The Portland daily press., 1886-09-13

and the land should be restored to settlers.
Well, now somebody complained that that
bill was not passed at that session. 1t was
passed at the next Why was it not passed
rules at that time tirp held the house
in irons; simply because Mr.. Ran
dali and his friends never would permit the
majority OF the House Of Representatives to
govern the House, and it was not until this
last Congress that we were able to break
those chains, and we broke them in order to
give a Democratic House and Democratic
administration fail chance to run their
course and be glorifed, if there was any
glory in them. daughter and applause)
The Senate passed the bill forfelting certain
lands granted to the Northern PACIFIC, and,
if that bill had passed the House, all those
lands would have been open for settlement.
But instead of passing it, the Democratic
House proceeded to forfeit millions of acres
of land that, in my judgment, they had no
right to forfeit. You can take away from a
man what he has no right to, but in this
country you cannot take away from man
what rightfully belongs to him. (Applause)
They put that bill in at the very last OF the
session, and never expected 1t to pass. WhaG
would have been the effect of 1t had 1t passed?
Why, simply that all that vast territory west
of Bismarck would have been glorious
campinggrOund for the legal profession. mere
would have been nothing but disputed land
titles, which are the greatest curse that can
be inflicted upon country. Inc reason tnad tliat
is because the land titles of that country are
not vet settled. When you buy land, you
want land; you do not want lawsuit; ana
vet there are some men who are desirous OF
finding favor with those who object to law
yers and to that end pass bills that would
simply create bonanzas for lawyers, bills ON
which they might fatten. Why, look at the
DesmOineS river valley, where the United
States government undertook some Such Tor
FIXTURES. The result has been that that has
been fostering sore in that community Tor
years. Now what shall we do in such cases?
Shall we do what is just, or, by undertaking
to do what is not just, shall we reap the con-
sequences of injustice? We cannot afford to
do it. We want the lands for the actual set
tier. l remember when it was supposed tnat
it was great arid desert all through tne
1iOuriShing territory Of Dakota, Wnen the
land there offered at a dollar and quarter
an acre found no takers. Nobody wanted it.
1t was unfit for man to live on. A man IN
these days not only wants chance TO get
somewhere, but he wants chance 10 get
away if he don't like. He wants railroad,
and he won't buy land where he cannot have
railroad. Now, the government proceeded
to give alternate sections for railroads., and
at the same time doubled the price OF the
sections which it retained, so that the gov
ernment received precisely the same amount
of money that it would have received before
Did the man who paid two dollars and nall
an acre suffer because he did not get 1t for
dollar and a quarter? Why, the land, With
out a railroad, was not worth having out of
doors. The land, with the railroad, was
worth all the man paid for it. What man
wants is land to live on, land that will be
useful to him, and that is what our settlers
are entitled to have. How we mortgage our
towns to get railroads, because we want to
be connected with the world, and the hardy
pioneer in the West wants it as much as we,
that induces our people to enter upon the
land. That is what they want, that is what
they need, and that is for the prosperity of
thf.a 'hnto mn ~ nd
country. Now, we have come to the end OF
that We have built enough. We have a
country covered with a network OF railroads:
A thing is wise at one time ana unWlse az
another We have reaped the dement's OF
our wisdom, and now we can stop, we ought
to stop, and we are doing so.
If it is question of fair treatment OF the
Western settlers how have our Democratic
friends treated the people Of Dakota? What
have they done for them? There is an I'M
mense empire, containing five hundred thou
sand of people. What is the foundation
principle of our system of government? IL
is that every man shall participate In the
election of its chief magistrate. No man
in a Territory can vote for chief magis-
trate. In order to enable them to do that, II
is necessary to make State out OF a Ierrl-
tory, and there in Dakota are fye hundred
thousand people clamoring for admlsslon,-
within one hundred and forty thousand as
many people as there are in the State Of
Maine. The Senate promptly passed bill
to admit Southern Dakota as State, and
the House smothered it in committee, and
five hundred thousand American cltizens are
today denied their rights simply because a
majority of them are Republicans. That is
true of Montana, and it is also true of
Washington, only in lesser degree. Is tnat
right? Is it just to the hardy pioneers who
make an empire in the West. You know IL
is not.
But these acts of injustice are not confined
to the West. What has the administration
done for our fishermen? Let me give you
short statement of that case. Why is it that
we ale today having this trouble9 know
we shall finally have it settled; we have too
| Just cause to miss that. No laundering
can prevent it; but one season has gone BY
In the year 1870 our o. goV@ernmbeintb err MADE eoa
their fisheries and they got our market, and
something to boot. We found that the fish
cries had shifted and they were getting our
markets for nothing; and our fishermen
were contending with Canadians who build
| their ships cheaper, who live cheaper and
prefer to live meaner than our people would.
| They found them competing, side by side In
| do not, and our fishermen said. I'VE want
that treaty abrogated," and Congress abro-
| gated it, and year ago last July 1t ceased to
| exist Now, why is it that Canada is harass-
capturing our vessels? Why is it they are
denying us privileges that we give them on
our coast todayS Why, here was $1,000
| worth of clam bait upon Chebeague Island
| sold to Nova Scotians during the very time
| daughter and applause.) They deny us
| the privileges we freely grant to them. What
| are they doing it for? Catching fish Is one
| thing. but you have got to get so;Icbody to
| eat it, or you have not done ycIr whole
| business. You catch fish, and where is the
| best market in which to sell then In the
| United States. What do the Canadians
want? They want our markets What are
| they fighting us for? To drive us, the Cana
| What did the House of Representatives do?
| One morning Mr.. breckenridge of Ken
lucky, came into the committee of ways and
means and said: .,Mr. Reed, ! am going to
ridge, you are joking" But he was not, and
| the very next morning lie came in and put it
| upon the proposed bill, and every Democrat,
| without exception, voted aye. What did
| dams were fighting us for. what they were
treating us like pirates for, that what they
| were willing to pay money for, that
what they were willing to give us privileges
for, namely, our markets. Mr.. Morrison pur-
posed to toss to them for nothing. Do you
think that was craftsmanship? Do you
| think that was wisdom? Now, what class
of people are they? have no honeyed
| compliments to pay to any set OF people.
But no nation, since civilization began, ever
failed to cherish the fisheries. ,Whyi For
| the perfectly selfish reason that the fisheries
| are the nursery of any navy and any marine.
| When we want our ships manned In the
| time of war, our sailors are found upon the
| fishing smacks. Our country needs to en-
courage them, and it always has done so.
| Another thing. What did these men de-
| serve of a Democratic administration? l
| will tell you. The fishermen upon the coast
| of Maine, the great body of them, through
| evil report and through good report, have
| followed the Democratic banner, and If ever
set of men needed fair treatment, and de-
served it, it is the fishermen Of our State, ,and
tuis is the treatment they have received
Now, the remedy is in their own hand. Ihey
can express their opinion upon the subject,
if they will, and it is for them to say whether
they will do so or not.
| 1t has been said that have offered no pan
acea for the labor troubles of the country
Well, have not. If anybody believes that
peace and goodness are going to descend
upon this earth solely by the assistance OF
the revised statutes of the United States,
think they are mistaken. l think that the
happiness of the people of this country de-
pends upon something bigger than the Con
gress of the United States, although NOBODY
undertakes that body less than do, De-
lieve there are laws which govern and con-
| troll the happiness of our people when are
wiser and better than those that Congress
can enact, and l believe that every move
ment on the part of the people IS entltlea 70
| respectful consideration, to careful eXamlna-
tion and to approval when the course is just
| There has been no measure In Congress
| which was dictated by good sense and rea'