Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1883-07-12

he.
And that's how she got her namc.-
ArgoSy.
The Story OF the Land Grants.
Chicago Tribune.
The United States went on land
grant dcbauch in 1862 which lasted ten
years. 1t is now waking up to the in
cvitablc headache Of repentance and
reform. Henry George and other
CommuniStic spirits are preaching the
naturalization of the land rs the cure
for English land monopoly, while this
country but Just begins TO realize what
it has done in the Standardization of
its domain. Too much Of the wrong
done isirrctricvablc, under Il system of
jurisprudence that transmutcs n sufli-
cicntly large theft into property with 4
magical logic of vested rights But
Il great deal that has been lost may be
rccaptWcd. The practical American
citizen, after reading the story of the
land grants, and indulging for full a
minute in the luxury Of Indignation,
will want TO know what there is to be
done about it. Several things.
|. Grants of about 10000, coo acres
may still be revoked by congress.
rrom!nGnt among these IS that OF the
Texas Pacific aGgrcgating over IA, :
600, 600 acres, worth SO, 100000. This
road has never been built, ILecorpo-
ration to which the grant was made
has obligated llSeIt to another corpora
lIon MOTTO build, so rs to give tins
second corporation Il monopoly. Large
tracts may be recovered from the
southern faclllc ana the Atlantic and
Pacific roads, which havo fallen into
the hands OF Syndlcatcs swollen with
wealth obtained bythc violation OF all
thclr duties rs trustees OF the govern
mrnt $ bounty and common carriers OF
inc people. immense tracts OF Nalu-
able timber and plantation lands IN the
south are closed to the public because
held TO await the pleasure OF corpora
IONS TO whom they were granted twen-
ty-seycn years ago, but which have
never fulfilled the conditions OF the
grants. The reserve power OF public
OPINION can force congress To take up
these millions OF acres, ii the public
thinks it worth while to call out its re-
serves. Assurodly, if the public does
not look after congress, congress will
not look after the public.
2. The public lands which lie by the
side OF the railroad lands, and are now
shut to the people because the rail
roads postpone the surveys, can be
opened to settlement. As we have cX-
planned, the laws of congress make the
roads pay the cost of surveys. Hence
the roads call for them only as needed
to sell their lands, and the bulk of their
grants are to-day unsurvcycd. As the
public land cannot be marked of until
the railroad lands are defined, the prac-
tical consequence is that, besides the
lOO,OOO,OOO of fOrfeitable land grants,
about lOO,O0O,OO0 of adjoining lands
are cilcctually, though not ostensibly,
withdrawn from public use. The re-
marks of Secretary Teller and Land
Commissioner Mcfarland on this sub
ject to our Washington correspondent
were by no means candid.
1t is intolcrablc that the public lands
should be thus locked up for the accom-
mediation of corporations, almost all OF
which are in default to the government.
The public now have information Of the
abuse. Only they can make congress
remove it.
3. Millions of acres have been stolen