THE AMERICAN LAND QUESTION.

Colonist, Issue 24, 12 January 1858, Page 4

THE AMERICAN LAND QUESTION.

The public lands or lands not belonging to individuals or to corporate bodies were and continue to be held, atleast administratively and fpr sale, as the, property _pf, the federal government; but imder certairi stipulations, as bearing on the rights of the respective States, or- Territories, within which' these, lands ;are situated. The lands lying East of the Mississipi, were/at the, close Of the revolution, claimed by,the, several; States, on the tenure of original colonial charters, which, although, general iri their, terms, extended from sea to sea. -At that period, the, war had impoverished th^ ; coffers, increased the liabilities; and; diminished the resources of the United States treasury, and recommendations were accordingly made to the several States-to cede their titles to the Western lands-in order to aid iri the payment ofthe National debt. In , accordance ; with this recommendation several of the States ceded their titles to the lands claimed under their original patents. The first tract was denominated the north-western territory. From the Government; of this .territory an ordinance was framed in 1787. The boundaries of.the States within... the : limits of the territory were fixed by the. fifth article of the ordinance,.;that instrument providing at the same time "that there should be formed therein -not less-than-threehbr more than five States." ~ The:ordinance declares that "the legislatures of those; districts;or new States,.shall never; interfere:with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress assembled, nor with any regulations Gongtess may find necessary forLS^Unng_the title in such soil to the bona fide purchasers; and, also, that "no tax shall be imposed on lands, property of the UnjtedrStates,. aricj .that, in no case, rionresidents shoui4.be taxed /higher than the residents."' .Upbn the «ame subject the constitution of the United States expressly provides, that Congress shall have power to dispose of, and to make all needful rules and regulations respecting the ; territory of the public property: of the United States. The ordinance also prescribes—" that when the several territories shall have attained a certain;anipunt of population, they shall be admitted into the Union upon an equal footing with the original States." Louisiana was purchased from France in 1803. -From the valuablejobject to be attained by the possession. of the control of the entire, navigation of the Mississipi although without any clear* constitutional authority, the srim of $15,060,060 was paid.. . The territory of Florida was. purchased the 22nd day of February, 1819, by treaty concluded Between Spain and the United States. - /; . By treaties with the Indian tribes, large tracts, of ;th,eir,.territories have been ceded to the United States. ;UiV)n T the r public- domains which formerly .belonged .toEnglarid, France, and Spain, 1 various claims have been made by individuals to tracts either by virtue of ofcbuparicy or uridet* the titie of grants made by those;:Goyernments.before the lands were ceded:to the United States. In order

to adjust those claims or rights, coriimis-. sioners have been appointoa by. several acts of Congress to examine the validity of those titles or claims, to decide; upon them or to report the facts upon which they are founded to Congress. Titles; derived'from legitimate authority have been confirmed, and claims have also been confirmed upon grounds of equity, although the legal titles have, not. been perfect. .In : 1787, one million' arid a half of. acres was sold to the Ohio Company, by which; tlie. .State of. Ohio was first colonised. Two -years afterwards a contract was made! with Mr. John Cleves Symmes, for the purchase .of : a. million, and. a half of acres between the great and little Miami; but in consequence of the failure of the payment of the pur-: chase mqney, the patent conveyed a much smaller tract. , The first act of Congress for the sale of public lands lixxuted tlie saleto tracts of not less-than four thousand acres each- This plan might'have been convenient, but it was eminently favourable to land jobbing, by ,confinirig r the purchase to a few rich persons;, while those.^i& smaliMean^ were excluded irom making sucli purchases from the-Government, and consequently obliged to pay high prices to the jobbers.. In July, 1720, Alexander Hamilton, then Secretary of the Treasury, broughtfonvard a scheme, for the sale of public lands which provided. '-. "That the tracts set japart to each settler should not, exceed 10$ acres ; that t}ie prices of .land sold under special contract should be thirty cents per acre, payable in gold or silver or in public securities, com-, putirig those' bearing an iriterest of six per cent, per annum, the same as : gold and silver, and those bearing a future or less interest at a" proportionate value. In every instance of credit it wasrequired that one quarter should -be paid down, and independent security be given for the; residue, and that all surveys pf the land1 should be riiade at the expense of the purphaser..' . .Another law .was,passed by Congress in 1800, which facilitated the-sale of the public lands, arid a report was made in tlie House of Representatives.on. the 23rd of Januarys 1804, .recommending "a reduction of the size* of the tracts offered for sale."-. ~ t "■-.'■. '." : ■'. _;; ■ t t ; , The minimum price for the public .land previous : to,;tb<3.,year 1800 was two dollars an acre, one-fourth of. which was required to be riiade at the timei"of1 the purchase, and. the remainder 'in.tHreejaririual instalriients, a discount ( of eight per pent? being allowed if the purchaser paid in advance. Jobbers'continued to purchase land extensively. Many of these jobbers, speculating on : credit.:,were ruined.; They were aided by the,banks to an extent that was, among other, causes, fatal both to the jobbers and to the bapks- ; i The,-system,noyir adopted for the survey, sales and distribution of the public lands appears from the Commission of the General Land Office, to eoriibine many facilities' to purchasers.and settlers.. ; ! :The .tracts ordered to be brought into market -are first:surveyed aiid divided into tovmships;; of six; .miles', square arid srib-diyided-into sections of one. square mile each containing : sixhundred and forty acres. The lines afe run parallel. to; the cardinal points, arid cpss,each ptKer at right angles', excepting ; they are formed by. ariLridian boundary, line or the course of a stream. The sections ate subdivided into quarter, half-quarter, arid quarter-iquarter sections, the first; containing one hundred and sixty acres, the second eighty, and the third forty; their, dirnerisions. being accurately ascertained by fixed rules which are prescribed by law. The. survey is perforated by.-■*■!>two principal surveyors, by whom their deputies are appointed, all being^nder the direction of the Conimissioner !of the General Land Office in Washirigton.' T^e townships are. ranged: and numbered, and the sections in each township, are so numbered* from one to thirtyrsix. , The parallels of surveys, are based, upoii; a series of ; true meridian . lines. One principal meridian line is in OhiOj the second in; Indiana^" the third in Illinois, and the. next iii other states, each, constituting, the parallel of"a series, of surveys, which divides the wholes territory into squares defined with- accuracy into parallel ranges, by 'Vblazirig" the' trees, a process which is performed by cutting with a:hatchet the bark and a little of the woo& from the sides of their: trunks/ The precision of thoses modes -of survey prevents. disputes,, regarding bouridary lines. • .When, the/lands ; are surveyed, a r land office is established in each district, and On the day named by.the President of the tJnifed States, a, public sale ,of land, takes place, the iwhole being offered in the mar-^ ket- to the highest bidder above the fixed minimum price of oiie dollar and a quarter per acre! ; The tracts remaining unsold are theii offered.to the public at private sale, and riiay.be;purchased at the land offices at the minimum price; One section in each township, that is, one thirty---sixth part of-the landj is reserved perpetually, to rriaintain common schools w^iri the .township., One entire, township, 1 eqmprising 23,040 ,- acres is also reserved^ in each State and territory for the maintenance, of; higher seminaries of education., Five ; per cent; are reserved on the amount of-sales in each State, three-fifths, of which are required to be expended by Congress in making the roads throughout the State,. and two-fifths ; for the diffusion of useful knowledge. All; salt .springs-and lead mines are reserved to; the Government. iln each district the duties of the land, office are performed by a registrar and receiver "\ the registrar sells the lands, and the receiver collects the : payments. Each, of these ofilcers keeps, his; own records, per-; forming his • functions independently' of the other, arid holding separate responsibilities. They are each required to keep, separate,, accounts, to make periodical reports to the General Land Office at Washington, the, one of sales and : the other of receipts; each officer being: considered as a .cheek upon, the other.' All tracts are so marked and

numbered upon the books of the Land { Offices, that,a purchaser may selecta tract; the registrar arid receiver having only to receive the money and, give the vouchers for a title.; -Each purchaser is then granted an original patent froiri the Government as the most perfect title to the soil.-^* M lCfregor's Progress of America.