The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1878-10-09
COUNTY AND CITY OFFICIAL PRESS
Wednesday, October 8, 1873.
LAND REFORM.

8uuu8k 01htCS~ - saS S$s~>~~ -
raj Fair Of Wisconsin, for 1878. A
considerable portion Of his address is
devoted to depicting the evils Of land
and the inevitable tendency
of the system to sap the foundations OF
republican government by dividing the
country into landlords and tenants.
Among his illustrations are the follow
ing:
The Dalrymple farm in the Red
River Vslley Of the North, embraces
100, 900 acres, of which over 1900
acres of wheat were harvested this year.
There il something to admire, some
thing grand in such . vast tract of lsnd
with force of four hundred men, five
hundred horses and mules, eighty
broad cast seed sewers. . hundred and
sixty fourteen inch plows, two hundred
steel pointed harrows. eighty self-bind.
ing respers. fifteen forty inch threshers
and cleaners, all in movement under
the control Of one man. who commands
and organizes the whole like an army.
Just think Of ore man turning of $685.
600 bushels Of wheat from a single
farm in single year, and promising
soon to raise that to q million. But
what is this after all but vast land
monopoly' A monopoly Of the soil
whose direct tendency in the end is to
produce great land lords on the one
hand, and practical serfs on the other.
In 1865 / was Chairman of a Joint
Committee Of the two Houses of Con-
gress to examine into Indian affairs.
We went to New Mexico. We there
saw gentleman, Mr.. Maxwell, who,
by inheritance through his wife, of
Spanish descent, and by purchase. be-
came the posscssor Of great Spanish
grant. 1t WAS called Maxwell's Ranch.
Il was bounded BY mountain ranges.
The Cinnamon River flowed through it.
1t contained hundreds of thousands Of
acres; more land than the whole of
Dane county. It was. indeed, lordly
estate. He could look upon his thirty
or forty thousand acres, cultivated upon
shares. he furnishing land, water. seed
and teams for $50 Mexicans, receiving
half Of the crop or produce of the land
for his SHARE, and feel that he was
prince in his domain. The mountains
owned by him were filled with mines
also. To see his focks of 10000 sheep,
5000 cattle, and 500 horses was q grand
sight. But, certsinly, such land
system is not congenial to Republican
ideas, to the equal rights of men, and
cannot b permitted to last without, in
the end. producing an oppressive land
monopoly.
Another phase Of land monopoly il
represented by the Astor estate. in the
city Of New York. That policy is :.
never to sell one foot of ground; al
ways to buy. build and rent. to pay
taxes. buy other lands. build and rent
other houses. with tho ever increasing
surplus. "That policy. pursued for .
hundred years in the future as it has
been In the past, will absorb the best
portions Of New York city"
Land monopoly in connected with
great lines Of railroad. owned and con-
t.olled by single man. or . junta, il
illustrated BY the following example:
The Vanderbilt will transferred to
the control Of one man, hundred mil.
lions Of the best real estate on this CON.
tinent. or in the world. A strip of land
two hundred feet in width, from the
heart OF New York. through oil the
most populous cities. and towns and
counties Of tho State Of New York to
Lake Erie thence, on both sides Of
that lake. through Ohio. Canada, Mich.
lgan. Indiana and Illinois to the city OF
Chicago real estate the most vaiua.
bic the most princcly and royal OF any
other; for, by his own single will he
can levy tolls upon all freichts and
passengers going over il; and, by his
power over competing lines. he can Ak
ct will those tolls;--a power, . soyer.
eighty, lordship over the coil, and
over the transportation OF men and
property. which no potsntats in Europs
can. to-day, OF his own will exercise.
But some real estate attorney may say,
that he does not own any real estate; he
owns nothing but shares Of stock in
railroad companies. mere personal pro-
pesty which pass by delivery, like .
note Of hand. That 10 more ihnoiful
than real. That Is mere legal fiction.
When We look this matter squarsly in
the lace. Railroads arc real estate; the
most solid kind OF real cstate; real e.
tate obtained BY exercising in the
the name Of the State. tho power OF
eminent domain over the coil; real e.
tate with more royal franchises, con-
sise'ng Of the monopoly Of transporting
freight and passsneers over il By steam
engines. iron or steel rails. and Of levy.
ing tolls upon them. 80 great srs tie
annual gains Of ths vandarbilt roads,
thst every year he can buy . new rail.
way of $50 miles In length. built and
equipped. Ten years may extend his
lines to the Pacific. and put into his
hands moro power over passengers and
property and the commerce OF tho coun-
try. than any monarch in Europe
Yields in his own right.
We are in tho habit Of regarding the
evils ct land monopoly - in the remote
future and hence not > matter for prac.
tical consideration at the present time.
while We have vast Unsettled dcaaina.
We ignore the fact that settlement
and land monopoly 90 together under
that systsm which grants empires to
private corporations. With ~ absolute :
control over the ssttlers upon the sams
- pertains to the most absolute sover-
eignty. Sach principalitiss ~ ere de-