The Forrest City times., 1890-11-08

ton that Pstnell To -,,a duke, as we were enjoyln,
 halfhour by ourselves in his rov.-
 s'i do not believe Parnell Is to blsm.. The Irish people think they can only ot> tain a hearing in some such way. If En- land would deal candidly with the Irish people as she does with Canada and her other colonies, men would never resort to such desperate means"
 Talking about that explosion yeti" ex- claimed Colonel Haynes, as he came into the room. Pm glad my home is not in England"
 You'll be having the same trouble in the United States before long. Y l said, ''ii your careless way of disposing of public lands continues"
 'I did not know we were careless. Our laws are liberal but well defincd,H said the colonel No one can buy our lands oi the government in large tracts, and the great West K reserved by homestead and pre-emption laws for actual settlers only Surely that Is safe policy"
 .iIa, ha," laughed the duke "Are yon an American and know so little of the do- ings in your own countrys Why, own an estate or ranch, as it is called there. larger than any one man owns in England all in one body, tool And surrounded by q barb wire fence, that is proof against every thing, even your boasted homestead and pre-emption lawsi'
 How did you get itFn asked the colonel, amazed.
 Why, I bought alternate sections of railroad lands, and then sent in different names as settlers to enter presumption, homestead and timber claims to secure the government sections"
 But they must be different men" pro, tested the colonel One man can pre- empt only eighty acres, or. fl soldier one hundred and sixty. So, how could you get a whole seetion.H
 "ph, see you arc not politician said the duke, much amused ''Non have not yet learned the ropes, as they say iu yout country
 No, confess am not initiated, said the colonel
 You seem to know the workings Of tho ring l said turning to the duke.
 Yes l was interested. Many of the politicians in America, as elsewhere. allow gold coin to cover doubtful points, If you should go to Washington and examine the records, you would, if you could trace 1t out, find millions of acres held by fcii. eious names Then, too, the railroads, large us their grants have been, have near ly doubled their lands when sold. Here ii a statement which received from friend of mine at Washington, that will provo what say is true. he said, taking pa. per out of his pocket and laying ton tha table where we could examineit .srhere. you see the railroads claim to have grani amounting 10 207,ceo, ,0no acres. while by escertaining what the different roads have actually earned, we find 1t to be less than onefourth of thelr claims, That Is grand : success. YOU sec. for the railroads II do not see how that is possihle," said the colonel. when their grants are de- fined by metes and bounds" 'They are sieiined on the maps, bu, when the lands are surveyed they exceed the limits from SO to OO1 acres to the mile ] The reports say you have 5000 miles of completed railroads. An average of five { hundred acres to the mile gives total gain to the corporations of some l0.o00, ,0oC acres more land than they have any right To. So it is stated in your official reports ! from the land office in Washington. Be sides that there are immense quantities oi | lands claimed along lines that are not | built, and that cannot now be built under the laws making these grants, yet the cor. l porations claim the lands and nre selling ! them as fast IS they can" Now do not wonder where the wealth | that seems to flow in upon the railroad corporations comes from said the colo l nei, ''I can now see how men can become millionaires in 30 short timeM
 ''Yes. that X grand, said L The gov. ernment makes donations to corporations to build railroads They double the gift then charge the people exorbitant rates foi the roads
 I ''Waverlani, you are slightly ssrcastic,a . said the duke.
 Well, 1t seems to me that people arc very ignorant .or very careless io allow such schemes to flourish, sail l.
 1t would be hard work for men like Ja, Gould, the yandcrbilts and other raslroaa dignitaries, if all the American reopl, were alive to the legniixed robbery that k carried on among them They world, il they had my of the spirit of the reyolu tionary times tn their bodies, arise ia mass and crush out tho villainous schemes, 7 said the duke. ''Bat am glad they ags blind to their own interests, for it helps u' capitalists to secure a firm footing in tht New West"
 Well, said the colonel, 'I have ofter heard that men can learn more of them selves through other peoples eyes than through their own. 1 thank you, Mel verne, for having shown us some of oul weaknesses, and where some Of the dan Ners to our nation lie. never knew iha our American lands were being gohhlcd uI sa tasts ar that yast estates arc being lnad' eg the very lands that our American farm CTS will need to iaake homes for them selves and their children Y