St. Landry democrat., 1886-06-12
Alien LandiOrlliSsm in America.
Charleston News and Courier.

The New York Sun is bent on max.
ing the United States too hot for the
growth OF continued presence OF the
obnoxious exotic unpOpularly known
as allen Iandiordism, which has been
transplanted to American soil and has
already taken extended if not very
deep root.
The incomplete enumeration of alien
landowners and their possessions which
has been made by the Chairman of the
House Committee on Territories is
startling enough to fix the public atteu-
| ton upon the subject, without making
the list complete. By the aid OF the
tricks and devices SO successfully en-
ployee by our native land-grabbers,
both individuals and corporations, the
Marques of Tweddale alone, it is said,
has managed to sobble mp more than "a
million and a half OF acres-an area
twice as large as the State OF Rhode
Isand-in the most valuable portion of
our Trans MISSISSIPPI territory This,
Duke Of Sutherland, the Duke of
Hamilton, Lord Dunraven and Sir
William Whalley are each credited
with the requirement of huge tracts
of Western land, amounting in some
cases to many hundred thousands acres.
Besides the acquisitions OF these in
dividuals, moreover, British land
companies have engaged in similar
operations ON Il gigantic scale, and the
total possessions OF these non-residents
have attained SO large proportions as
to excite the indignation OF every
American citizen who condemns the
system Of absentee and alien landlord,
lam. and who is unwilling to see thai
system transferred to his own country
lust when it is about to be stamped out
of Ireland.
The motives which prompted such
investors to buy up whole counties III
America is forcibly illustrated by the
case of the Duke of Sutherland, whose
estate in the Highlands OF Scotland,
spanning the width of that country
from sea to sea, is the frfsit of noto-
riOus crime against justice and humani-
ty. A little more than a century ago
the lands now owned in Scotland by
this one man were the common inheri-
lance of all the clansmers of his family.
Through the harsh enforcement of i'm
ported laws the humble tenants of the
soil were elected and reduced to a
choice between exile aud starvation.
The day of reformation, if not of
fetrlbut1hn, is at hanQ In Scotland as
well as in Ireland. The men who have
been made rich and powerful under the
system that gave them control of the
land, and incidentally Of the labor and
lives, in sense, Of their d graded and
oppressed fellow-men. are already
seeking way by which to flee from
the coming storm. In their folly and
selfshness they hope to provide in
America for maintaining the power
and wealth of which they will be
stripped at home. And the people of
America will presently be called upon
to say whether their hopes and plans
shall be carried into effect OF not. The
decision is not doubtful. 1t will be
promptly and peremptorily announced
when the issue is submitted. The only
question is, when shall the Judgment
be rendered and it now seems prob
able, in view of the revelations made
by the Chairman OF the Committee on
Territories, and OF others that will be
made when Congress shall order a
thorough investigation of the subject,
that it will be made very soon and in
unmistakable terms.