Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-10-28

their attention was called 20 the matter
they could screen thomaeivsa from Al
unpleasant consequeucss Of thsir pas>
negiiRenes By simply pio1eine thea,
selves 10 20 On With fhsif work and
insure the speedy compilation . Of theiI
roads. A construction which supposes
Congress 20 have stuitified itself by tue
insertion Of unmeaninG and wholly In.
CELESTIAL conditions IL cIearfy fnadmis
s1ble. That body may contain . con
siderable percentages ef drive1ers. bui
IN Law, at least, it IL NOT allowable %
assume that it 10 mads no Of thai clasn
Of persons. In order rightly 10 iuter-
pret tbs Law In this caae. va muaf CON
slder the purpose for which il vas en-
acted, which clearly was 20 sscars the
construction Of certain railroads. upon
the theory that the public futsrests
would thereby be advanced. II was no
part OF the purpose Of the Law 20 enrich
certain persons. organized as corpora-
tlen. by making them q present of ear
tain lands. The roads desired were 10
be built through country which NOS
only was unsettled, bat was likely 20
remain %, or at least 70 be very sparssly
settled, for ysars 10 come; and the grants
we're made ~ large ~ seemed necessary
70 secure investments Of capital II the
roads undsr those circumstances. The
companies that were organized TO build
the roads having failed TO csmplste shern
within the prescribed time, the lands
conditionaily granted. except the por-
ton patented or accruing TO the ooupa
nies undsF fulfilled conditions--i. O., for
portions Of their roads actually built
become subject 30 the action Of tha
Government. The latter has, indeed,
bound itseif by q quasi pledge 20 do
such acts and things ~ may be neoes-
sary 10 the speedy completion Of the
roads, and % not 90 leave partially
buiit road with one end in the wilder
ness and without any early prospect Of
the benefits which would arise from q
through trade; bat 10 has not bound L.
self TO do those acts and things In any
particular way. and il b certainly under
no obligation 70 do them at cost three
or four times greater than IL necessary.
The circumstances having changed since
the grants we're made; extensive regiona
bordering the lines Of these roads; which
were a wilderness then, being nov occu-
pied by an industrious and thriving
population; the market for agricultural
products being rapidly enlarging
through the development OF manufac-
turing industry aud the growth of the
general population Of the country, aud
thsre being evory reason to anticipate
that the lands embraced in these grants
will soon command several times as
much as when granted they we're sup
pssed 10 be worth. IL is perfectly COM
petent and propsr for Congress 10 con-
slider whether the grants are not vastly
larger than 10 : necessary TO the speedy
completion Of the r0ads, and either
TO cut them down or withdraw them
entirely, and TO provide for the said
speedy completion" In some other
and cheaper and less Questionable
vav.
We say less Objectionable adyisedly,
for there are very grave obieetions to
this land grant system. Not the least
of them IL the prolonged exclusion of
settlers from tracts Of vast extent, en-
of the public domain. When the acts
making the several grants were passed.
the Commissioner of the General Land
Olfioe withdrew. in each case. from pre-
ernption or homestead settlement strip
Of country wide enough to satisfy the
grant, and In many cases a strip consid-
erably wider than the grant .iied for.
On the definite location of road by
the survey of lie route, the withdrawal
would be abolished except as TO the odd
numbered sections outside the granted
bat within the indemnity limits. The
right of the road TO the odd sections
within the granted limits would then
for the first time attach, and the even
numbered sections would become open
10 settlement, though within the grant
cd limits; the price Of land taken mp by
pre- -emption would be S2.50 per scrs,
and the size of q homestead would be
restricted TO eighty aores- II tbs road
we're built according 20 the conditions
laid down in les grant, the conveniences
it would bring might compensate the
settler Tor the increased price of his pre-
emption claim, or the reduced size of
his homestead; but when compliance
with these conditions 10 neglected. as 10
has been by the roads named, the set
tier remains year after year, getting
none Of the advantages vir ually pledg-
cd to him ny the Government, In ex-
pectation Of which he has chosen what,
In their absence. 10 q disadvantageous
location.
When the withdrawal Is In al unsur-
veyed country, its effect 10 10 exclude
settlement from the entire strip that is
withdsawn-a belt eighty or one hun
dred miles in width in the case OF the
Northern Pacific and Atlantic and Pa
ciiis Raiiroads--since the settler, who
has no means of distinguishing the rail
road land from that Of the Government,
would be liable 10 find himself ON an
odd section, and would be obliged TO
buy his land as such price as the rail-
road company might charge, or else
abandon his improvements. How great
disadvantage IL 10 to settlers In all the
adjacent country TO have belt OF land
eighty or one hundred miles IN width
kept for years In the condition OF q
wilderness. u is hardly necessary TO
point out. And even In q surveyed
country, a belt OF railroad land without
a railroad on it, or any definite pros
poets of one, is apt 10 be settled very
slowly, since only the even sections are
open 20 pre-emption and homestead
entry, and these, being held at double
minimum price, are net taken op very
rapidly while other lands equally good
are 20 be had at the ordinary rate. The
great bulk of the railroad land is. how
ever, la unsurveysd country. THIS -
the case with by far she greater portion
of the land embraced In the grants 20
the Oregon Central. Northern and
southern Pacific, and Atlantic and Pa
cific Railroads. The amount granted 70
these -four roads 10 estimated 10 be ~.
| 10000 acres; and as ia snsurvsyed
country the even sections AZ well as the
odd ones are withdrawn from settle
ment. the aggregate withdrawal on be-
half OF thess roads, taking IN the IN
dsmuity limits and considering tue
ususl care Of the General Land Once
10 reserve enough 20 satisfy raiirosl :
| claims, must have been considerably IN
| excess OF aoO0.ooo acres, or an area
| about equal 10 that OF the thirteen on
| einal States.
In view Of such facts. one well may
/ doubs whether the land grant syssem,
ostensihly adopted with Q yiew 20 accei,
Grating settlement. has not had the enec'
~ greatly retsrdins Il; while We knov
that ID has promoted monopoly IN tns
soil. faciltt sting the sale OF land In iafe'
tracts. offering temptations 20 evasioni
of the law in relation 90 The aisernatIns
sections Of public land, causing mnci
of the Land in the northwest TO ee Las
ant in inmense grain farms. and TAU
hmitinc the population. and 90 grea
l.