Juniata sentinel. [volume] (Mifflintown, Pa.) 1846-1873, 1873-08-13
Land Grants.


the subject. So far as our observation
has extended the political conventions
have declared against all further land
grants, and this sentiment eeems to bt
reflected by all the leading journals o.
the Republic. This looks like locking
the stable door after the horse is stolen
For if there is any land remaining thai
is not covered by existing land grants
it must be in an inaccessible region.
Of the vast wilderness of tue far wes'
the Northern Pacific, Texas Pacific, At
lantic and Pacific, Union Pacific, Pacific
Kansas Pacific, Denver and Rio Grand
Missouri, kansas and Texas, and otheI
railroads of great length. have already
secured so much of these political decla
rations are rather amusing, when We re-
member that the men who chiefly con-
cocted them are the very men who have
been concerned in the land grants, oi
have voted for them, or have advocated
or endorsed them.
That the policy has been injurious to
the Republic we deny. 1t was begun
under President Pierce, and was so sue
cessful in Illinoise that its extension was
urged by him in one of his annual mes
sages Looking at the results accom-
plished in Illinoise, Iowa, Missouri by
the system. it requires a considerable
amount of cheek to pronounce it fraud
and an outrage. That the northwest is
a m arvel of progress is wholly owing to
the land grants The government had
no money to bestow, and the public
lands, being given away free to actual
settlers. brought no cash into the Trea-
sury. But in making grants to the un
built railroads it gave what these compa-
nies conld make basis for the issue of
bonds to raise money to build their lines
The process was good one on both
sides. 1t settled the country more rapid
ly than the homestead act had done, be-
cause it stimulated railroad building and
rendered accessible to purchasers the
the land along the routes. 1t gave re-
sources to the companies, avenues to
ma, kets to the settlers and cheaper trans
portation for the mails, Iudian goods,
troops and munitions of war.
1t is to tie interest Of a railroad 10
populate it's route as soon as possible and
threfore when line is built upon a land
grant it at once commences to stimulate
emigration. But as its grant only covers
the alternate sections the others come in
for share of attention. and thus the
government can sell land for which other
wise there would be no market It can
not be denied that this process affords
great opportunities for men in command
of large means to make fortunes. But
they risk much and their gains are no
more than enterprise and business shrewd-
ness are fairly entitled to. In the case
of the Union Pacific the government, in
its anxiety to secure the construction of
the line, gave its endorsement to the
bonds and land grant besides. But it
has not yet appeared that the land grant
was the source Of corruption. 1t was
the money subsidy that worked all the
mischief
When the government stopped the
money subsidy the Kansas Pacific came
to halt in the open prairie. and so re-
mained for time. But after a while
the company raised the means and fin
ished the line through to Denver. and it
has proved quite success. This was
done on the basis of the land grant, and
without that grant it could not have been
done at all. The same may be said of
the Denver and Rio Grande, now push
ing on rapidly to the Mexican frontier.
and of all the railroads in Missouri, Kan
sas and Texas that are now cf so much
Use in bringing ons,lo from Texas to Tho
northern markets. Without land grants
no railroads were possible in California,
Oregon, Washington, Nebraska. Corora-
do or Minnesota. Aud hence this pro-
against land grants means
literally that our progress in that respect
must cease. One immediate effect of it
would be to make absolute monopolies
of all the lines that have land grants
Their lands would Immediately increase
in value and their credit improve, so they
could market their bonds advantageously
1t will be seen, then, that every one in.
terested in existing grants would natur-
ally oppose new ones. and the resolution
has concealed meaning that does not at
first appear.
Turning for the moment from the rail-
road part of the case, let us see what
other objects come under the ban of land
grants and are ignored, These are COM
mon schools in some of the States, agri-
cultural colleges in all the States, univer-
stiles in the new States. and works for
the drainage of swamps. When tract
Of public land is so swampy as to be Of
no use for cultivation, the national gov
ernment grants it to the State in which
it lies on condition that it shall be drain
ed and improved. In fact, there ia not a