Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-04-30

t"V-'' tHc years Tue homestead lav
TIE si-t-f and IN 1st humane act of i-s
,-'a'lpn slace si"ses pronounced tn
-" tn%t nolrIsli.d iutu m4uhoud tn
,iiost IN tssaiIne fragment OF toe hum :
rae fe shall civ DE- the land by L.
iof an Inheritance among Iur families
I" tie more ye shall give the more il
merit ince, and to the fe ser We shall CIV
the less Inherit, nee" The homestea
ihW- "nat a rnpckery Of human nupe.
beIofs ths hour I, ? IL r-AltrIum,h ha
come, 'onsrtss. In the reckiessuess O
aostiutt power, Welding - the sor0.,
motive OF cJin ng tue Commonwealth O
tue people mt private fortunes, ha
granted u monopoly the wealth il
uoiL.s AID human hAppines. the home
,teta iaw WAS intended 10 dIffase. Ib
incl sn reserv tons and fOrfcited grant
are about al! that is left.
! DO gtRt!-m-u WHO defend this land
grant rallro system ami com pl AIN .,
! Dtterla .at We are seeking To- lmpos,
unjust burde Us Oh the men who nav
Obtained the b-ustit of thess gr,nt
forget, In estimating The value of thos,
grants, that III a Government like our
homes and INTEL lgence are not onl,
necessary 10 the weii-bclng of TIE whul,
people, bnt Indispensable ~ the pc ict
ana order of society and the STABILITY
OF government Do they tniak that 4
system can be lu.ugurated ty Con
sress by which fsw sklilfui and In,
geiions gentlemen nay mOuopolZe I'm.
perlai wealth out of the common IN
hefitance of tue people ana op.n uI
opportunity 10y which the greater por.
tion OF the landf of the kvpuo Ollie
al ,pted 10 agriculture and the blessings
Of homes and of Independent frochold-
can anI will. with absolute certainty
be seized upon by foreign and do,nestlc
capitalists. AMI the price tAu5 advanced
beyond the reach OF the greater por-
tion of our people, without lltilctlug A
deadly wound on our free institutions
and the rights Of the laboring men!
Does any Intelligent man be,.eve that
our stem of government can be main
tained without the great BODY of our
people being independent treeholder1
And yet this land grant railroad system,
by its own direct III nopoly of the pub
lie lands and by the opportunities it
has opeued up for capitalists and cor
porations, European as we'll as Amerl-
can. to monop0lize them. has even now
almost exh .usted that portion Of the
pnblic domain adapted To agriculture,
rendering 1t absolutely certain that
throughout = vast region the plOW will
not be ''Iu the hand of its owuer, but
land tenant, great est ites and squalid
poverty, will curse the land. Nothing
bat forces and currents now hid from
our view can prevent this. So the Iipid
parSlmouy Of our fathers in boarding
mp these public lands for their posteri.y
becomes he dishonor of their chill.
tren: for II must be remembered that
up tu lS62, when this fatal and venai
system WIS entered npon, the entire
grants for internal improvements from
the llth day of September, 1877. to the
18th of March, 1861. tnade exclusively to
states. not an acre to corporations, WAS
but 81 ,6OO.Si6 acres. including the grant
to the Illinois Central. 80 often iuen
toned. of three and one-quarter mil
lions Of acres-largc for that period
how trivial for the period from ls6l to
to 1875.
With the public land c1h tusted. dis
posed of in immense grants. or AT nom
lnal prices to foreign aud domestic cap
itnlists, then, and not till then. the
period OF peril to tbs Republic will
begin.
Have the gentlemen considered the ex-
traurjlnary,yet silent influence these un-
shOrn, fertIls and virliu land. have ex-
eroIsed tar ugh all the years Of our hii-
tory over our people! they have been,
from tue beginning. not only Tho cause
aud the source of pros ,erlty. but, III re
than that, the Gauss of the unex .mpled
internal and domestic quletu is and r.
pose We have enjoyed, undcr the shelter
IF which our greatness has been achlev
ed. Where, III all the worlds history.
have u people through more than ceu-
tury been SO greatly exempt (ouiy eX-
cepting the inheritance of African slave
ryD from internal strife How seldom
through all these years. though proiong-
ed periods of commercial and industrial
depression have often occurred, has Ia
bor. even Iii Hunted fields and for brief
period. like swarthy giant In desp tir,
girded up its l@ins for struggle AZ ainst
oppression. Yet at times u loud cry for
bread has been heard in our cities. and
no overinasterlng army has stood ready
u strike. do not assert that the ab-
senco of disorder and unrest, which in
other nations has organized standing
ARMIES and nAvies, Is with us to be at
our public domain and the hope and
confidence it INSPIRED. for other great
causes have contributed to that end
but | do assert that IN the geeatest d..
gree the internal pc ace, order aud we'll
beiug of our people can and must be
traced t. this great Common wealth of
lands, which from the beginning has
arrested toe attention. animated the
ned thu hn,.. 80 th q
laborlng men of this country. Cheap
lands. the hope of home and tireside
and independent manhood have been
our standing army and wstchful navy
guarding for more than a century the
repose aud order of the American peo-
pie.
For generations the towns and cities
and mining regions east of the Alleghe
nies. and III more recent years westward
of that ancient landmark. have swarmed
| with workmen in the countless indus
tries of the forge. the loom. tho mine
and the workshop; the overcrowded ru
raj popu lation have swarmed into youl
| towns and cities; everywhere thousand.
upon thousands of industrious and
| strong men ha been barely able &
| keep the wolf from the door Have
| ktAtittEtti llit Dutii3tt huu
hope-inspiring ihfluence of ths great
public domain on the lives of this great
and ever-gtowiug multitude of oar peo
| plu! Foiio1 the weary workman inc
| ais rented and cheerless tenement. fur
nlShed with bare necessIti-s of life; se,
him as he sits moodily at the tiresid,
with his poorly clad and scantily fe,
wife and children arouad him-hou
areary and cheerless But in tn,
mids, of his hopeless de spondency le
the old hope revive. hear hn
talk of the oft considered plans
by saving and scraping year afte
years cheese pairing, If you please
even on the bare necessities of lifel (
raise means necessary 30 em.prat
to the free fields of the West
and see how poverty and wretchednes
vanish and hope revives. while vision
of q blessed homestead, with its cheel
full firrsidr. an honest and manly free
hold. with free fields and lowing rds
aud, above all, happy ans hopeful chill
drsn and prosperous and peaceful oil
ASs, give new courage to the man an
bring a CLEAN OF gladncss TO the wear
heart Of the carevorn wife. Who 81 a
say how many millions of laboring mel
buoyed up by he hope your grand pno
hc d donain inspired, have thus. throug
| thu. N AtI.nt s.yInJs of ys1r3 ppne West