The Democratic advocate., 1888-01-21

mlill0nS OF acres, the TIME Is not lar distant
when it will be impossible for the surplus
laborers in the older communities to secure
cheap homes in the West; and then we shall
begin to experience, in worse form than
ever heretofore, those social and political
evils which naturally spring from dense and
idel populations. The situation impera-
lively demands the careful revision and
strict enforcement of the laws relating to
the disposition of the public domain, so that
speculation and fraud may be prevented or
punished, and cheap homes and good titles
guaranteed to the honest settler; the recla-
nation of lands illegally occupied or claimed
by individuals and corporations, foreign and
domestic; the just and speedy settlement of
all matters in dispute between the govern
ment and the subsidized railroad companies;
the enactment and rigid enforcement of
laws to compel corporations to take patents
for all the lands actually and legally earned
by them under grants from the government,
so that they may be subject to taxation BY
the states and territories in which they are
situated; and, finally, the adoption Of just
and enlightened policy for the civilization
and government of the Indians within our
jurisdiction, in order that all the substantial
rights of these dependent people may be
amply protected without unnecessarily re-
tarding the development of our new states
and territories.
Much has already been done during the
present administration to reclaim lands
conditionally granted to railroad and other
corporations, to annul fraudulent entries,
to prevent unlawful enclosures, and to
protect the timber and minerals upon the
public domain; but the work is still incom-
plete, and it will require additional legis
lation and constant vigilance upon the
part of those charged with the administra-
tion of the laws, to prevent the improper
appropriation of large part of the most
valuable territory belonging to the govern
ment In order to do this the cooperation
of the legislative and executive depart
ments is absolutely necessary, and past
experience has shown that this cooperation,
except to limited extent, could not be
secured until after Democratic admins
tration was inaugurated. The foundations
of the existing system, under which im-
mense landed estates have been acquired
by foreign and domestic coporations and
syndicates, were laid by the Republican
party, and the fraudulent practices which
have despoiled the public domain of its
most fertile and valuable sections were be-
gun and continued while Republican Off
cials alone were charged with the duty of
enforcing the laws and protecting the in
tercsts of the government and people.
Even now, when the magnitude of the
evil is almost universally recognized, and
the demand for immediate reform is ur-
gently pressed by the homeless labor of
the country, the Republican Senate either
refuses to act at all or proceeds slowly and
reluctantly to the consideration of the
subject. On the other hand, the Demo-
cratic House has been earnest and active
in its efforts to secure such changes in
the laws as will dedicate the public lands
to actual settlers under the Homestead
Law, and has even gone so far as to amend
its rules in order to give such measures
preference over other business. 1t has
passed bills forfeiting and restoring to the
government, for the benefit of actual set
tiers. more than one hundred million acres
of land, only part of which has been con-
Cured in by the Senate; and it has passed
and sent to the Senate bill to repeal the
Timber Culture, Presumption, and Desert
Land Laws, under which most Of the
great frauds were committed. The course
of the Interior Department, under the
direction of a Democratic Secretary and
Commissioner of the Land Office, is famil-
lar to the country, and need not be COM
mented upon here. 1t has been uniformly
in the interest of faithful and honest ad-
ministration of the law in spirit of friend
ship for the bona tfde settler and claimant,
and hostility to the fraudulent adventurer
and speculator. In view of what has ac-
tually occurred in the past, and considering
the present attitudes of the two parties
with reference to the subject, there is
scarcely room for doubt as TO which one
of them would be the safest custodian of
of the public interests, and the most likely
to protect the honest claim of the humble
citizen against the predatory schemes of
organized capital and political influence.
Another most important subject de-
manding immediate attention is the reduc-
ton of the revenue and taxation. The
injustice and impolicy of maintaining a
revenue system which compels the people
to pay annually into the public treasury
hundred million dollars more than is ac-
tually needed by the government are too
apparent to require argument. The un-
necessary abstraction of this enormous sum
from the earnings of the people, who really
need it in the prosecution of their business,
is a crime which cannot be justified or ex-
cused upon any grounds of expediency
whatever, and it is evident that it cannot
be much longer continued without produ-
cling consequences of the most serious
character. But if there were no other
reason, the fact that large surplus in the
treasury constitutes the most dangerous
corruption fund that can possibly menace
the integrity of Legislation, would alone be
sufficient to show the necessity for an i'm