The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1888-07-12
THE PLATFORM LIES.
A Preposterous Claim that the HspQbli-
can Party is the Guardian of
the Public Dnmain.

The declaration OF the republican plat
form that the democratic party had new.
er restored one acre of land to the public
domain revived the alteration between
Messrs. Townshend and Rowell as to the
Illinois Central railroad grant and the
general merits of the two parties, as
shown in the management of state af-
fairs in Illinois. Mr.. Rowell having de-
MED that the stipulation that the rail
road company should pay the state pei
cent. of its gross earnings was in the ael
of congress making the grant, Mr.
Townshend replied that he was claiming
the credit, not for congress, but for the
democratic party. A democratic con-
gress made this grant, not to a private
corporation and without conditions, but
70 a sovereign state, which could con=
suit its own judgment and interest in
the manner of disposing of the grant. A
democratic legislature in 1852 transferred
the grant of land to the Illinois Central
Railroad Company on condition that the
company should pay for the grant by
giving the state per cent. of its gross
earnings; so that it was true, as he said
originally, that while the republican
party gave great tracts of land to private
corporations as at present, the demo-
cratic party set the example in the first
of all the railroad grants, of requiring
the railroad company to pay for what it
got.
The pretense in the republican plat
form that the democratic party had
never restored an acre of railroad land
grants to the public domain, and that
the credit of such restorations as have
been made belongs jointly to the two
parties can only provoke ridicule and
contempt among those who have paid
any attention to public land legislation.
Last summer, by the action of damor
cratic president and democratic secre.
tary of the interior, about twenty mill
ion acres of land. not granted to rail.
roads by congress but withdrawn from
settlement as indemnity lands to await
the convenience of railroad companies,
under strained and questionable con-
structiOn of the law, were restored to
the public domain and thrown open to
settlement, and thousands of homes are
being made by settlers on these lands.
Secretary Teller was appealed to by men
OF his own party in some instances, not
ably by Judge Payson, of Illinois, to re-
store these indemnity lands to the pub
lie domain, but in vain. In refusing to
withdraw a so-called second indemnify
belt for the Northern Pacific he admit.
ted that withdrawal and restoration
were alike within his power. but the re-
publican practice of subordinating the
interests of settlers to the interests of
railroad companies had become so well
established that Mr.. Teller, while refus
ing to withdraw additional land for the
Northern Pacific, and intimating that in
his opinion that it might sometime be
necessary to restore these withdrawn
lands, was not bold enough to restore
the lands arbitrarily withdrawn by his
predecessors.
The republican platform makes mis-
statement to the extent of about twenty
million acres in regard to executive ac-
tion alone. In regard to congressional
action the facts are equally plain and
simple. In the Forty seventh congress
the republicans were in full possession
of both branches of congress, and not
one railroad land-grant was forfeited.
In the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth
congresses the democratic party con-
trolled the house of representatives, and
these congresses passed laws restoring
90, ,O00, 600 acres of unearned railroad
land grants to the public domain. With
scarcely an exception these bills passed
the house before the senate considered
them. The republican senate passed no
forfeiture. bill that the house did not
pass. but the house passed bills forfeiting
81, 600, 900 acres of grants that the re-
publican senate did not pass, and the
house committee on public lands made
favorable reports on bills to forfeit grants
to $12 200, 900 or $13, 600, 900
more. Judge Payson, although a re-
publican, presented in the house two
years ago tabular statement showing
that no forfeiture bills were passed in
the Forty-seventh congress and showing
in the Forty-eighth and Forty-nintR
how much more had been
done by the democratic house than by
the republican senate,