JAN. 19, 1833.]

Public Lands.

[SENATE.

the Treasury, never have, and never will, control our the original bill reported at the last session of Congress, policy in levying imposts and regulating foreign com- but were incorporated, on my motion, as amendments, merce. High duties are often imposed to retaliate the in- when it came before the Senate. I frankly own that justice of other nations with whom we have commercial had they been negatived, I should have voted against the relations; sometimes they are necessary to meet the ordi- bill in the shape in which it was at first presented by the nary expenditures of Government; but in every system of honorable Senator from Kentucky, [Mr. CLAY.] They revenue which has been framed, since the adoption of the were, however, adopted, and to my mind they place the federal constitution, the protection of domestic industry new States on a footing, in the proposed distribution, highand the arts has, to a greater or less extent, formed an in- ly advantageous to them; and, as a Senator from one of gredient. These important considerations, whether col- those States, I cannot withhold from the measure my suplectively or separately, have uniformly governed our legis- port. By the first section of the bill, there is set apart to lation in taxing articles of consumption imported into the each of the new States 124 per centum on the nett proUnited States; and I defy contradiction when I say, that ceeds of the public lands, within the limits of those States in no instance can it be shown that the revenue derived respectively, which may be sold from and after the 31st from the public lands has been regarded as furnishing a day of December, 1832. The terms of the compacts enreason for reducing or raising the rate of duties on im- tered into by these States with the Government of the posts. But I find it difficult, sir, if not impracticable, to United States, on their admission into the Union, stipulatdetect, by any direct researches, the incongruities and ed that 5 per centum on the sales of the public lands was palpable contradictions, both of principle and fact, which to be paid to each of the said States for certain specified have been interwoven into this debate by the ingenuity of purposes. The aggregate amount, then, to which each honorable Senators, who feel the necessity of resorting to State will be entitled before a general distribution is made, these conflicting arguments from the peculiar position if this bill shall become a law, is 17 per centum on the which they occupy. nett amount of the sales of the public lands within its limits.

They dare not condemn the President, who tells them plainly that the public debt is, in effect, paid, and that This sum so reserved is to be applied to some "object in future the public lands ought not to be looked to as a or objects of internal improvement or education within source of revenue; and, as in duty bound, they oppose the the said States, under the direction of their respective Lepassage of this bill, because it accords in that particular gislatures." with the views of the President! At one time we are told The 5th section of the bill, in addition to the sum directthat the distributive principle is illusory; that there will be ed to be paid to each of the new States by the 1st section, no money to divide, after defraying the expenses of sale, to which I have referred, grants to the States of Mississipand the price given to the Indian tribes for their right of pi, Louisiana and Missouri, a quantity of five hundred occupancy; at another time we are admonished that three thousand acres of land, and to the State of Indiana one millions of dollars will be taken from the treasury and hundred and fifteen thousand two hundred and seventydivided among the States, which must be replaced by a two acres; to the State of Illinois twenty thousand acres, high rate of duties. We are warmly and zealously urged and to the State of Alabama one hundred thousand acres to bring down the public lands to a nominal price, and of land, lying within the limits of said States, respectively, no longer consider them a part of our revenue system; and to be selected in such manner as the Legislatures thereof then we are gravely told that this precise measure which shall direct, and located in parcels, conformably to secthey recommend is fraught with incalculable mischiefs, tional divisions and subdivisions, of not less than three and is more particularly injurious, as it will operate to fas- hundred and twenty acres in any one location. ten on the Southern States the present tariff for the pro- The nett proceeds of the sales of the lands so granted tection of domestic manufactures. These are a few only are to be faithfully applied to works of internal improveof the many opposite extremes to which honorable gen-ment within the aforesaid States, respectively. tlemen are driven in making out something like an argu- It is further provided, that nothing in the bill containment against the measure under consideration. ed shall be construed to the "prejudice of future applica

The only material difference between the plan of the tions for a reduction of the price of the public lands, or Executive, and that contained in the bill, consists in the to the prejudice of applications for a transfer of the public question-shall we abandon our present land system, and lands, on reasonable terms, to the States within which they put the lands at a price which will simply restore to the lie, nor to impair the power of Congress to make such fuGovernment the cost of surveying and selling them, ture disposition of the public lands, or any part thereof, which I have estimated at twenty-five cents per acre, and as it may see fit." thereby tempt moneyed men and speculators into the mar- These liberal grants, both in land and money, are made ket, who will very soon take the place of the Government, to the new States, besides the equal proportion to which as the owners of all the valuable lands which have been they are entitled, according to their respective federal surveyed? Or shall we adhere to the laws heretofore representative population, under the general distribution. passed on that subject, for the real advantage of the laborCombining the 17 per cent., which is to be deducted ing class who migrate to the new States, and use the pro- before the distribution of the residue of the common fund, ceeds as directed in the second section of the bill? After with the amount which will accrue to each new State as the most careful investigation of this great question, in re- its proportion, I have estimated the whole as amounting ference to its operation on the interests of the whole coun- to about thirty per cent. on the sales which may be made try, I have formed the deliberate and decided opinion, in each State. This estimate must, of course, depend on the that our wise and well-digested code of land laws ought quantity of land which may be sold in each year, and may to be preserved, with slight modifications; and I can per- vary according to that standard. I respectfully ask, sir, if ceive no sound objection to the distribution of the nett proceeds provided for in the bill.

It cannot fail to produce beneficial results both to the old and the new States, and especially to the latter, as I shall endeavor to prove clearly and conclusively, I hope, before I resume my seat.

Mr. P. then proceeded to examine the special provisions of the bill in favor of the new States. Sir, said he, the provisions to which I am about to refer were not in

VOL. IX.--10

these grants are not liberal, far transcending the donations made at any former period of our history to any one of the States within which the public lands are situated? To me it appears that if this offer is rejected, we may indulge a lingering hope of obtaining our ultimate wish by a transfer of the entire domain for a century to come, and at last it will be but a dream, and end in cruel disappointment. Nor can I bring my mind to the conclusion, that such a result, if it were to happen at this time, would be pro

SENATE.]

Public Lands.

[JAN. 19, 1833.

ductive of greater pecuniary benefits to the new States, In addition to these large sums, which may be wholly than the annuity which it is now proposed to grant them, applied to the endowment of colleges, seminaries of Some of us, at least, know that Kentucky opened an of- learning, and common schools, at the discretion of the fice for the sale of her waste lands, and they were sold. Legislature, we have the grant of five hundred thousand But was the State treasury replenished by these sales? acres of land, for works of internal improvements, which, No, sir; it was made a popular theme on which unworthy if judiciously located, will be more than adequate to all men appealed to those interested, and by that means the expenditures required to render our rivers navigable; thrust themselves into the legislative halls, for the very pur- open canals for internal commerce; and to construct the pose of postponing, and finally surrendering the debt, in- great roads leading through the State, which are so necescurred by the purchasers to the State. Who can doubt that sary to connect the interior with the market towns, at the same scenes would be acted over in any State having which the planter annually delivers his bulky articles of the disposal of a large extent of unappropriated territory? agriculture.

But if I am wrong in this opinion, I cannot be mistaken These are the eminent benefits placed within our in the other view which I have taken of the subject-- grasp; and shall we, who represent the people, and are that a cession by the old States of their interest in the pub- bound by the most solemn obligations to advance their lic domain is not to be expected, until the existing Gov- interests on all proper occasions, cast them from us in ernment shall be overthrown, and a new one erected on pursuit of objects which can never be attained, or on its ruins.

some vague notions of political economy, too remote to

Shall we act wisely in rejecting a present good, be- be brought into active operation, and resting on speculacause it falls short of the utmost limit of our hopes and tive opinions, which have no solid foundation, and are unexpectations? I think not. But, sir, I beg the indulgence worthy of a moment's consideration, in the progress of of the Senate, while I offer some views of the practical sober legislation, for purposes of practical utility to the operation of this bill on the State which I have the honor, country?

The State would thus

in part, to represent on this floor. Sir, I cannot consent to place myself before my constiThirty years have elapsed since the public lands in Mis- tuents in that attitude. I know, and feel, the importance sissippi were put in market, and seventeen years since of the relief which the passage of this bill will afford that State was admitted into the Federal Union. them; and so far as the influence of my vote will contriWhat, sir, during this whole period, have we gained bute to that desirable end, they shall not be disappointed. from the sales, made under the authority of the United The grant of land, if properly located, immediately after States, of their lands within our limits? Why, sir, sub- the first sales are closed, may be estimated at the average stantially nothing. The miserable pittance of five per value of three dollars per acre. cent. on these sales was given us by compact, for which require a fund of one million five hundred thousand dolwe gave in return a much greater amount, by our agree- lars, which, with the annual income from the sales of land ment not to levy a tax on the lands sold by the Govern- for five years, could not, in my judgment, fall much, if ment until the expiration of five years after the sale, any, below the enormous sum of two millions of dollars. What shall we gain in thirty years to come, if this bill does Sir, the people of the State, I am persuaded, cannot not become a law? I answer-nothing, which can be turn- be so far blinded by party feelings, or party factions, as ed to any profitable account.

not to see and appreciate the enviable condition in which these large grants will place them.

Be that as it may, I am here to perform my duty, in the discharge of the high trust confided to me; and I shall

Let us then inquire what will be the reasonable amount of income to the State, if we receive hereafter seventeen and a half per cent. on sales within the State, an equal dividend on the entire sales throughout the United States, fearlessly act on all subjects, brought to the consideration and a sweeping grant of five hundred thousand acres of of the Senate, according to my honest convictions of land, to be located in half-sections, under the direction what is due to the honor and prosperity of those whom I of the Legislature?

represent.

The sales of the past year have amounted to something But my honorable colleague, [Mr. BLACK,] and the Sena

over two hundred thousand dollars, but that does not furnish a proper standard by which to estimate the probable amount of sales in future years; or, at any rate, for the pe

riod to which this bill is limited.

The Choctaw tribe of Indians have recently ceded to the United States the whole of their lands east of the river Mississippi, of which about eleven millions of acres lie within the boundaries of the State of Mississippi.

tor from Missouri, [Mr. BENTON,] have taunted us with the insinuation that these grants are put into the bill, as a douceur or bonus, to enlist the support of Senators who represent the new States.

They proceed to tell us that they spurn the bonus, and refuse the service for which it is offered.

The honorable Senators have my permission to apply any epithet to these grants which may best accord with

The Chickasaw tribe have also entered into a treaty, of their own peculiar taste, and, so far as it may concern

which I am not now at liberty to speak, as it has not been

ratified by the Senate.

themselves, to act in obedience to their own impressions, however fallacious they may be, or however coarse the language employed to convey these impressions.

I can only say for myself, "let the galled jade wince; my withers are unwrung."

The surveys of the Chocktaw purchase are rapidly progressing, and it is believed that they will be thrown into market in the course of the present year. I calculate that, so soon as these sales are opened, the nett Sir, for what purpose am I sent here, if it be not to adproceeds, for several years to come, will average about vocate measures, conferring benefits on my constituents? five hundred thousand dollars. But I deem it quite within Was it ever heard before, that a Senator, who, looking the bounds of moderation, to put the average for five with a vigilant eye into the actual condition of the State years at three hundred thousand dollars. At this latter which had honored him with its confidence, sought, on all estimate, the annual income of the State, at seventeen proper occasions, an opportunity to advance its interests, and a half per cent., would be fifty-two thousand five and promote its welfare, thereby subjected himself to the hundred dollars, making, in the whole period of five imputation of accepting a bonus as a consideration for his years, the round sum of two hundred and sixty thousand vote?

dollars, or thereabouts. This is exclusive of the amount which we should receive on the general dividend, which would not fall short more than eight or ten per cent. of the sum specially reserved to the State.

Is there a single Senator present who is not liable to the imputation?

Sir, I beg leave to tell the honorable gentlemen, who have introduced this new rule of parliamentary ethics,

JAN. 19, 21, 1833.]

Public Lands.

[SENATE.

that, if in the arrangement of any important interest of This is the precise moment for action, and I shall act the country, my constituents happen to be particularly on the conviction that the passage of the bill is identified favored, without prejudice to their fellow-citizens in other with the welfare and best interests of each of the new sections of the Union, I shall never hesitate to accept the States, and especially that of which I am an humble re"bonus," however unpleasant it may be to the morbid sensibility of honorable Senators who, perhaps, look for their reward for services rendered in another quarter,

I came here for that especial purpose, and shall keep it steadily in view, as a part of my duty which shall never be neglected.

But, sir, there is another description of "bonus," which is not unfrequently offered within the limits of the ten miles square, which I utterly disdain and reject.

presentative.

[Mr. P. here complained of fatigue; and, on motion of Mr. WEBSTER, the Senate adjourned.]

MONDAY, JANUARY 21.

Mr. WILKINS, from the Committee on the Judiciary, to which was referred the message of the President, accompanying copies of the proclamation, &c., reported a bill further to provide for the collection of duties on im

It consists of a small piece of parchment, under the broad seal, which is never tendered to any but the ports. The bill faithful.

The recruit who accepts it is bound by a pledge never

SIGNING LAND PATENTS,

to disobey the commands of the chieftain under whose Describing the mode by which patents for public lands banner he enlists, and in all things to conform his actings may be signed and executed, was taken up, as in Comand doings to the will of him, "who was born to committee of the Whole,

mand," his heir and successor. Such a bonus, accepted An amendment, limiting the operation of the act to on such conditions, may well be supposed to corrupt the March, 1837, was agreed to.

sources of legislation, and mislead the judgment in mat- Mr. POINDEXTER then stated his objections to the ters of great national concern. If honorable Senators bill, and wished for time to substitute a provision for a fac can guard themselves from these influences, and indig- simile of the President's signature, in lieu of the existing nantly repel them, as foul encroachments on the purity provision to authorize the employment of a Secretary by and independence which ought to be maintained in the the President for the purpose of signing patents. faithful discharge of their public duties, they will find therefore moved to lay the bill on the table; but the moless difficulty in tracing my support of this bill to more tion was negatived-ayes 13, noes 16.

lofty considerations than the temptation of gain, or the seductions of profit, which it holds out to my immediate constituents. I am well acquainted with their wants, and, in my endeavors to relieve them, I stand erect before the people, and am not alarmed lest they should ascribe to me such unworthy motives, and refuse the "bonus" which I may be so fortunate as to obtain for them.

He

Mr. KANE then moved to fill up the blank for the sala

ry of the Secretary, by inserting 1,500 dollars.
Mr. RUGGLES moved to lay the bill on the table--ayes
13, noes 16.

Mr. POINDEXTER moved to fill up the blank with 1000 dollars.

After a few words from Mr. HOLMES, the question was taken on the largest sum, and decided in the affirmative-Yeas 15, Nays 14. Mr. POINDEXTER then moved to amend the bill, by

Is my honorable colleague [Mr. BLACK] mindful of these wants? Have we not numerous rivers capable of being rendered navigable for steamboats to a great distance into the interior of the country, passing through inserting, after the word "President," the words "and rich and highly cultivated portions of the State? Are in his presence."

there no canals to be cut, intersecting these rivers, and The motion was negatived.

affording cheap and convenient channels, through which The bill was then reported as amended, and the amendthe planter may carry the products of his labor to mar-ments being concurred in, the bill was ordered to be en

ket? Are there no colleges and seminaries of learning in grossed for a third reading.

the State, calling for endowments to bring them to matu

rity, and render them practically useful in diffusing the lights of science and the benefits of education to the rising generation?

Sir, we have all these important objects to provide for, which are sufficient to call forth the anxious solicitude of every citizen in the State. Our population cannot bear the burden of taxation to an amount which would be required for all, or either of those objects, so necessary to the growth and prosperity of the State. Shall we, then, act wisely, in rejecting the means now proposed to be put into the hands of the Legislature, so ample for their accomplishment?

PUBLIC LANDS.

The Senate resumed the bill to distribute, for a limited time, the proceeds of the sales of the public lands; the question being on the motion of Mr. POINDEXTER to amend,

Mr. POINDEXTER again rose, and resumed his argument commenced on Saturday.

He said, he would add a few words to what he said when he last had the honor to address the Senate, in relation to internal improvements and education, and the means to give support to them in Mississippi.

He had stated that the population of that State could

It is my firm belief, that if the present occasion is per- not accomplish these great objects by resorting to a sysmitted to pass without the relief which is imbodied in tem of exorbitant taxation; the people would not bear it. this bill, we may hope in vain for any assistance hereafter This fact was clearly demonstrated by the numerous pefrom Congress. The best portion of the State will very titions and memorials which were annually transmitted to soon be in market; our locations must be made immedi- their Senators and Representatives in Congress, from the ately thereafter; and if not made in two or three years Legislature, praying grants of a few thousand acres of

from this time, the grant of five hundred thousand acres of land to the State will not be worth the parchment on which it is written.

All the lands of any value, capable of cultivation, which are not purchased at the public sales, will be subject to entry at private sale; and we may reasonably expect that the lapse of a few years will not leave a spot which will command one dollar and a quarter per acre, on which this-grant can be located.

land, for clearing away obstructions in their navigable rivers, for opening canals, and for the encouragement of education, by the establishment of colleges and seminaries of learning.

He had the other day presented such a memorial to the Senate, praying for a grant of a township of land to a new and flourishing college in the town of Clinton. He would only add, if these partial grants were deemed of so much importance as to attract the attention of the Legislature

from year to year, would it not be folly and madness in her representatives here to set their faces against a grant which would more than cover all the wants of the State, in perfecting her wise system of internal policy?

[JAN. 21, 1833.

shall remain unsold at the expiration of ten years, shall be offered at one dollar per acre.

2d. All lands which in like manner shall remain unsold at the expiration of fifteen years after the same shall have

He felt himself bound by the imperious obligations of been subject to private entry, shall be offered at seventyduty to accept the grant, and thereby remove the insupe- five cents per acre; and all lands remaining unsold at the rable difficulties which interposed to retard the growing prosperity of the State.

Mr. President: I have endeavored, in the views which I have already taken of the subject before the Senate, to establish:

1st. That no part of the public domain of the United States was acquired by conquest.

2d. That the States, in conquering their separate independence on the crown of Great Britain, succeeded to the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the territory within their respective chartered limits.

expiration of twenty years shall be offered at the price of fifty cents per acre. No reduction below fifty cents is contemplated at any period. The second section of the amendment provides that every person who shall be the head of a family, or above the age of twenty-one years, and who shall actually inhabit and cultivate a tract of land not exceeding in quantity one hundred and sixty acres for the period of five consecutive years, shall be entitled to become the purchaser of such tract of land on paying for the same, at the proper land office, at the rate of fifty cents per acre.

3d. That to provide for those who fought our battles This provision is so guarded that no one can obtain a in the war of the revolution, and to pay the debt incurred patent, without making satisfactory proof to the Register in that glorious and arduous struggle, the States having of the Land Office that the tract of land has been actually waste and unappropriated lands in the Western wilder- inhabited and cultivated by the claimant for the whole ness magnanimously ceded them to the General Govern-period specified in the act.

ment for those purposes, without an equivalent in money, on certain specified conditions, which were binding on the old Congress under the confederation.

4th. That, by the adoption of the new constitution, all the States who were the original parties to these compacts agreed, by a fundamental law of the republic, to render the powers of Congress over the ceded territory plenary, and thereby removed the limitations contained in the deeds of cession, and left the whole policy, in relation to the territory of the United States, open to the sound discretion of Congress.

5th. That up to the present time the public lands have been considered, in the main, a common fund for the payment of the national debt.

6th. That this debt being extinguished, these lands re

In support of these modifications of the existing laws, I begleave to recur again to the message of the President of the United States, which fully recognises, in the opinion of that high public functionary, the power of Congress in its discretion to dispose of the public lands "in such way as best to conduce to the quiet, harmony, and general interests of the American people.".

He thus puts out of view altogether the deeds of cession and treaties by which they were acquired.

He considers them no longer binding on Congress since the payment of the national debt, for which they were pledged; and recommends that not a dollar shall hereafter be paid into the public treasury arising from the sales of these lands; that they be sold in limited parcels to actual settlers at a price barely sufficient to reimburse the

main the common property of all the States, to be dispos- United States the expense of the present system, and

ed of for their common benefit. On these principles, I ground my support of the measure under consideration.

But, sir, I feel myself called on, by a due regard to the welfare of my constituents and of each of the new States, to render the proposed system still more perfect and acceptable, by attracting the serious attention of its friends to the several amendments which I have offered as additional sections to be incorporated in the bill.

the amount paid for the extinguishment of Indian titles. He further proposes, at a day not distant, to cede the lands remaining unsold to the States within which they lie.

These propositions open the entire policy to the action of Congress on the ground of expediency, in its broadest sense.

Under this high authority, therefore, I proceed to inquire-Is it expedient to graduate the price of the public lands according to the scale which I have presented to the consideration of the Senate?

Is it expedient to encourage emigration to the new States, and grant facilities to those who remove with their families into these States, by granting to each head of a

If these amendments are adopted, I am fully impressed with the belief that the system will give general satisfaction, and may be continued to an indefinite period, with out complaint or interruption. It is true, we have inserted an express provision, that Congress may hereafter legislate in respect to the public lands without regard to the present arrangement; but we ought not to leave any mat- family the right of pre-emption in one quarter-section of ter for future legislation which can be properly adjusted land, at fifty cents per acre, after it shall have been culat this time. Such a course might, and most probably tivated successively, and without intermission, for five would, give rise to heart-burnings, jealousies, and discon- years?

tents, unfavorable to the tranquillity of the Union.

I respond affirmatively to both these questions; and I

I wish to provide for an equitable graduation of the pub- appeal to the friends of this bill for distribution to consilic lands after they shall have been subject to private én-der them well; for if we are to legislate finally on this im

try for a specified number of years, and to reduce the price at once to fifty cents per acre on small tracts not exceeding one quarter-section to a poor man, who shall actually inhabit and cultivate it for five successive years.

These provisions are contained in two sections of the printe printed amendments laid on the table, which were prepared with great care. I shall now, sir, proceed to examine them, and offer some of the leading considerations which induced me to offer them.

The first section of the amendments proposes to graduate the price of the public lands by a scale which shall reduce them to the minimum price of fifty cents per acre, at the end of twenty years, in the following manner:

portant subject, it must be clear to every gentleman that our laws should be so formed as to give satisfaction to the country-to the old as well as the new States.

I am sensible that this appeal would be made in vain to the opponents of the bill, many of whom are utterly opposed to any measure of relief to the new States, and rest their opposition on the ground that already our bounty and liberality have been too freely lavished on the people who take possession of the public lands.

I look for no aid from that quarter, unless it may be found in professions of good will, of which we are yet un any practical evidence.

able to see

The success of these amendments must, therefore, de

1st. All lands subject to entry at private sale, and which pend on those honorable Senators who are the advocates

of the system, and desire to perfect it by adopting any just and reasonable modifications.

I cannot concur in the report of the Committee on Manufactures, to which the subject was, by a singular trans

[SENATE.

lands which may be deemed good; 2d. Lands of second rate quality; 3d. Lands of third rate quality; 4th. The quantity unfit for cultivation; 5th. The number of years it has been in market, and the average value per acre of the position of the business of the Senate, referred at the last vacant land in each State and Territory. As this docusession of Congress, so far as that report controverts the ment has a direct bearing-on the subject now before the expediency of graduating the price of the public lands Senate, I beg leave to give the summary which it preon fair and equitable principles. From my own experi- sents of the actual condition of the public lands at the ence in these matters, I am firmly persuaded that it would date when it was prepared. I confine the statement to increase rather than diminish the amount of money annually paid into the public treasury from that source of revenue. It will operate in favor of the scheme of distribution, by bringing into market, successfully, such lands as will not, after the lapse of years, command one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, at a reduced price, which will enable the Government to dispose of them and realize their actual value, when there is no prospect that they can be sold at the present minimum standard.

lands of good quality, and those which are deemed unfit for cultivation.

Mr. P. here read from the report, as follows:

DISTRICT AND STATE.

First rate.

Unfit for cultivation.

Acres.

Acres.

200,000

666,000

1,470,000

2,430,000

2,935,000

6,023,000

159,000

5,700,000

Under our existing system, the lands are first carefully Ohio, surveyed, and parcelled out into legal subdivisions. Maps Indiana, are prepared, exhibiting accurately each range of town- Illinois, ships divided into small tracts according to law. The Pre- Missouri, sident is authorized, after these surveys are completed, to Alabama, issue his proclamation, offering the whole or any part of a Mississippi, district for sale at public auction, under the superintend- Louisiana, ence of officers appointed for the purpose. Well, sir, he Michigan, issues his proclamation, and puts in market a range of ten or Arkansas, twenty townships, at his discretion, which is published in Florida, all the newspapers authorized to publish the laws of the United States, and continued for some six or eight months prior to the day fixed for the commencement of the sales, which are to be kept open two weeks. At these public

sales, men of capital usually attend, who have explored the sources--the returns of actual surveys, and the field notes country, who know the good lands, have selected their of the deputy surveyors. It may not be precisely acfavorite tracts, and go prepared to purchase them. The curate, but it furnishes general views, which will aid us in

arriving at proper conclusions in the adjustment of this question. The returns from Louisiana, I am inclined to think, overrates the quantity of first rate land in that State which was unsold at that time.

But, sir, the whole of the lands described in the preceding summary, it must be recollected, have been in

consequence is, much competition; and choice selections are not unfrequently bid up to twenty or twenty-five dollars per acre, and sometimes even higher prices are given. A poor man has but little chance to supply himself at these sales; men with long purses compete with each other for the choice lands; and we may safely calculate that at least one-tenth part of the highest quality of land market for five years, since the report was made; may it in a range of townships will be bid off at the first sale. At not, then, be reasonably supposed that the greater part the close of the public sales, all the lands which have been of the first, and the second, rate qualities, have been offered, and remain unsold, are subject to entry at private sold within that period? And certainly we may fairly sale by any one who will pay down for them one dollar conclude, that no part, or, at any rate, a very small part, and twenty-five cents per acre. Then, sir, a new scene of the lands reported to be unfit for cultivation have opens. The speculator, who wishes to make profitable been entered at the present minimum price; nor is it investments; the rich planter, who is anxious to provide probable that they could be disposed of in a century to suitable settlements for his sons; the poor man, who wants come, at that rate. Let us look at the prices, estimated a comfortable home for his family; and the emigrant, ar- by the land officers in the various districts, as the average riving in the country from one of the old States, wishing value of the lands in market. Does not the picture which to take up his permanent residence there-all these classes it presents to us strongly enforce the propriety of a of persons are actively employed in seeking out the best judicious graduation of the minimum price, which may lands, and entering them at the proper land office, in large induce purchasers to enter the lands of inferior quality, or small tracts, to suit the purposes of the respective pur- and thereby not only hasten the sales, but facilitate the

chasers.

settlement and improvement of the country? I sincerely

Now, sir, I say, from an intimate knowledge of these hope it may produce that desirable result. What, sir, are sales, public and private, for nearly thirty years past- the estimates contained in the reports of the registers and I believe every Senator from a new State will accord and receivers of public moneys to the Commissioner of with me in the declaration--that, after any given number the General Land Office? I will refer the Senate to the

of townships shall have been in market for ten years, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find lands even of second or third rate quality open to entry at the minimum price of the Government.

The official documents on the files of the Senate go far to attest the accuracy of this opinion.

The Secretary of the Treasury, in answer to a call made

reports separately, and then compare the whole, so as to reach, as nearly as practicable, the general average of the estimated value of the public lands in all the States and Territories from which official information has been communicated on the subject.

In Ohio the average value of the lands in market, is estimated, per acre, at

on the head of that department in 1828, made a report to In Indiana, the average is,

the Senate containing a statement of the quantity of land Illinois, surveyed and unsold in each of the States and Territories Missouri, where the public lands are situated.

$1 03

82

40

23

15

23