The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-01-23
A MOVE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION,

Whatever may be the outcome of Mr.. Hol-
mans resolutions, adopted by the House by
such an overwhelming majority the move is
in the right direction. The safety of this
country rests primarily on the personal inter
ests of the individual citizens Given homes
for the masses and no inimical power can
shake the government The man who has in
vested in and owns home has given hostages
to peace and good order, to loyalty and to
every good measure. The land of Amer
lea must be saved for and Sc
cured to the many as distinguished
from few landlords or corporations. Let
every acre of railroad grants forfeited from
any cause revert to the general government,
never to pass out of its hands until it goes to
actual settlers and in small quantities. The
evils of extensive possessions of land are too
well understood to need elucidation. Older
countries have long suffered from this cause
and have had endless trouble over the vexing
question. That such an evil is possible to
the United States has not been appre-
ciated it should have been. Already
in the great West wealthy corporations and
railway companies own land by the hundreds
of thousands of acres. In New Mexico and
others of the Territories. individuals engaged
in stock grazing have become possessed of
strips of the most fertile lands miles in length
and embracing million or more acres. Each
case of this kind should be thoroughly inves-
tigated, and these land grabbers should
be stripped of all that they
have obtained by tricks upon
the provisions of the land acts. Some
have secured miles of desirable territory by
putting up disreputable greasers and con-
scienceless cowboys as pre-emptors, each one
consenting to assume as many names and en-
ter as many pieces of land as were wanted,
and sustaining all with the necessary affidavits.
The business of acquiring large tracts of
lands under any pretext must be stopped,
The country cannot afford landed aristoc-
racy and if such thing is allowed to grow
| up LII Oho W OoV IL Will NC tllO SulO VI
trouble in the future At the present rate of
increase, homes must be provided for 2,000,
900 people annually The tide of immigra-
ton is rapidly swallowing up the wild lands of
the West, and as many new homes are found
ed there annually as compose whole kingdoms
in Europe. If we want patriotic people we
must give the people a chance to have some
thing to be patriotic about. Let each hus-
band and father, as far as possible, have q
homo of his own, to hold and to have
and to hand down to his children. We
have seen enough of the evils of landlordism
in England and Ireland to warn us against in
curing such danger 1t is not too late yet to
put our lands in such shape that they cannot
be built into baronial demesnes and estates to
the exclusion of those who want them for
to any railway company. Every acre not
honestly earned according to grants already
made should be declared forfeited. No stock
grazing capitalist or company, domestic or for
eign, should be enabled to hold enough land to
make townships and counties 1t is no good
excuse to plead that the cattle-raisels produce
cheap meats Actual settlers on their own
little farms will, in the aggregate, produce as
many head of cattle, besides crops of cereals
almost or quite as valuable as the live stock
raised 1t has been repeatedly urged upon
Congress to attend to this thing. Action was
never more imperative than now. There
should be no further delay. The business
should be fixed up at once, and in such shape
as to be perfect guaranty against the threat
ened evils.