Omaha daily bee., 1899-07-20

! without making a direct issue on the amend
/ ment. The motion was defeated. however.
/ b. vote Of % Cse republicans. 2i democrats
and know nothlngs) to % (7s democrats. s
Know nothings, and republicans The
house thus being forced to take a direct
vote on Grows amendment, It was carried
by % $50 republicans and Il democrats) 10
| 81 10 democrats and know nothngs), the
latter being all from the south The bill
containing the amendment, though. was de-
feated Immediately afterward BY a vote ot
20 t4 democrats and II know nothngs) to
| 81 ts2 republicans, s democrats and know
| nothing). The eight democrats belonged TO
the Douglas branch OF their party and the
know nothing who stood with them on the
side Of the republicans was Henry Winter
Davis Of Maryland. who Joined the repub-
lican party when the war began. The only
men from any Of the slave states who voted
for the bill with the Grow amendment we're
Davis. already mentioned. and Francis p.
Blair, tr., of Missouri. a republican.
Question of Land Entry.
! The land entry question came up again,
but In another shape, shortly afterward.
This was on February l. 1859, when a meas
ure entitled "A bill to secure homesteads to
actual settlers on the public domain was
brought to a vote in the house. In this
measure. for the first time in congress ap-
peared the principle OF free lands for the
people urged by the platform OF the free soil
party in 1s4s and 1852, the principle which
was put on the statute book in the law signed
by President Lincoln in 1862. The previous
/ bins gave actual settlers ten years preced-
ence Of the spectators. enabled them to
enter upon unappropriated public lands. and
] 70, n-Ey 49,.
S1.25 per acre minimum price without being
under the necessity Of borrowing at high
rates from the money-lenders. The bill
which came up on February I provided for a
free grant of $50 acres OF land to eligible per-
sons. Most OF the democrats opposed this
measure. as they did the previous ones, and
the republicans favored II. A motion by
democrat to lay the bill on the table was de-
feated by vote Of l13 to Il. Then the bill
came to direct vote and was passed-yeas.
120 teighty-four republicans and thirty
six democrats); nays. IS Csixty democrats
fifteen know nothings and one republican,.
Only three southern members-Jones Of Ten
uessee, Jewett OF Kentucky and Craig OF
Missouri, all democrats-voted for the bill.
The homestead bill came up in the senate
little over two weeks later, February Il,
1859, when BENJAMIN F. Wade Of Ohio moved
70 pOsipOHe all UuSlueSS dul tOLnS "
vote on this measure. his motion being
carried by vote OF 26 17 republicans and
. democrats) to % tall democrats). Only
one OF the nine democratic senators who
voted for the bill was from the south. This
was Andrew Johnson OF Tennessee, after
ward vice president and president. The
other eight democrats were from the north
and west, all belonging to the Douglas fac
ton. The homestead bill was, for time,
successfully antagonized by the bill to buy
Cuba, then a favorite democratic measure,
but by adrot and energetic work on the
part OF the republicans 1t was put before the
senate again. On the final vote OF that day,
the seventeenth, however, the Cuban meas
ure was made the pending BILL the vote be-
ing a tie, 2s to 2s, vice president Breckin-
ridge giving his casting vote against the
homestead bill. Despite the earnest and
energetic attempts OF Wade, William H.
Seward OF New York, James r. Doolittle of
Wisconsin and other republicans to get the
bill before the senate again, 1t was buried
until the end OF the term on March 4. 1859. |
On some OF the divisions in the senate dur |
ing these parliamentary contests John Bell !
of Tennessee and Samuel Houston Of Texas |
Joined johnson of Tennessee, the Douglas |
democrats and the republicans in the en-
deayor to get the bill before the senate.
Republican Policy.
The principal reason why the republican |
party, with practical lnanimity, favored first |
the measure to give actual settlers the |
precedence over spectators and subse- |
quently the bill to grant free lands to set |
tiers was that by either course, but particu- |
larly by the latter, the west would be |
quickly peopled and slavery would be shut |
out from the territories. the restriction to |
small holdings being fatal TO the introduc- |
ton OF slavery. This consideration turned |
the majority OF the democrats and virtually |
all the southern members Of that party. as
we'll as the southern Know Nothings, or |
Americans, against it.
In the next congress-the congress OF |
1859 -61-whlch served through the second |
half OF the term OF President Buchanan, the |
republicans had a plurality in the house OF
representatives and, though the senate was
still democratic, the homestead bill passed, |
but IL vetoed by the president. On |
March s. 1850, Owen Loveioy OF Illinois.
from the committee on public lands, reported
to the house a bill which had been intro
duced by Mr.. Grow to secure homesteads
TO actual settlers on the public lands"
which was read twice and referred to the
committee OF the whole. On March II, on
motion OF Mr.. Lovejoy. II was taken out OF
the committee OF the NnoIe oy a vote OF loo
(eight-four republicans, eighteen admins
tratlon democrats and four Douglas demo
Gratis, usually called at that time anti-Le-
compton democrats) to 81 (ffty administra-
tion democrats and seventeen southern
Americans). An attempt by Branch, North
Carolina democrat, to lay the bill on the
table was defeated by 1l2 to So and the bill
was then passed by 1l5 (eighty-h five republic
ans twenty-four administration democrats,
four anu-Lecompton democrats and one
American) to 66 (ftty-three democrats and
thirteen Know Nothings). All the sixty-six
were from the slave states except Mont
gomery, Pennsylvania democrat.
Patchwork In the senate.
April II, 1860 Andrew Johnson OF Ten
nessee, from the committee on public lands,
reported in the senate a substitute for the
hnnsa Iii tha Inhnsnn rnaasnra nrnntin- |