The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1880-09-28


peace, this little monster u aried into
the Supreme Court, and the - ordered
it to be strangled - illee lie. Who
rushed into court in gFeaS o1aA and res
cued IL with indecent hasG&H 1e Repub-
lican party. Who ahocked 90 nblic con-
fidence and forever compgu1nial the dig
nifty Of the court by rscoRlsing it for
that single purpcsef Th6 epublican
party. Who by persistens DIRT at last
educated the people 70 toleroEand finally
like this thingf The Rsyahcan party.
Who opened this Paadesxsb.oxf The
Republican party. Who II seSonsible to
all our future for this seduc&is and most
dangerous precedent 2 Ths ,epublican
party. :.
The party is now boasting Chi we have
resumed specie payments 2fid aims the
credit of it. What is our resuntion? I? A
owes B 81, 200. Can b enforss Repayment
in coinf No. A may pkx Is debt in
paper, and there sfe ~ to4standing
about three hundred mil 81 iseaI-ten-
der paper. Suppose this m0sy should
fall below par, the debtor my, notwith-
standing, make bis paymentwith it, and
cannot be compelled to maket with coin.
And what brought about thisesumption,
such as it is :? Not our incomplete legis-
lation. If there had been Legislation
whatever the situation woult have been
precisely what it is, and govenment and
bank paper would have beenat par with
coin. The resumption, such it is, must
be ascribed wholly to scany haryests
abroad and abundant harvest here. Eu-
rope has been forced to send Is her gold
in exchange for our product Reverse
the conditions and the gold rould fow
back and we would return to 6e old situ-
alton. Let US all be thankful fir our great
good fortune, but not for any party man.
agement, Republican or Democratic; and
if we are prudent and wise wewill, with
out further delay, make some bitter prep
aration than we have yet mae for the
crisis that must ere long occur This re-
sumption is imperfect, unstabl. and unre-
liable, and the danger of too mch paper
money still threatens rs.
THE REPUBLICANS AND THE PUHIc LANDS.
What has this party done wit the pub
lie lands? will confine mysel to grants
to railroad corporations. Prir to 1851
there had never been donation of an
acre of land directly to railroad
corporation. About twenty million acres
had been given to the State for this
purpose. What has been done W the Re-
publican party within the las twenty
years? Let its own official publications
answer the question. In the publications.
of the Department of the 1ntnior for
1874 and 1915 and 1855 may be
found the reports of the General Land Of
fee, branch of the Interior Department.
These reports furnish an estimate in acres
of the quantity of land given away, and
according to that estimate the Republican
party since 1851 has granted, not to the
States but directly to railroad corpora
tions, more than one hundred and thirty
seven million acres. It seeu,a incredible.
This - ahnnt ane-twA-4ioth OF the United
States, including States and Territories.
1t is difficult to get clear idea of the ex-
tent of so large a quantity of land. Let
as try to comprehend it by q few compar-
IsOns. The amount of land 80 given
away is larger in extent than New York,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio
and Kentucky. Let me make another
The amount of land 30 given
away is larger in extent than the German
Empire, including Prussia, Saxony and all
The Dutchies and Principalities; it is
arger than Belgium, and very much
arger than Great Britain and Ireland.
Now you may comprehend it. The grant
IS large enough TO accommodate . great
nation. More than forty millions Of peo-
pie live in comfort in the German Empire
lpon q smaller territory; so also in France
md Belgium. Who owned this land 1t
belonged to the people of the United
States, each one of them having an equal
interest in it. To whom was it given? 1t
was given to few individuals who, for
organized themselves into
Is there in history such an
of waste? If any of you had
thousand acres of land or any quantity
md your agent or attorney having it in
charge should give away the half of 1t,
would you not revoke his authority, and
'hall we not do collectively what each of
rs would do individually? The Republi-
IAN party is evidently uneasy because of
his waste. In their wonderful Chicago
platform / find the following deprecatory
statement: "No further grants of public
domain should be made to any railroad or
,ther corporation" Let M hope not and
Who shall be trusted in this appropriate
lime of reckoning and review? Shall it
be the party that has never given away
IN acre of this land to railroad corpora
ions, or the party that has squandered
lpon them enough for an empiref
Before / leave this subject let me refer
% another matter connected with it,
which occurred during this Republican
Il will Be fcand IN the re-
port Of the Secretary ofStAe Interior for
ls77-s. Under acts Of Congress passed
n 1852 and 1854 the government loaned
70 six Of these corporations more than
~ ,O00, 900. This loan 10 represented by
bonds which bear . semi-annual interest
Il 8 per cznk and mature in 1eo6-7-s. An
attempt was made TO collect the interest,
but the Supreme Court decided that no
interest could be collected until the bonds
If I've add but simple interest
when the bonds mature, the loan (princi-
pal and interest) win amonne TO $751;
100000; IL we add interest On thu inter
sst that accrues every ak months, (ths
proper method Of celculation,) the loan
- FeENa =