Congress on the 17th of December, 1850.-Ex. Doc. No. 11, page 12. In referring to the sources of revenue, and particularly to that portion heretofore derivable from the sales of the public lands, the report sets forth, that "this source of revenue" "should not here'after be relied upon with any certainty, or to any considerable ' amount, in estimating the receipts of the Treasury.'

It further appears by the same report that "By the various acts 'of Congress appropriating the public lands to objects which with'draw them from ordinary revenue purposes, it is quite certain that 'for several years to come the Treasury must be mainly if not 'entirely dependent for its receipts upon duties levied upon foreign 'merchandise:" and that "the law recently enacted, giving lands 'to those who served in the war with Mexico, and, at the last ses'sion, to such as had served in former wars, in addition to grants 'to States for internal improvements, will undoubtedly supply the 'market with the greater portion of the lands that will be required 'for occupation for many years to come."

The quantity of lands sold and taken from market by virtue of these warrants for the years 1847, 1848, and 1849, is 14,727,742.40 acres; the warrants yet to be presented under these acts will require 78,922,513 acres-in all 93,650,245.40 acres; and at the most liberal average, "over sixteen years will be required to absorb 'and satisfy the warrants yet to be issued as estimated, under the 'several bounty land acts now in force." This exhibit presents a state of things requiring the fullest consideration of Congress, and a speedy and radical change in the policy and management of our land system. What better plan, then, can be suggested than that proposed by the bill now under consideration? What more just in its conception-more benevolent in its objects-more conducive to a rigid political economy, or more certain in its practical results, to swell the aggregate of the national wealth, and advance the great commercial interests of the country?

The power of Congress over the public domain cannot be questioned, for it is contained in the Constitution, and is of the broadest kind. The third section of the fourth article is in these words:

"The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States, and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular State."

The power of Congress over the public domain to make donations and grants is not only given by the Constitution, but it has been freely and liberally exercised from the foundation of the Government up to the present time; at all events, from 3d of March, 1803, to the 20th of September, 1850, the date of the act granting about 3,025,920 acres to the States of Alabama, Mississippi, and Illinois, to aid in the construction of the Chicago and Mobile railroad.

For the purpose of showing that the power has been exercised, and the extent to which it has been exercised, I refer to the exhibit

r

STATEMENT OF DONATIONS AND GRANTS OF PUBLIC LANDS TO THE 30TH JUNE, 1851.

of "donations" and grants to the different States for the various

purposes mentioned:

of September, 1850, making donations of public lands in the Tertical recognition by Congress, I need but refer to the act of the 27th stitutionality, not only of the principle of this bill, but of its pracTo come, however, more directly to a full illustration of the con

ritory of Oregon to actual settlers. By the provisions of that bill, the actual settler is entitled to receive from one hundred and sixty to six hundred and forty acres, depending upon the time of his settlement and his condition, whether married or not.

No doubt can exist, then, as to the constitutional right of Congress to legislate in the premises. The exercise of the right in making a disposition of this kind of public property, depends upon the views of Congress under the circumstances before them.

The proposition, benevolent and patriotic in its conception, so far has neither been strengthened by the power, nor incumbered by the prejudice of party, but by the force of merit is attracting public consideration, and gaining strength and power through the force of public sentiment. It has received the sanction of Mr. Webster, now the Secretary of State. Whilst a member of the Senate of the United States, he introduced on the 22d day of January, 1850, the following resolution:

"Resolved, That provision ought to be made by law that every male citizen of the United States, and every male person who has declared his intention of becoming a citizen according to the provisions of law, of twenty-one years of age or upwards, shall be entitled to enter upon and take any one-quarter section of the public lands which may be open to entry at private sale, for the purposes of residence and cultivation; and that when such citizen shall have resided on the same land for three years, and cultivated the same, or if dying in the meantime, the residence and cultivation shall be held and carried on by his widow or his heirs, or devisees, for the space of full three years from and after making entry of such land, such residence and cultivation for the said three years to be completed within four years from the time of such entry, then a patent to issue for the same to the person making entry, if living, or otherwise to his heirs or devisees, as the case may require: Provided, nevertheless, that such person so entering and taking the quarter section as aforesaid shall not have, nor shall his devisees or heirs have, any power to alienate such land nor create any title thereto in law or equity, by deed, transfer, lease, or any other conveyance except by devise by will."

In the discussion of the resolution on the 30th of the same month, the principle received the sanction of Gen. Cass, in the following words:

"I desire to say but a word on this subject. I am glad to witness these preparatory discussions. They bring up a great principle-a principle to which I am highly favorable." * * * "I believe it would be better for the country that those who cultivate the lands should be those who hold them. I believe that the time has come, and that this country is now in a situation, when it is best to hold out this encouragement, and that is what I call the 'age of progress,' in reply to the honorable Senator from Kentucky. When I saw him come here in 1806, in the meridian of his life, I did not dream that this age of progress would come; but I hope it has come now; I hope the time has arrived in which the public domain will be held for the benefit of those who will become actual

settlers."

Mr. Chairman, the unexampled growth and prosperity of our country is traceable, in a great measure, not only to our vast agricultural productions, but to the fact that the free white population of the United States is an approximation to a community of landholders. The Government of Great Britain, of which, prior to 1776, we were dependent colonies, traces its power to a mighty landed aristocracy, representing one of the legislative departments of the Government-a power far above that of the Army and Navy, if not above the Throne, for it shapes the policy and controls the legislative action of Parliament. There, the rights of primogeniture are adhered to with stubborn tenacity. It seems to be the policy of the Crown to build up immense landed estates. In the United

States, we have practiced upon the reverse of such a policy. We have qualified the right of primogeniture, and repudiated the doctrine of entailment. The fruits of our wisdom are visible in every State and in every community. In Great Britain, the Government relies for its protection upon the power of the Army, the Navy, and the House of Lords, representing the landed interest of the Kingdom. In the United States, we rely for our success and preservation upon the virtue, intelligence, and patriotism of the people.

In Great Britain, the population in 1851, including Ireland and the islands in the British seas, was 27,619,866. The number of landholders only about 30,000.

In the United States and Territories, the free white population, by the last census, was 19,630,738. The number of landholdersthe owners of farms-was 1,448,486; add to this the number of freeholders as contradistinguished from farm owners, being 930,997, and it would increase the number to 2,379,483, distributed as follows:

Let us, then, Mr. Chairman, pass this bill, which will necessarily increase the number, and at the same time strengthen the arm of the Government.

Love of country and love of land is a natural association. It existed in a primitive condition of society. Under the organization of government and the forms of society, the desire for acquisition is still greater; and when attained, it enables its possessor to discharge more fully the duties of life-to contribute his part for the support of his country in time of peace, whilst it nerves his arm in the hour of battle. Patrick Henry, whose patriotism and matchless eloquence put in motion the ball of the Revolution, was ardent in the acquisition of land, and at one time even contemplated a location of the shores of the Chesapeake. Washington, the Father of his Country, who led our armies in triumph through the battles of the Revolution, was equally ardent in the acquisition of land. Even before the Revolution he found no barrier in the Alleghanies to his enterprising spirit, and at that early day, in the district which I have the honor to represent, he made a location and an improvement, which is now often referred to with interest, because, when the dark forest marked it as the wild hunting-ground of the Indian, it had received the impress of the Father of his Country.

The area of the public domain, instead of having diminished in proportion to settlement, the increase of population, and of immigration, has increased almost without limit, by purchase and by conquest. We have an immense extent unsettled and uncultivated; and under the best legislation we can adopt, a great deal of it must remain unsettled and uncultivated for ages-it may be for centuries.

The number of acres of public land unsold and undisposed of in the twelve States of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, is 200,000,000-equal in area to the old thirteen States that carried us triumphantly through the Revolution.

The area of the lands remaining undisposed of in the Territories is 1,201,123,557.85 acres, sufficient in extent to make forty-two States of the size of Pennsylvania. Of this, much is possessed by the Indians, and will be for many years to come; but all of it eventually will become the property of the United States, from the certain operation of the same causes which seem to doom the Indian race to ultimate extinction-a result to be deplored, but which seems to be inevitable. They have already so far disappeared before the advances of civilization, until their homes are now far beyond the angry waters of the Mississippi; and as they travel towards the setting sun, the council-fire will gradually disappear in the gorges of the mountain, and the war-whoop finally be lost in the murmurs of the great Pacific ocean.

In this vast region there are certainly large districts that are mountainous, parts of which are unfit for improvement, and for the residence of man; but, after making all necessary deductions on this account, there will yet remain immense districts which will sup