Year: 1860

q
in the new States, to every head of family
leo acres Of land, as homestead, has passed
az our readers are aware, the House OF Rep
rssen.atives ofthe United States, ard is now
pending in the Senate. Notwithstanding the
| idea of such homestead law originated with
the Democratic party. it received IN the
| House the almost unanimous support OF the
Repnblican party. and, strange to say Is


likely to meet with appropriation in the Sen
ate from men calling themselves Democrats
While Stephen A. Douglas, true to his old
time Democratic principles. is an avowed
champion of the measure, such men as Gwin
of California, snd Lane of Oregon, and doz-
ems of Others, are against it-At least, 80 they
are set down by the Eastern press. I'VE cannot
account for this opposition upon any other
hypothesis than that these men are at heart
arstocrats and averse to giving opportunities
of competency and independence to the labor
ing classes They believe in keeping land in
the hands of the few, so that the poorer mduy
may be dependent upon the sovereign lords
and masters of the soil To give 100 acres of
the public land, in all the new States, to the
heads of families would be to build up large
brotherhood of independent farmers, secure
in the possession Of their homes, and asking
no favors from the lordliest of the land This
would never do, in the estimation of those
who think that there ought to be. in every
form of government, permanent "mudsIl'
class. entitled to no privileges, except the
right to labor in certain sphere and there
remain, from generation to generation. such
men as these would of course oppose home
stead law, or any other enactment which


would tend to change for the better the con-
dtion of the poor man and the laborer The
idea is that the"mudsills' must be kept down
| Now, the true theory Of a Republican gov
ernment and ours is such a one, is, that every
citizen is politically the equal of another;
that the laborer in the field or the workshop
is sovereign at the ballot box, and that he
may aspire to the loftiest positions in the
land that he may be President or Senator,
Congressman or Judge that no laws are to
be made to keep him in the position of la
borer or an uRderlng but that all the ave-
nues of wealth, fame and honor are to be
open to hm.to earn therein whatever may be
within the grasp of his capabilities. Ger
tain labor must be performed in the walks of
the rougher, and harder avocatons of life,
but those who toll therein are honorable, and
may use their positions as stepping stones to
ease and atluence, rising with the tide of fa-
voring circumstances. They are not to be
debarred from changing their condition, and
giving place to those who like themselves
must labor for their bread and begin at the
bottom round of the ladder. They are not
to be a prescribed class, and walled in as
such from all participation in the political
privileges of those who do not happen to
have to work fr their living


If ever there was a detestable doctrine
promulgated in the world, tits this one of the
"Mudsill" theorists. The idea that a certain
class must be set aside to do the labor while
another class must think for them, legisldte
for them and act for them in all matters of
social concern and public policy, is hagrantly
antagonistic to the very soul and essence Of
civil liberty, and the voice of the American
should now, in the very outset of this new
tangled "mudsill" theory, be raised to put it
down and drive from the places of power
and public trust the class of politicians who
dare to advance such principles.


With the vast area of public domain be-
longing to, the Union.- with the wide extent of
wilderness land--the broad, uninhabited pra-
res-the thousands Of fertile valleys lying
hid in the mountain ranges-the millions up
on millions of acres, not to be settled up with.
in century-it would be a pity indeed if
the United States could not afford to donate
100 acres to each hard working, honest set
tier. who goes into the wilderness to reclaim
it. This Homestead Law is a vital measure
to the country, and the men who oppose it
ought to be marked by every friend of the
Democratic party and lover Of republican in
stitutions