Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-06-26
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1oIlH,

296, 100000 acres Of the choicest public
lands as subsidies to railroad corpora.
lions. Does the reader realize the
magnitude of the figures? New York
Is an extensive State, its area being 3d.
100000 acres. Nearly ten such States
could be established from the public
territory hestowed-most of it corrupt
ly--on favored rings of spectators by
the representatives of the grand old
party OF Colfax and Blaine.
II was on account OF his ruling which
saved one of those grants at critical
moment that Blaine wrote his memora-
bic letter to Fisher, reciting his services
and claiming his compensation there
| for. - -
OstensibIy the public domain was
thus squandered in order to hasten the
development of the West and to open
up markets for the hardy agricultural
pioneer. The first grant OF all was GER
tainly voted TO assist in the completion
of what was then deemed a military
necessity for the.vpreser1ationN of the
Union; but the sabsequenf large grants,
almost without exception. were palpable
steals which were carried through Con-
gress by wholesale bribery. In many
instances the bribe of votes was paid in
stock or bonds of the embryo railroad
whose capital wasAto be furnished
wholly from the sale of the lands
sought for.
These lavish subsidies so stimulated
railroad construction as to make it the
prime factor in preeipitating thepanic
of 1873. The completion of some of the
lines was checked; others were never
begun at all. Consequently, under the
saving clauses inserted in the grants
through the efforts of Congressman
Holman and handful of faithful col
leagues. many millions. of the misap-
propriated acres have become forfeit to
the Government. During the past four
years, Representatives Holman. Cox,
PaysOn and others have labored
zealOusly to make the forfeitures eff
fective, but the Republicans have b ad
recourse to every subterfuge and even
fraud in order to keep the unearned
lands in possession of the corporate
beneficiaries. We say '.fraud" de-l
liberately, for no milder word is ape
propriate to the action of Jay Gould's
puppet and Blaine's henchman Reed,
of Maine, who with the aid of
Keller, smothered in, the last Congress
the COMMITTEES report, recommending
the forfeiture of Gould's Texas Pacific
IL, 400, OOO-acre grab. which it was his
duty as Chairmen to present to the
House.
BY dint of tireless agitation Of this
subject for five years, and the publicity
given to it by honest newspapers, the |
people have now come to appreciate its
and we find the Chicago
Convention unblushingly|
adopting the subjoined resolution: S@
The public lands are heritage of the peo-
pie of the United States. and should be re-
by actual settlers We are opposed to tie aS
QUESTION of large tracts of these lands nv cor
porations OF individuals. especially where,
such holdings are in the hands of non residenf |
aliens. and we will endeavor t., obtain .sneh
as will tend to correct this evil. We
ali land grants Which aI baD eedy forfeiture Of
Of non compliance with Acts Se of i9 y
lion, IN :, all cases where there has been no
Of sppcb Grants to perform the conditions
: a o. ..- s Jsaae rs sueh a promise ema-
mating troR such a sourcep 1t is the
pledge OF She fox to restore the chickens
y mas eHten. The last Republican Con-
sress Voted down every forfeiture re-
sol ZION submitted to it. We see the |
hePublicans In the present House abb
lenting themselves and preventing a |
Quorum when a forfeiture bill is called
up. We see the Republican Senate
smothering the more Important for
fixture bills which the Democrats in the
House have contriyeds to pass. We see
the Interior Department. with the
sanction of the President issuing bush
els of patents for railroad lands never
lawfully earned. Does anybody inn
agine for moqaent: that Blaine would
Introduce different policy?,
The Gould-Huntington (Texas Pa
cific) land grant alone, for aDhich not a
solitary male of rail has eUer been laid.
is valued at SAC, 000, 900. tits not then
that the corridors of the Cap
it0l are over-run with lobbyists jealous I
ystFiving to defeat the forfeitures De-
nouncing them openly in the House,
Mr.. Cobb. of Indiana, Chairman of the
Public Lands Committee, said: " Ihaue
no dyss6t that, had I so desired it, I could,
haze secured one million. dollars for con-
Dertiag my committee to a sson-foJeit-l
ing policy - "a tes.st So 4
Where hundreds of millions are at
stake, the Immigrant grabbers will not
hesitate to provide ample 'soap'' for
he election of Blaine. They know him,
ind they know that the platform pledge
s hollow lie.-N T. Star.
What Charles F. Adams, Jr., Says.
Mr.. Charles Francis Adams, Jr., said
o reporter that his knowledge of the
political situation was very