, 1878-07-13
Lard Limitation.


the Union no perso.,, corporation, com
pany or association, civil or eccieslasu>
cal, except railroads or canal corpora
tions or companies. and them ohiy lof
the necessary operation OF tEeir ROADS
or canals. and except as otherwise pro
yided in this constitution. shall thereaf'
ter acquire and own in fee-slmple, by
purchase, conveyance gift, devise. de-
scent. or by or through any other
means, more than 640 acres OF land, or
a section of land according to the sur
.yev of the U. S., from any person. cor
poration, association or from any other
source except by gift or purchase dlrsc-
~ from the United States, and convey
ance, gift. devise. grant or other means
of giving title to any person, corpora
ton, COMPANY or ASSOCIATION, shall De
void as to any access over and above
such limitation. This section however.
is not in any manner to impair any
bona fde contract made and entered In-
to before such admission, or to effect In
any way the enforcement of Judgments,
DEGREES, liens, forfeitures. grants, gifts,
devises, descents, or defaults thoretofore
existing
The writer of this was a cltl-
zen, and an editor OF newspa-
per in Michigan, at the time OF
the formation of the cOnstitu-
ton and the admission of that
State into the Union. He sub
sequently took an active part in
the organization Of the State
government of Wisconsin, and
has spent over forty years OF his
life in Territories and new
States, ant. from his own per
sonal observation and reflection
is profoundly impressed with the
conviction that land monopoly
is one of the greatest curses
which can be inflicted upon any
commonwealth, and should be
restricted by the constitution.
We were among the earliest ad-
vocates of the freedom Of the
public lands to actual settlers,
and have always contended that
the right Of eminent domain
over all public lands should vest
in the State on us admission in
to the Union. But neither Of
these measures are Of much
practical use to the settlers,
without a limit to monopoly and
speculation in public lands.
When the settler enters upon
mis- homestead claim he is imme
diately hemmed in by specula-
tors who profit by his improve
ments End present obstacles to
settlement more onerous and
expensive to owe ,ome than the
payment for land at government
price, not suject t. these condi
tions. Where the land is ceded
to the State or Territory 1t is al
most uniformly subjected to po-
itieal intrigue and private spec
ulation. The seventy-twe sec
tions granted to Washington
Territory for a University is
now nearly all IN the hands Of
two or three mill companies,
held exclusively for timber, and
the University has not a fund
equal to the lumber p oduct of a
single section to show for it.
The 100000 acres granted to the
State of Oregon has all been
gobbled by ring Of spectators
without materially enhancing
the finances of the State. 1t is
ever thus. If there is no legal
limit to the greed Of the land
monopolists, our magnificent
timber lands, inexhaustible coal
fields and valuable tide lands
will inevitably pass into the
hands of y few capitalists and
the condition of cur pec"le will
be no better than thu IF the
tenants and retainers upon the
baronial estates of mOnarchical
countries. The public lands are
the natural heritage of the peo-
ple. and it is the duty Of tho