Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-04-05
SENATOR MORGAN'S
Bill Touching the Public Lands Of Ala.
bama Successfully Defended
from the ssRreord
lis Endorsement by the Legislature OF
the State-What 1t viii Do TO
Farther Public Enterprises.
To the Editors of the Appeal

Farther Public Enterprises.
To the Editors of the Appeal:
In your issue of March 18th you say; "The
more Senator Morg an's land act Is discussed,
the less popular it becomes. Alabama con-
tains l,550 600 acres Of iron lands and 20O,-
0GO sores Of coal, for which the usual price
has been for The latter SO 10 $40 per acre,
and for the former 81 so 10 s.. Morgan's
act puts all these lands 10 the market al
81 % per acre, thus entailing great less i0
the treasury snd opening rich mines TO
sp5culstors already fabulously rich. These
iron and coal lands, at this rate, will most
likely be purchased by Pittsburg iron and
coal companies and be held falow fer
generations, just as the timber lands OF Mis-
siFsippi and Arkansas are being purchased
and taken off the market by lumbeTmen in
anlic patton OF a time when the timber of
Canada and the Northwest will give out.
The iron snj coal industries Of Alabama
may be very effectually smolhered by this
act of Senator Morgan"
Now, i think you uninteutionaliy do Sen
ator Morgan an mi lstice in denominating
the bill passed BY the late Congress in reIa-
ton 20 Alabama mineral lands as sen ator
Morg ms land act" and which bill provides
THAT within the State OF Alabama all pub
lie lands, whether mineral or otherwise, shall
be subject to disposal only agricultural
lands: Prorided, kousrer, That all lands which
have heretofore been reported 10 the General
Land Office containing coal and iron sh all
hr:t be offered at public sale: And proridsd
further, 1 hat any bona fde entry under the
provisions of tue homestead law OF lands
| within said State heretofore made may be
patented without reteTeDce to an act approved
May 10, 1872, entitled AN act to promote
| the development of the mining resources OF
the Uaiied Stales,' in cases where the per-
{ sons u aking application for such patents have
in all other respects complied with the
| homestead law relating thereto"
| Now this bill merely grants to Alabama,
| like privileges 10 those heretofore granted
: by Congress TO the States Of Kansas, Ms.
I souri,, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Michigan and
| her States without hesitancy. All OF
the valuable mineral lanis of these States
| have been By Congress relieved from the act
| of 1878, which sc 3 provides that the coal
lands of the Uniied Stses undi,possd Of,
within fifteen miles of any completed rail-
| rosd should not thereafter be sold at less
! than so acre, and the coal fields lying
| outside Of the tifteen-mile limit of The rail-
| ways, should not be sold at lees than SO an
mineral lands was thoroughly invt sits a.ed
| by the Committee on Public Lands, both Of
| the House and of the Senate, and, ia add Ii
! ton thereto, received The following indoors =
| ment:
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, !
| WAsHINGToS, July 10, 1882. !
SIR have received your letter OF the Z III
Instant, aud the incosed copy of Senst= bill
| 40, "to requisite The disposal OF coal lauas
I a - n
the S nate Committee thereon. The eport
contains a letter from my immediate prede-
| c. ssor, tran.mittiDg letter from the com.
m ssioner Of the general land off ;e, who sub,
| United draught of bill on the subject, which
you state is emb odied in Senate bill 140. The
| bill meets my entire approval, and will, i
| hope, become law. Very respectfully,
II. Nj. TELLER, Secretary.
| Hon John T. Morgan, United States Senate.
1t is a well-known fact that the railroads
In Alabama were not anxious for the pas
ge of this bill, as they owned large bodies
Of these coal lands, having been granted al
ternate sections for fifteen miles on either
side by the government of the United States
sud the passage of this bill would create 8
competition they would prefer not to meet
Il Is also a well-kuown fact that not an acre
OF these lands has ever been taken up under
the sct of 1878. Now, word as to the 10
t,rest taken by Senator Morgan to secure
the passage OF this bill. We will merely
| quote from his remarks to the Senate while
| this bill WAS under consideration. From
page 10 OF the Congressional Record, March
| 5, 1858, we quote:
Mr.. Morgan-I shall not occupy more than
five minu Is on this bill, and then ask the
Senae to vote On it. merely wish to make
| statement OF the facts. | should like to
| obt fr,anI niaIi oe
| this is bis last day in the Senate; but | have
| eel interrupted ever since yesterday morn
| ing, and hope he will not press his "a lest
| | will not veDturs 10 explain even what the
honorable sena'or from Vermont Mr.. Ell
muni- yesterday evenli g stated TO the Sen.
| ate. | assure the Senate OF the United Safes
that this matter has been under the mast
mature cons Iteration, and my colleague and
/ have been really resisting this bill ,but have
yielded to popular sentiment and demand In
our country, which is beyond any compsrI-
son TO be comprehended outside OF the State
| will therefore submit 10 the vote Of The
Senate without taking the time of the Senate
| 10 explain il fur ther.
Ga page SO, of the Record OF March
1888, we lind:
Jr. Morgan-1 now ask the secretary 10
re ad joint resolution of the Legislature q
Alabama, which l send TO the desk.
The Presiding Oficer-The resolution viii
BE- read.
The sctirg Secretary then read as follows
| rs 49,
| Enrolled joint resolution OF the Senate and Hous
Of Representatives of the General Assembly o
Alabama.
Rcsoirsd by The Senate (the House Of Repre-
sent7tires concurring), That the senators frou
Alabama IN the Congress of the UniteC
States are hereby requested to vote for, auC
procure, if possible, the passage OF the ac
now pending 10 the Senate, providing for tn
disposal of mineral lands in Alab ana.
GEO. P. HARRISON, JR.,
l.. President of the Senate.
WILDER F. FOSTER,
Speaker Of the House of personalities
| Approved December II, 1882
E.A. ONEAL, Governor
l, Ellis Phean, secretary OF state, hereb,
certify that the foregoing is a true copy Q
the original jJinl resolution, in relation L
mineral lands in Alabama, as the same is OIL
file i'll my office.
Witness my hand and the great seal of tn
State, at Montgomery, Ala, this 18th De
czmber, 1882.
[sEALl ELLIS PdELAN, Secretary OF State.
Now, az 10 these lands being purch ased b
Piltsburg iron and coal companies and be /,
for generations. A visit 10 that section o
the country would disclose the fact that gu
own Sou bern people own by far the large
portion Of these lands. You will find tina
Tennesse ans have been found who were will
ing to invest in Alabama enterprises. w
find company OF Nashville capitalists hsv
purchased $4,000 acres. We find the PraI
Coal and Coke Company and the Birming
ham Coal, C3ks and Iron Company, emb bra
ing about 81, 600 acres of iron aud coal land
owned and managed by the following we'll
known citizens of Memphis: as c. Nicely
Napoleon Hill, Thos. II. Milburn, Nolan,
Font ine, Eaoch Ensley and JAS. H. Smith
These lands were purch ased by these gentle
men in 1881 and 1882, AID the daily outpu
OF coal by this company alone is about 200(
tons.
We also fnd another Memphis company
composed of Messrs. c. G. Graham, T. ]. La
imam, L. 3. Mcfarland, NJ. L. Meachan, B
". Estes, H. 7. Ellet S. H. Dunscomb, aUC
others, own about $4,000 acres. Thus show
ing that Southern capital and energy ar
coming to the front, and that the South, and
especially Alabama, Is not dependent OF
Piitsburg 10 develop her resources. Ala
bama, and especially Birmingham, enjoy