The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1871-04-15
TFE OVERSHtDOWING QUESTlO%
SI' ~ L. Gil
BON. GEORGE ". JULIAN
CONTINUED.
OF ~ OLA :! a .

JANr any 2l, 1874
CONTINUED.
Mr. Sreakc,. epu1lly Startling, not "a.
say monstrous. has teen the conduct y u,
government IL lcslin. via ny swamp ata
over flowed lands Tie lobby Winch lre. y
"a the passag. az tie act of $50 .rnrf
ing such lanl- 70 the States urged t4
they were Of lutte value, and that tu. E.u
era go> erumcnt could NOT atlori tbs cz-
pcuse Of rccljni them hat tie truth IS
that, to very large extent, they ale ih
richest land, III he nation ana that tbr
cost at IeclrmIj 'un i 10 greater than Tat
Of Other agricultural lan.,. III vas lise-
wise urged that the States could better be
trusted wuH lue work than the general t)v-
ernment; hu uu,, h.> tlly demOnstraf I'd
TO lhe CONTRARY, aad very sadly TO The IA
ton, cost The w,l'-unders OOH mac!.ue-
r. Of the General / nd Otiice, avail 10 10
Individual energy aud enterprise, atiot ied
the best ann oily Il, an> ot solving the
swamp land problem. No legislation has
ever been more disastrous to the cOun,r ~
and If the &C Of 1870 Was not framed IN
the interes, Of organized thievrng and Itun-
der, then is entire administration is 50
wholly out Of Joint with the law Itself
that an honest man IS bopces>ly p III, Il
N The attempt u account for it az al Acct
dent.
j be act, in falling to give any definition
Of the brase swamp and overlooked
Iand, has supplied perpetual tempt.uon
70 merceIaTy men and corrupt officials To-
pervert i TO base ends. Instead OF rub
hitting The chsraoier Of TIL land ID DISPUTE
to the register and recei scr Of the local land
office, and investing them with rhe pI liver
to compel the attendance of witnessed, it
leaves the qu ston to be decided b>i the
surveyor general, who has no judicial - ".
er, ana L generally ongrosseI and often
overwhelmed WITH Bis own proper dusics.
His Office may ~ hundreds II miles from
the lands III controversy, thus causing great
and needless expense to lie roor settlers,
who are required TO attend, with their Wit
Desses, at The hearing, which is frequently
appointed al a session Of The year rendering
it great hardship if not an 'mposslbul J @
attend.
Although the surveyor genera is 81 81
ficer Of the United States, it practically
happens that local and State inAulncv,
completely override the rights Of the yen
eral government The lands are SURVEYED
and their character settled soon after some
unusual overflow or in season of great
rains or large bodies are declared s2anp
because small portions Of then onl{ are
really 50. By such methOis the most fright
full abuses are the order Of the day, wotkiDg
the most shameful injustice to homes, set
tiers, and fatally ob>tructing the settlement
and development Of the ,ountry. Zone
hundred thousand acres of land IN one land
district, and situate ia Q!iierent localities
near the summit OF TIL Sierra Ndvadl
Mountains, some i've to SIX thousand feet
above the level Of the sea, are now cltimcd
Ivy Spectators IS swamp, while it Is shown
ty the sworn statements OF many Il the
settlers on these lands tniI they actually
require irrigation 10 make them deslratlr III
the raising ST c.yhcr nay - gram. il ~
Of these settlers who have re- del on these
mountain lands for years, and made lasting
improvement, and pleasant homeS ~ tie
most pc feet good faith, are now hr,u-nt
face to face win hostile claimants uudjr he
swamp-lsud act, WHO have not the shadow
Of a rlht.
More {! an sixty million acres n AZ have
been selected a. swamp, aud over forie five
millions patented, beIh- 1, arly doutie he
quantity patented u railroads, ana IL very
large proportion Of which Il dry Ianj, Jnd
among the very best which the government
owned The work Of spoIiatlon is -tIll III
full blast, and no hing can arrest IL Eat an
act of Congress 50 defining swamp and
overlooked ands as to make Impossible the
Outrage to which have referred ou;rages
SO cuuningly planned and 50 lniernallN pros
ecuted az o make quHe respectable TIE av-
erage performances OF Professional pick
pockets and thieves.
Nj. Speaker, the grants made by Con-
gres, for educational purposes may fairly
be cl.ssed with the proh4ate legi~lat,on
to which | have referred. The aggregate
for common schools, universities, an ayr
cultural colleges is more than seventy got
million acres No conditions were pre- CRIB
ed to prevent the monopoly of thIs y. st do
main, or the frightful maladminIstr3 ion OF
it by the States which has actually itaken
place, In some OF them the school fund
has totally disappeared. But BY Ir the
worst Of these educational enactmfnts *
the agricultural college act Of 1862 It,
grant Of thirty thousand acres of La d Tor
each Senator and Representative id Con- n
gress absOrbs Eearly ten millions, which .
are handed over to the cause of mOIiJp ID.
The States having public lands within then
borders will hold back trom sale he.shares
to which they are entitled il order L, rise
IN price thus o5strgcJiug the settleIleut Of
the country and placing burdens On tile
lahdIess poor while the States having no
public lands are entitled 10 scrip REPRESENT
ing their proportions which Is thrown upon
the market, and has generally sold 1T titty
per cent. less than its par value. Fl some
instances its price has gone lar belosy tins
so that while 1t fails to supply fund with
which to build colleges, it enables sprcula-
tors to appropriate great bodies Of tsle pub
lie domain at a very low rate, as # It's set
Element and tlllage were an Improbable Of
an uDmanly employment, or barbarian ,
practice which the government should dis
courage.
More than eight hundred and eighty -four
thousand acres have been located eth thi.