The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1884-10-25
The Land Thieves.

r1.- Aut Lau0 1nlevcSs
There is in Mr.. Blaine's letter of &C
ccptancc no paragraph more -evasive
and nnsat sfactory then that which re-
lates to public lands. The. careful
reader who has not forgotten the let
tiers which Mr.. Blaine wrote to Warren
Fisher will find food for thought in the
brief arguments by which the Re-
publican candidate endeavors to prove
that corporations ought not to be al
lowed to gel. possession OF large tracts
of the National domain. The man who
used the power of his high Office to en-
able the Little Rock & Fort Smith Rail-
road Company to retain a large grant
OF public land now writes most
virtuously about the '.evil OF permit
ting large tracts of the National domain
to be controlled by the few against the
many" 1t is not. however, to Mr..
Blaine's connection with corporations
and Immigrant Legislation that we now
direct attention, but to the fact that
the candidate. following the example
set by those who framed the Republic
an National platform, has deliberately
avo ded the main question.
This question is: Shall the public
lands be legitimately bought or secured
under the Land laws by honest settlers,
or shall they be stolenp Shall these
lands be taken by honest methods =
whether by individual citizens, corpo-
rations, or aliens--or shall they be
taken dishonesty? This is the Question
Which. in relation to the public domain,
is more important to-day than any
other. Enormous grants have been Sc
cured Dy railroad companies, and large
areas have passed into the hands Of
aliens. Corrupt leg Station in behalf
OF these companies and. the propriety
of allowing aliens to hold great farms
and ranches are subjects which deserve
''sttentlon, but the reports of the Land
Office. repeatedly sent to Congress,
prove that millions Of acres have been
stolen in the last three or four years by
native Americans not connected With
corporations. "a food tide of Illegal
appropriations" said Commissioner
Mcfarland, a year ago, "sccms to he
sweeping over the new States and Ter
ritories, threatening to eng If the en-
tire public domain. BY the side Of
the broad areas stolen by native thieves,
the holdings of aliens-also secured,
in many cases. by per ury and
comparatively in
significant Because the Land laws
have failed to protect the Government
or the honest settler from the operations
OF these scoundre's, the Land Commits
sioner long ago reached the conclusion
that nearly all of them should be re-
pea'ed. To those who are acquainted
with the facts the recent history OF the
distribution Of our public domain is the
history of successful fraud, and the
Land Commissioner reports are an adj
mission that the thieves not only hare
been but are now able to defy the Gov
ernment.
The next Administration should be
one that will wage relentless war against
these thieves, whether they be aliens
or native-born citizens. The remnant
of our lands should be preserved for
honest men, and the land robbers should
be prosecuted and forced to give I'D
their plumber, whether that plumber be
so-called Spanish grants in New Mexi.
co, or mineral land stolen in Alabama,
or farming and timber land taken by
fraudulent entry in the far West. No
one who is not familiar with the state
ments made by the Land Office can have
an adequate conception of the extent of
these robberies, or OF the boldness and
of the thieves.
1t will be observed that this main
question, which MI. Blaine has avoided,
involves tho personal honesty or dis
a great many men,, Per-
sonal honesty is an Issue in this cam
paign and can not be ignored either as
relating to matters of public policy or
to the candidates themselves. Mr..
Blaine has been in close Communication
with Stephen B. Elk;ns and Jerome B.
either of whom could have
given him interesting information con-
corning land robberies in New Mexico
and Observation-Disclosures in which aliens
were not originally concerned. Did
they fail to enlighten him. or was their
offered and reiectedp---
N. T. Times lind. Rep.).
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