The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-05-28
WASHINGTON LETTER.
rFrom our Regular Correspondent
1.r.,~-o,,o,, n n Nov o6 1873.

TFrom our Regular Correspondent
WASHINGTON, d. c., May 26, 1888.
The Star route trial has nearly spen
itself and must come to an end soon
Whatever may have been the hopes ant
expectations at its earlier stages of thos'
who desire to see justice done, there Il
now an almost unanimous opinion that ;
failure will be the result. And while two
years have been spent in mistrials There
are good many people who begin tC
count the expense. The time is coming
when that trial will be pointed at as one
of the most outrageous and cxtravagant
that eversoccurred. Nobody knows how
much that trial has cost. Brady and his
gang. as l believe, were and are rascals-
| cannot dispute that fact. They made
money, as | believe, in The most rascally
manner, but / would like to have the
honest, hard listed farmer and mechanic
look at the expense of the trial. The
government has already spent almost as
much as it was robbed of, and the end is
not yet. What do the hard working far
mers, mechanics and labOrers think of
paying lawyers $3.50 day for trying a
case? Is it any wonder that the case lasts
months, instead of days?. If | was a
lawyer and was getting 800 or $3.50 a
day / presume / should not be so impa-
tient. But it is a shame, just the. same.
If the governments lawyers were paid by
the job, instead of By the day. firmly be-
lieve the trial would have been over long
ago. 1t is said, and / have not seen the
fact denied, that Bliss is paid $50 day,
and that Mr. Merrick and Mr.. ,Ker each
receive 800 day. You will see, there
fore. that one item of expense foots up
$3.50 day. MIR. Ker talked seven days
cost 50, $50. Bliss talked eight days
cost 80, 500, Wilson talked six days
cost So, 100. Ingersoll has talked four or
five days, and there are several counties
to be heard from. Nobody but the law
yers seem to be getting any good out of
the trial The accused pay their big ar
ray of counsel out of the money stolen,
and thus Uncle Sam foots the whole bill
for two years employment of this entire
crew of high priced ATTORNEYS, to say
nothing of witness fees and all other ex-
penses-all for nothing, probably.
Among the great commercial transac-
tions of these days are the sales of enor-
nous tracts of land in our western and |
southwestern states and territories to |
foreign capitalists. The success of stock
raisers and wheat growers upon the
hitherto untouched soil which has been
opened to the cultivatOr by new railways |
has drawn to this country millions of |
foreign money, the owners of which are |
no longer satisfied with the small return |
yelled by investments at home. Knowing
that the area of our unimproved public
land is rapidly decreasing, these capitalists
have determined to invest In them before
it shall be too late. Not long ago a tract
of land in Texas as large as the state of
Connecticut and nearly half the size of
Belgium was transferred to three or four
citizens of Chicago, Who'll
were to pay for it by erecting capitol
building for the state from which they
secured the title. The sale of this land
to a small group of foreign investors has
since been announced. A law recently
enacted by the Texas legislature was so
loosely drawn that other great tracts of
state lands can easily be bought by any
one who has the money and an inclina-
ion to make such investments Great I
wheat farms and cattle ranges in the west '
nave passed into the hands of foreign !
buyers. Within few days 1,10O.OOO l
lcres in the cotton belt of the state of
and 400, 900 acres in the {
wooded country in the southern t
nd of that state have been :
old to firm of bankers, s
Who are said to represent capitalists in i
1ermany. and three other tracts of the t
anne size in the southland enough in t
II to make state larger than New Jer- t
ey-are soon to become the property of
european investors Other sales of areas +.
large that they attracted public at a
entlon have been recorded from time toj O
me during the last two or three years. ii
There seems TO be nothing in these a
of municipalities of land to n
ause alarm. If the property were to a
orm the basis of great hereditary estates, p
ON which no one could hereafter buy 81
lrm for himself, the investments would
emand more careful consideration. But =.
lese broad acres are going into the hands n.
spectators and in the course of time r.
icy Will be broken up and parceled out h,
settlers. The purchasers will encour-l II;
sc settlement and cultivation, and in | y;
us way enrich the country and rapidly ..
Etend the area of civilization. Their q,
reat resources may enable them 10 give +,
the south new system of agriculture
here 1T is most needed, and wherever n.
ey may go they will increase the ma "
ans wealth and productive capacity. So 20
hg as they do not interfere with the I'll
lergy OF those who prefer to make ms
'mes and homesteads for themselves "a
ithout the assistance of wealthy com ba
mics, they will do much more good than &c &c
rm. TuoNso IT