Year: 1866

Mr. Rice Of Maine, has int- sduced In


the House of Representative a resolu-


ton providing that the public lands in


the southern states be thrown open to


actual settlers, under the general


provisions Of the Homestead set


Our Washington correspondent writes
that the President some DAYS ago re-


marked that he believed the freedmen


to have the right to occupy these lands


and that he intended 10 protect them


in this right This is no new determin-


alton OF the Presidents ne was the


chief supporter Of the Homestead act;


he was denounced IS 8 radical BY


southern members in Congress for his


strenuous advocacy Of this measure;


and later, true to his principle that ev-
cry man ought 10 have a chance 70


possess a homestead, he said to The col


Ored men of Tennessee, in his Nash


vile address that he would like to see


them the owners OF farms, and thus in,


dustrious and independent citizens.


According to an official statement


there are AZ this time in tve Of the


southern States, excluding Missouri


fifty million acres Of public lands Ey-


cry freedman who wishes may pre-empt


one hundred and sixty acres Of this


land Congress will probably order


land offices to be opened in different
parts OF the South, and the local ofh
GERS of the Freedmens Bureau can
spread abroad, throughout every south
ern community, knowledge Of the fact
a.
States are open 10 settlement, as well
as descriptions Of their character, stu
alton, 6c.


1t was one of Mr.. Johns0ns argu
ments in favor of the Homestead act
while that measure was before Con
gress, that it would make the laboring
man in the older States more indie
pendent Of the capitalist IL would
open a refuge, he said, for working
men threatened with oppression by
it would enable the poor 10
become independent and by Decom-
ing the owners OF land, he asserted,
they would become better citizens. He
said


"By this bill you provide a man with
q home; you increase the revenue you
increase the consumption Of home man
and you make him better
man You give him an interest in the
country. His condition is better There
is no man so trustworthy as he who
is interested ia the welfare of his cOun-
try and who are more interested in the
welfare of their country than those who /
have homes When a man has home |
he has a deeper and more abiding in /
,ereSt in the country, and he is more /
in al things that pertain TO
he government He is more trust
worthy when he goes 70 the ball0t-bON |
be is more trustworthy IN sustaining |
the stability Of our free Institutions


There is no doubt that the Home
stead act, and the oheapness and abun
dance OF our western lands, have eNer- |
cised an important influence on the |
Of the working classes in the |
eastern States. The consideration that |
they may at any time try TO better their |
on the public lands Of the |
West and Northwest has made them |
more cOntented. and it has protected |
them against the aggressiOns Of the
who very well know that, If |
pushed too hard, the laborers on whom
they depend will seek better fortune
and greater independence on the public |
lands.


Precisely the same effect must follow |
in the South. if the public lands there |
are thrown open to the settlement OF |
the freedmen. These have strong |
desire, it is said, to own land in this !
way they may crafty their wish Many
of the whites will not let the blscks live
amongst them by furthering their set.
tlement on the public lands, they will
be relieved Of their presence. The
knowledge that they may at any time
claim eighty or a hundred and sixty
acres Of public land by actual settle
ment and occupation will make the
blacks patient under the evils from
which they may suffer in the present
of Southern society, will give
them a hopeful future; and, on the
other hand, this cannot help but have
its effect upon the planter, who will see
that if he and his neighbOrs play the
tyrant, they will lose their work men
and make shipwreck OF their enter
prises -NeJ York Post