Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1873-07-10
An Outrage upon Settlers.

In two counties of Southern Kan
sas are five hundred industrious men,
who bought of the Government, I'M
der the Act Of Congress of 1869, one
hundred and sixty acre tracts of land
for actual settlement, at one dollar and
a quarter per acre. Sixteen hundred
and twenty patents were issued to set
tiers under Secretaries Cox and Brown
ing. The men went upon their pur-
chases and proceeded to improve them
by labor, erecting dwellings, and barns,
and ploughing, planting, and fencing
the fields. From a wild prairie the
region began to take on the pleasing
features of cultivated farms. In an
evil day, the railroad ring Of the far
West looked upon their peaceful pos
sessions with covetious eye, and af-
ter the accession of Secretary Delano
to the Department of the Interior, the
entries made previously were all order
ed to be suspended. The decisions of
Secretary Cox were overruled. There
was great excitement amoug the set
tiers, who declared their determination
to stick to their homes to the last.
The plan Of the railroad ring was to
divide up their farms between the two
railroads running south through Kan
sas into Indian Territory and Texas to
the Gulf. These roads are the Missou-
ri, Kansas and Texas, and the Leaven-
worth, Lawrence and Galveston; and
they run parallel down to certain
point in the Indian Territory, where
they unite for want Of further subsidy
from the Government, and form one
line to the Cult at Galveston. 1t is
in evidence that the settlers took up
their quarter section farms before the
railroads were located, and hence that
they have the prior and indefeasible
right of ownership which is given by
occupation.
1t likewise appears in proof that the
lands occupied by these settlers were
specifically excepted from the opera
ton Of the grant acts in favor of the
railroads in question, that the settlers
were in actual possession at the time
the roads were located, and that they
had been thus in possession for the two
years preceding. These facts, taken
with the exception allowed the settlers
by the Government, and resting on
the patents issued and paid for, are in
common equity conclusive of the ques-
ton OF ownership. One hundred
thousand acres Of improved land are
in this way to be taken from their real
owners by the absolute decision of the
Secretary of the interior, and given to
the railroads. a more fragrant in
stance of injustice never stirred pop
ulation to rebellion. Let us say no
more about the poor French in Acadia,
if Industrious American citizens can
thus be expelled from home created by
the labor of their own hands, that
greedy railway corporations may be
enriched. This decision is taken as
but shaping scheme for ceasing the
lands of the peaceful tribes dwelling
in Indian Territory-the Cherokees
and Creeks, the Seminoles, Chickasaws
ana ChoctaWS. These own some OF the
finest lands lying between Kansas and
the Gulf, and the building of rail
road through their Territory is to be
used as the pretext for selling a deep
belt Of them in the same manner. 1t
would indeed be strange if the settlers,
who have purchased and improved
their farms, did not combine to resist
this outrage to the last. 1t seems i'm
possible to vindicate the decision of
Secretary Delano ON any principle of
honesty or justice. Boston Post.