The Hazel Green herald. [volume] (Hazel Green, Wolfe County, Ky.) 1885-19??, 1895-01-31
HON. w. M. BECKNER
Introduces a Bill to Distribute
$4,000, 900 Acres,
In Which Kentucky Would Get a Liberal
Share.
IN THE SENATE AND HOUSE
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn TO labor and 10 wait.

\ bill which, if passed, will give
to Kentucky ,330, 1873 acres of land
t. be sold for the benefit of her
common schools. will be intro
duced in the house in few DAYS
by Representative Beckner. 1t is
intended to equalize the states in
the matter of grants of public land
for school purposes. The CONT
mental congress in 1885 provided
that in disposing of land in tho
northwest territory lot No. IS in
each township should be reserved
for the benefit of schools. When
Ohio was admitted into the Union
this policy was followed. and all
the states that came in afterwarl
until 1853 had let (section) No. rs
reserved. Stephen A. Douglas.
when Oregon was organized into a
territory, had two sections reserved.
and two sections out OF each town
ship We're given to the schools when
California was admitted in 1853.
All states that have come into the
Union since have received the Same
liberal treatment.
The states that formed the Tn
ion and Kentucky, Tennessee, West
Virginia and Maine got no portion
of the public domain for school
purposes, and yet the people of
those states paid or fought for the
territory that has been acquired
and with which congress has been
SO liberal. The favored states have
been granted G7,S93,910 acres for
their schools. They were benef-
Charles of the 4. and NJ. college
grant Just as the older states We're.
but got actual land while the 9TH
ers only secured scrip. The favored
states have also had !, lG5 $40 acres
for university purposes, 50, 45G, 1913
acres of swamp and OverfiOwed
lands, 4, 424,073 for canals, 1901
040 for wagon roads, and 509, 800
acres under what are known as the
Saline land grants. In addition
to all this, congress has made
grants of land to the railroads in
these same favored states amount
ing to 19G,3G0,372 acres.
Judge Beckner proposes to have
the older states that never got any
of the public domain for the edu-
cation of their children in the
common schools equalized in this |
respect, and those that have only |
received one section brought up to
an equality with those that had
two. 1t will take about q ,0OO,O 900 |
acres to do this. The government |
still owns 6O6,000,O 900 acres of land |
exclusive Of Alaska and the Indian,
military and other reservations.
He has prepared very elaborate |
argument for this scheme In the
nature of memorial, in which he |
contends that his plan is open to |
none of the objections urged against
the Blair bill, and quotes from
Beck, Coke, of Texas; Pendleton,
OF Ohio; Vest, of Missouri, and
other strictconstruction and states
rights Democrats (all of whom OPP
posed the Blair bill), 10 show that
his plan is constitutional and IN
line with their views. The power
Of congress to dispose of the public
lands has never been questioned.
1t has given them away for schools,
colleges, universities, railroads, ca
nails, wagon roads. homesteads and
bounty for military services. The
Maryland legislature passed res
olution in 1921 demanding this
equalization, but congress mover
dealt with tho question. 4
Judge Beckncr docs not hope to
get his bill through ut this session,
but no will introduce il and gct II
before tn. country. II viii give
Tonnessee | ,G2l ,S33 acres, aud COL
OiS to Indiana. IL provides for
scrip to represent the number OF
acres that would be- equivalent to
90 acres out Of each six square
miles Of territory, in the class Of