobs, however. shoul
o not ieopardiZe liberal grants of lands /
aid of roads demanded by the expandin
: interest of the country, in contradistinC
u ton to the illigitimate and selfish inter
l. ests of a few individuals, who, under th
nj preteHce of the public good. have been an
At are endeavoring land IN many instance
v successfully to transfer the title of Ii
r whole domain from the people TO then
n selves, thereby rendering the constructio
f of other equally great and necessary worf
l. of internal improvement q matter of vol
ID ton with them.
% In thus touching upon the foregoin
b subjects furnished by the land bills no
n pending in Congress, have not throw
of neither have I intended to throw, dayligf
Il l.. l.