The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1873-12-31
One Result 0fGya..:sC,.

, While the interior Department is the
headquarters of several pestilent Rims
ana Is a hotbed Tor. the propagation o.
, corruption generally, there is one bn.
rean, the General Land Office. which is
especIally obnoxious, as it conduct
ed entirely in the interest Of land orah-
oers. Siace Secretary Delano has been
"a once, custom, precedent, an,, the
decisions of the Supreme Court have
a''Ne h'en disregarled there, ard
through arbitrary and nnrinhteous RI
ihss thousands of enterprsinc and in
ahStriouS white settlers have bean 10
sp"iied OF their property for the emo|u-
ment OF wealthy corporations and land
i mugs. ha'iroad companies have also
peeh permitted to go outside the lernl
oo,lhtares of their grants ard take n,
valuable lands never given to them tr
The prejudice of private citizens. who
are 'hns prevented from PURCHASING
taeni al Government prices.
ne case of the Burlington and Mis-
sonr River Railroad grant affords =
iatr Instance of the means resorte,l fol
ny Delano and his Land Commissioner,
WINS DrummonG, to aid the land crab
oefs. l!le grant TO this company was
made in 1864 and gave to it "evcrv al
teTnate section Of puhIic land (eycent-
ing mineral lands us provided in this
acD designated by odd numbers to the
amount o. ten alternate sections ner
mile on each side Of said road on the
line thereof not sold, reserved, ny OH
er wise disposed OF hv the United
States, ard free from homestead or p,e-
emption Claims. Harlan WAS Il g II
Secretary Of the Interior, and Of course
the railroad company found it an easy
matter to persuade that eminent Chris /
tan statesman that this grant bad no
lateral limits. aud that the company
could go any distance to select its lands
so long lis they lay on either side of the
road. But Harlan was aoon snDerac,l-
ed by more conscientious man, and
Secretary Browning quickly settled this
qnest'"n adversely to tie PIE l.nsta rous
pietenslous OF the company. Gccit:u-
that the grant was limited to twenty
niles on each side Of the road. .
When Secretary Cox came into Office
tie railroad company renewed it's en-
'orts to get decision which would
permit it to 60 outside its limits and !
select land atanY distance from the Il
'"ad that it might choose, but soon l
ound that It's agents a md lobbyists
we're power!ess to influence this upright d
'tlicihl; and SO quietly went 20 work to
elect its lands under tie terms o Fl :
Secretary br0wning's construction of
he grant. But when Delano succeed.
ID Secretary Cox, the hopes of the |:
abroad people ut once revived, and,
$ it appeared, with good reason for -
Re at once set aside Secretary Brown L
ng's decision, which had stood on the
ecords Of the department for nearly
We years, and permitted the company
D go as far as it pleased in selecting
$ lands. Avaiiag themselves OF the \
cense accorded them bv Delano, the Il
gents of this company picked ont such J.
.nds as best suited them, at distances G.
aryins from twenty to eighty miles r
ON the line Of their read, even cross L
'g the grant made to the Union Paci- at
e Company. in order to get choice W
nds in northern Nebraska, bordering j..
J Dakota; while on the south they d
ent down to the Kansas border to -
ize rich tracts in t he Republican
alley. The transaction, briefly sum
ed up. amounts to simply this: Sec
tary Delano by his outrageous decis-
II made a free gift to the railroad n
mpany of about million acres of u
nd belonging to the people, worth
lily five millions Of dollars, without
wing even decent pretepce Of Il le-
i right to do so.
We are supposed to be living under
republican form of government but
appears to be the chief aim and en- -
avor of the present Administration
build up aud invest with unlimited A
wer an alistocracy of the most COR ~
pit and detestahle claracter-a mon P !
ed shoddy aristocracy, founded on dra
ud.-[N. Y. san. NJ NJ,