Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1883-08-30
hat Was Meant.

\ correspondent, a Republican, who
evidently intends to be sarcastic, asks
the Spirit, what did the Democratic
State Convention mean anyway when it
insisted in its platform upon the reser
vation of the public lands for actual
settlers and demanding that not an
other acre be given to corporations ?
We will take the trouble to answer the
question Of our friend, we hope at not
too great length to prevent him from
reading all Of our reply.
al sorts Of frauds have been genera.
ted through the gobbling greed Of rail.
road corporations in grasping for public
lands. Indeed so widespread has be
come these rascalitics that the General
Land Office has been forced to send out
hundreds Of special agents to ferret out
the rascals and to restore to the public
domain, il possible, the land they rob.
bed it Of We do not know that corpo.
rations have been engaged in any Of
these robberies but it is certain the
loose manner in which the government
has conducted business with the corpo.
rations has led to the pcrpetration Of
enormous frauds by smaller land specu
lators. There is evidence now in the
department at Washington showing
that not less than one hundred thou
sand acres Of land have been aPpropri
ated in this way. How much more has
been stolen can only be guessed.
The government has dealt most lii.
orally with corporations in its grant Of
land. The public domain Of the United
States, including the Alaska possessions
of G9,j29,GOO acres, reaches ,S23, ,IsO,.
3N7 acres. In this the State Of Texas is
not included, as by the treaty of annex
alton it retained the ownership Of all
public lands within its borders. Up to
the close 0! June, 1850. there had been
surveyed 7j2,5j7,l2j acres, of which
remained not disposed Of, 2LsO27Il
acres, making with the unsurveyed
land the number Of acres now owned
by the government, l.273.9iG,f3S. De.
ducting from this the Indian and Mill.
tary reservations and private laud
claims the available lands are 1896, coo.
600 acres. 1t is better, perhaps. to say
that about 2jO,OOO,OOO acres only are
really available, since the immense ter.
ritory Of Alaska Is useless for cultivation
or settlement and fully iCO,O0O,OOO
acres of the remaining lands are noun.
tanious.
The railroad corporations have been
given already about thirty three mil.
lions of acres. OF the two hundred and
fifty millions OF acres that remain cor.
porations are now claiming fully one.
half, or one hundred and twenty FIVE
millions. The Northern Pacific Rail
road alone wants nearly fifty millions
OF acres.
Why do these corporations yet claim
these immense amounts? Because cor
rupt Congresses gave them to them.
They were given under certain restric.
tons. II the terms Of the grants were
not complied with the land was to be
forfeited to the government. The cor
porations concluded it would be more
profitable to fail to comply with the
original term, for a period of years, es.
Gaping the payment Of taxes and other
burdens, and when a market had been
created for the remaining lands step in
and secure them, by bribing corrupt
Congressmen to extend the limits of
the grants.
These corporations will be confroted
with Democratic House of Represen.
tatives at Washington next December
and they have already become alarmed
over the prospective failure Of their
plans. It will be we'll for the House to
stand firm, and emphatic expressions oi
popular sentiment like that of the
Democratic platform of this State will
aid it. 10 it our only hope lies. A Re
publican Senate cannot be trusted "a