Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-08-07
The.Lana Thieyes.

There is in Mr. Blaine's letter OF ac-
,eptance. no paragraph more eyasive
and unsatisfactory. then that which re-
lates to public lands. The careful
reader who has not forgotten the let
tiers which Mr.. Blame 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 all
lowed to get possession OF large tracts
of the National domain. The man who
used the power of his high Office to en-
able the Little Rock e. Fort Smith Rail-
road Company to retain 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.n 1T is not. however. to Mr..
Blaine's connection with corporations
and land grant 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
avoided the main question. ..ss
This question Is: Shall the public
lands be legitimately bought or secured
under the Land laws by honest settlers,
or shall they be stolen? Shall these
lands be taken by honest methods =
whether by Individual citizens, corpo-
ratiens sor 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 spy railroad companies, and large
areas have passed into the; hands Of
aliens. CORRUPT legislation in behalf
of these companies and the. propriety
OF allowing aliens to hold great farms
and ranches are subjects which deserve
attention, 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 wears by
native Americans not connected With
| corporations "a flood tide of illegal
appropriations said Commissioner
Garland, a year ago, ''seems to he
sweeping over the new States and Ter
ritories, threatening to engnf the en-
| tire public domain" BY the side of
the broad areas stolen BY native thieves,
the holdings of 'aliens-als secured,
in many cases, by - perjury and
|, fraud-become comparatively 4 in
significant Because the Land laws
have failed to protect the Government
or the honest settler from the operations
of these scoundrels, the Land Comnlis
sioner long ago reached the conclusion
that nearly all of them should be re-
peafed. 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 Commissioners reports are an adj
| mission that the thieves not only hare
been but are now able to defy the Gov
erYmeflt. .eyga ttaisGs@f9 - }J3fH}
The next Administration should be
one that viii wage relentless war agains st
these thieves, whether they be aliens
or native-born citizens The remnant
of our lands should be preserved foz
honest men, and the land robbers should
be prosecuted and forced to give up
| 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, Nc
| one who is not familiar with the state
| ments made by the Land Office can nave
an adequate conception of the extent OF
| these robberies, or OF the boldness and
| impudence of the thieves. EI
1t win be observed that this main
| question, which Mr.. Blaine has avoided
involves the personal honesty or dis
| honesty of great many men, Per,
sonal honesty is an Issue in this cam
paign and can not be ignored either az
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.
Chaffee, either of whom, could have
given him interesting Information con-
1 corning land robberies in New Mexico
/ and Colorado embarrassing which aliens
] were not originally copcerned. Did
| they fail to enlighten hin, Or was their
| information offered and rejectedal-
| n. y. Times Ind. Rep.). sts
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