The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1893-03-17

powers hold,
ThcHgh the world goes marching un
But no longer shall the children bend above
the whizzing wheel:
We will 1ese the weary women from tkeir bon
daee under steel;
In the rEsnes and in the forest worn and hope
hess imam shall feel
His cause is marching on.
Then at your eyes, ye toilers. in the desert
Catch the cool WINES from the mountains
'Hark! The rivers voice is near;
Sc<ys Wen rest besfae the fountains and the
dream will be here!
AS we go mar ching on.
-Hamlin C. Garland
KErEN OWNERSHIP OF LAND.
a Subject for Immediate Serious and
Earnest Consideration.
One of the demands of the Alliance
is that alien ownership Of land should
be prohibited. Perhaps we have not
seen the Importance of this demand
as we; think we have of some Others
The subject is worth our most seri-
Gus and earnest consideration. We
do not propose here and now to enter
into an exhaustive discussion of the
question, but simply to call your at
UOAAoAOA w UAO tCROIt luduO W Ull6;
Fifty-first congress'by the judiciary
committee, which had been instruct
ed to investigate and report ito that
body the extent of alien ownership of
land in this country. In this report,
No. 1883, first session of the Fifty
first congress, we find the following
Your committee has ascertained
with reasonable certainty that GER
tain noted men-principally English
men-have acquired and now own in
the aggregate about 21,000,O00 acres
of land within the United States.
Now mark you, says the Progress
i've Farmer, these are English noble
men. and they have acquired the
land. and it is in large bodies.
The report says further:
We have not sufficient information
to state the quantity owned by un-
titled aliens, nor is this SO important,
as it is generally held in smaller
bodies. This alien nonresident
ownership will, in the course of time,
lead to a system of land-lordism in
compatible with the best interests
and free institutions of the United
States. The foundation of such a
system is being laid broadly in the
Western states and territorie A
considerable number of immigrants
annually arriving in this country are
to, become tenants and herdsmen of
the vast possessions of these foreign
lords under contracts made and en-
tered into before they sail for our
shores.
The avarice and enterprise of Euro
pean capitalists have caused them to
invest in American railroads and land
bonds, covering perhaps 100000, 900
acres. the great part of which, under
foreclosure sale, will most likely be-
fore many years become the property
Of those foreign bondholders in
addition to their present princely
possessions. It is thus manifest that
if the present large alien ownership
is an evil, of which we have no doubt,
the probabilities of the near future
will still more imperatively demand
legislation for its prevention This
aggressive foreign capital is not con
fined to lands it has purchased. but
overlapping it's boundaries has caused
hundreds of miles of public domain
to be fenced up for the grazing OF
vast herds of cattle, and set at de-
fance the rights of the honest but
humble settler.
The committee cites one instance
in which Mr.. Scully. subject of the
queen and residing in England, owns
10000 acres of land in Illinois, ten
anted by ignorant foreigners from
whom he receives 5000, 600 per annum
and expends it in England; and an
other instance, the Scheuley's estate
| in Pennsylvania, from which they
draw annual rentals of not less than
500, 600, and says, mo other nation
in the world allows subjects of other
governments to acquire such posses
sions within it's jurisdiction. We
present these extracts from this re-
port to show that those who are in
power now know full well what is go
| ing on. They see the danger and
cannot shirk it. This report was
made by Mr.. Oates, of Alabama, and
he, closes it with these words, which
are as true as gospel:
With the natural increase in popu.
lation and the 100000 foreigners who
flock to our shores annually and by
competition are reducing the wages
Of labor, the battle of life is made
| harder to win. How, "a few years
hence, to provide homes for our poor
people is a problem for the Ameri-
canstatesman to solve. The multi.
plication, of the owners of the soil is
a corresponding enlargement of the
number of patriots, and every land
lord in this country should owe al
legiance to the United States.
Now, we wish our people to see
and to know that the party now in
power sees and knows, and fully con-
prehends the meaning of this and
other demands we make, and we
wish the people to keep an eye Oh
them and see if they will show them
selves patriots enough to grapple