The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1871-04-22
THE OVERSHADOWING QUESTION
SIP r. r. CHI
HON. GEORGE W. JULIAN,
OF INOIA NJ A,
DELIvEEEB
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
JANUARY 81, 1871.
OF IN OIL A NJ A H.,
CONCLUDED.

1t was said in the debate on this bill
that these settlers might start larger sa-
looms, corn6elds, and yards OH their
premises but surely that fact, should it
happen, ought not to deprive item Of their
rights as settlers, nor could it possibly in
terfere with the public use Of a valley con-
tanning over thirty six thousand acres In
deed, think it might have been FIR wiser
to carve i up into small bomestead@ occu-'
pied BY happy families, decorated By or
chards, gardens ard meadows, wits neat
little post town in their midst, and churches
and school houses browning I'll but in any
event the claims of these settlers should
have been held sacred The marvellous
beauty of this valley can have nothing
whatever to do with the right Of pre-emp-
tion as legal principle, and is evidently
used as a mere pretext. The truth il, a.
have reason to believe that wealthy CAPT
tallsts 10 Calitor nia, whose power Is some
times felt ~ Washington, have their eve
on this valley. They are already corpo
ration in embryo for the purpose Of obtain
ing long lease of It, and bu lding mag
nihcent hotel within its walls and part
of their enterprise will probably be the con
structing of railroad, with Government
aid, as near to the valley as practicable
Their animating purpose is to enrich them
selves by evylng tribute upon gentlemen
Of elegant leisure, rich tourists, snd such
others as can afford to endure their exac-
tons, while such plebeians as Huchngs
/ ~
aristocTatic peasure-grounds. But whetb-
or | am right or not in these opinions, the
defeat Of the bill referred to was fragrant
- S~t's =, . -. 49, -
wrong TO these settlers. 1t was Inc com
plete miscarriage Of Justice 1t can scarce
ly be necessary to adj tnat the same meas
ure had been twice exported adversely in
the Senate, where il found even less favor
than 10 the House
Sir, brand it as the bred Scott decision
of the American pioneer. It threatens the
complete overthrow Of the land policy Of
the Government, and the establishment OF
the vicious principle that settlers on the
public domain ave mere tresspassers, With
whom no terms are to be ke.,t 1t arrays
the Government against the poor man 10
his hard struggle for a home, and makes
it the ally of monopolists, who have at last
heard their triumph proclaimed from the
supreme bench 1t strikes at the nations
well being, II not It's fife for we ere large
" indebted to the wisdom and iussce Of our
policy, as embodied in the pre-emrtou and
homestead laws, for our marvellous progress
as people, and for the place We bold
among be other nations Of the world +
signaizes the ugly epoch we have reached
10 the domination Of capital over l-bOr, and
the danger which menaces the very prnri-
pie Of democracy II strikes at The honor
Of the nation, v ch, as | have said else
where, can a. inuoreutly repudatc the debt
il incurr, in saving its own life a. "a VIC
late its plighted faith TO our pioneers that
they shall have homes on the public domain
on cOnd tons which are honestly accepted
aud complied with en- their pa.-. They
should be the favorite~ Of the nat pn The
pre-emprion law should not be Construed
strictly against them, like pend; statute,
but literally, in furtnerance of Ihe great
and manifest object " The pionser," say~
the President n Ills great mes>gGe, who
incurs the danger and privations Ut front
Ter life, and thus aids ID laying the founda
ton Of new Commonwealths, renders a
signal service to biz country, and j. en-
titled to liz speca favor and protection. y"
Mr.. Speaker, distinguished Engliebman
and wellknown friend Of English working
men, who has recently been nongst Us,
took occasion 10 exhOrt the wOl .ln-men Of
our own country against The splr6 Of dIscon-
tent, pointing them to our cheap hands, our
fair wages for work, and the ia 5brable con
dition Of our poorer elias Is generally,
while deprecating any specia !eflprt looking
to their future welfare. Sir. if be Had duly
considered the facts | have presented am
sure be would have rendered 10 such coun
sell Instructed BY the state 0f affairs il
bis own country, be would have warned Us
against the very evils which make the social
condition of England 50 frightful problem,
and which can only be averted here by
sounding the cry Of danger, and laying hold
Of the means of escape before it shall be too
late. True, the condition Of the working
people Of England and the United States
il at present very different The old fen
dal system Of William the Conqucror
brushes England to-day. The military
features of the system, with thc royal pre-
rogative, ba 5e disappeared, and three fourths
Of her people are not now slaves as was
the fact few centuries ago but the prln-
cipe Of land monopoly inaugurated by that
system is more powerful for evil now than
ever before
About the middle Of the last century
there were three hundred and seventy four
thousand land.hoders 10 England, " IL
now she has only thirty thousand The
number Is still decreasing One half of
her soil l. owned by one hundred and fifty
persons, and nineteen and half millions Of
acres in Scotland are owned BY twelve pro-
prietors. These land owners have been
styled sovereign. They may consign a whole
county 10 the solitude of deer forest, or
clear a large territory Of its population as
thew would extermnate vormln. Fifteen
thousand people, without any respect to
aye, sex, or condition, and for no fault Of
their own, were tur ed out Of The Suther-
land estates 10 the early part Of the present
century. These things coull not have been