The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-01-15

1
All Settlers Under Homestead Laws on
Lands Acquired Prior to the Proposed
Law May Hold the Land.
washington, Jan. 14.--In the senate.
to-day, when the bill providing FOR flee
homes on public lands came up. Mr..
Ieller made an impassioned appeal for
the passage of the measure. Both par
ties had declared in the last election
for the bill. "And now" he continued.
the senator from Connecticut (Mr.
PlatD says that he is not obligated.
and that no senator is obligated. TO
support the platform OF his party. He
speaks of $S5,0Oo,oOO being involved in
this measure. Thirty-five millions IS q.
bagatelle. You waste more than that
every year on your army. You waste
more than that ON your warships that
rot In your harbors. You do that in
order to protect eastern seacoast. You
do 1T at the demand of the great COR
porations who want to make ship ar
NOR and to build ships.
And now you ask us to turn OH ~
their lands those settlers who cannot
pay the government price, and to make
tralnps of them. I would give every
acre OIL unoccupied land to the men
who would occupy it, The great dan
ger 10 the republic is not that you have
TOO many farmers, but ths you have
100 many men In factories, mines and
mills The fathers Of the republic saw
the danger. They said, we do not
want to become great manufacturing
people, because the people who work in
shops are not the men who carry fer
ward liberty and law. They are not
the men who will be patriotic in every
hour OF the country's Distress Every
time that we called upon the Ameri-
can people we found the great agricul-
tural body responding; and there is
where our hope lies"
| Mr.. Platt said that there had been no
petitions from any of the settlers on
Indian reservations for the passage Of
the bill.
Mr.. Pettigrew said that there were
petitions for it, with 100000 signatures.
on the files of the house. Fourteen
million voters at the last election had
voted in favor of the homestead bill.
| Yes" Mr.. Platt said, disdainfully.
"and fourteen million voted that there
should be a delegate in congress from
Alaska. The delegate from Oklahoma
was earnest and active in securing the
passage Of this bill by the house. He
became a candidate for reelection.
making this bill an issue before the
people Of Oklahoma; and the people
voted him down"
Mr.. Platt went on to say that he,
too, was for free land to the settlers,
when the government had the land to-
give away, but he was not In favor of
buying land from the Indians and then
giving it away. He did not know why
the government prices should be given
back to the settlers who could sell the
land at from SIS to $40 an acre.
Mr.. Allison, rep, of Iowa, thought
the bill too general in its character. AS
it passed the house it applied only to
Oklahoma. Now it had been amended
so as to apply to all lands acquired
from Indians. He thought it ought to
be limited so as to apply exclusively
to those agriculturalists who had gone
|
and were unable to pay for them. But
he would not have it apply to those
who had speculated in those lands
within a mile or two of prosperous
towns and cities, and that were worth
$50 and perhaps $500 an acre. He
would like to have the bill amended
so as to restrict it at least to lands al
ready acquired from the Indians.
After two final speeches in support Of
the bill by Mr.. Carter, rep, of Mon
tana, and Mr.. Pettigrew, the senate
began to vote on the bill. The amends
.ments reported by the committee were
agreed to; also an amendment offered
by Mr.. Allison to insert the words
.'prior to the passage of this act" after
the words public lands acquired"
/ The bill was passed: Yeas, 35, nays
II, as follows:
| Yeas-Messrs Allen, Allison, Bacon.
Baker Blackburn, Brown, Call, Cam
non, Carter, Clark, Cullom, Davis.
Frye, Gear, Gordon, Mcbride, McMil-
Ian, Mantle, Morgan, Murphy, Nelson,
Peffer, Perkins, Pettigrew, Pugh, Quay,
Sherman, Shoup. Smith, Stewart, Tell
err, Thurston, Wetmore, White and
Wilson-3s.
Nay-Messrs. Bate, Berry, Brice,
Cockrill, Faulkner, Gray. Hill, Platt,
Vest, Villas and Waltham-11.
The bill provides that all settlers un-
der the homestead laws upon public
lands acquired procured prior to the
passage of this act from Indian tribes,
who have resided. or who shall here
after reside upon the track entered in.
good faith for the period required by
law, shall be entitled to patent for
the land entered, upon the payment to
the local alnd officers of the customary
fees, and no other charge shall be re-
auired from such settlers. The right
to commute any such entry and pay
for said lands, in the opinion of any
such settlers and in the time and at
the price not fixed by existing laws,
shall remain In full force. All sums OF
money so released. which, il not re-
| leased would belong to any Indian
tribe, shall be paid to such Indian tribe
by the United States.