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Show 190 A POLITICAL TEXT-BOOK F'OR 1860. on the 1 uth June, by the House accepting the ~ e:1atc bill with t--light amendments. On that. cav ~It·. l:::lcltuvlcr l'olt!tx reported to the House : s.follows: · pose all public lanrls to sale IYilhin two yea"e after U~e7 shall have been ~ut·,•cyed which wo held would be peculiarly oppressive upon Ute p once s who had gone to the frontier t.o aettle upon the publ c lantlw and to which we could uever ltavo COIIM:u cd. No'w lllr I :::ipcakcr, I de:~irc to state, in ctmclusion, th:tt the' com: ;<.It·. Colfax.-! rise to a question of prh·ilcgc. .r amln· Jt ro m :~;e we have mnde upon.thc sulJjcct is not in accord. struclcd by the Committee of Conference on the dt~ngree· 1 ance with what 1 should <le:>t• c to lmvc Jllll:lscd, if I had 1:.~ \' otc:s of the two Houses on tl.e Jlontestead IJdl, to the power to frame the bill my:;elf; hut it i~:~ the very ut· re(H>rt tha.t after twelve meetings of tne three d itl'crent j mo:~t we coulll ohtuin from the l'ienate, as now consti· Conferetwc; that h:tve been appointed, they thli:i morn- tutell. The ~cnator!l 11 ho served with U:i on the Confc. ing finally agreed. I hold in my hand the report of .the 1 renee ha vc IJcen not1lied hy me, und also b,v my colleague Vornrnittce which can IJe read if 1tny gentleman des1res ~~It. \\'utdow, of I11inncsota , that \I e re~;ard this as IM it. 13ut pe~haps it would render the report clearer and a Hingle step in ad vance tn11 a:·<! J. lllw ~~ hich we shllll <Je. more intelligible if I should briefly state its lcalllng fea· manu from the American Uon~;rt·ss, eJHLCI.ing a compreturcs. i'he SenctLc bill u.ll the members of the Jlou::.e arc hcn>~ivc and liuoml llow estead polit:y. 'J'his we have familiar with. 'l'he Conferees upon the part of the llouse agreed to as 111crcly an avont con1Tia. We shall de. finding after tho most earnest ctrorts, that It would be mand it at the next :>cl:!l!lou of Congress, and until it iB utterly 1 impossiblc fot· thelll to Induce the Senate to agree granted; unt tl all the public lands shall be open to au to the llouse bill, have been discussing what chauge::1 the people of the Unitcu ::!tate:~; and 1 ~tate this publicly could be made iu the Senate bill, so as to render it accep· that no oue shall regard us Hi:i estopped hereafter be: table enough for the liouse to accept, rather than the cause we accepted tllid half-way ntca~u • e rather tha~ to whole should fail. They have finally agreed upon a report allow the whole to fail. 1 should have added that aU as follows: In the first place, I will say that the bill, as it persou!l, wliether citizens or those \1 ho have only declnt·ed passed the Senate, provirled that tlte preemptors now their intent ions, a re allowed to go on the lands under upon the public lands might remain there two years be· this !Jill; !Jut are requit·eu to pe. feet their nuturaliztLtion fore they should be required to purchase their lands, but before the live yt:ars expire, aud the patent iaaues. 1 now should then pay for them at the rate or $1 26 per acre, demand Ute pr, vious que:~tion 011 concurring on the rethus removing them entirely from within the purview· of p ort of tile OomUlittee, and llllssiug tl!C bill as thm the benefits which would apply to the settle1·s hereafter amendcd. upon the public lands. i'his point the llouse Conferees ~lr. 1•'amsworth.- I d esire to n8k the gentleman fron1 refused to accede to, and if persisted in, we should have In<liau1t whether this !Jill coullllc~; itl:l benefits to those again reported a. disagreement. Finally, howevet·, a who arc heads of families. compromise wa.s arranged on this point, and to protect 1\lr. Colfax.-IL docs, because we failed, despite our the preemptors now on the Government land, which was utlllo;:~t ctforts in procuring its extc;u,iou to all; but we to be allvertised this fall for sale, we changed the 'cnate shall appeal t~ the young men to t.lemantl of those who !Jill so as to protect th em for at least two years from lunll make a11tl who execute thfl laws, that the system in· t>ale:l, and to allow them then to secure th eir homes at auguratell by thi~ bill, shall be wideucd tJo as to ad:ni~ one lwljthe Government price, namely sixty-two and thctu to it.; uendits, and l will j oin them in this dcmautl. a ·half cents per ncr~. I need scarcely add, that, If the 1\Ir. Grow.- 1 just dc:~il·e to say tlmt we have taken t!Jia Senate could have lleen induced to give them the benefit ))ill n ot because it is what we want, but on the priuc.ple of their twenty.five-cent-per-acre provision, we should tha.L "half a Jour i~; better than no IJrcall." have insisted on it inflexibly; but what I have statetl is , 'I 11 ,.,. . d 1 1' t f th Com-the very lowest point that could lle obtained. The second J 10 ou e aot CO to t lC "cpot 0 e change we have made in the Senate bill is in relation to tuittl'e, 116 to 61, as follows: the scope of land coming under the operations of the law. '!'he llouse bill embraced all the Government land, o!fered or unou·ered, except such as was specially ruserved. i'he ~enate bill confined its provisions to land subject to private entry, exclusively. As I have explained on a former occai:iion, the expression "subject to private entry" means such as are left after the Janus have been once reguln.rly brought Into market, exposed to public sale, and the speculatot·s have taken such as they see fit to purchase. '!'he difference lletween these t11 o bills seemed so radical as to be incapable of adjustment.; and the scope of farming land covered by the ~enate bill was so limited, there being but little, if any, in Minnesota, Kansa:;, Nebraska, California, Oregon, and Washington, that the House conferees declined to a ccept it. l3ut on this, too, we finally eU'ected a compromise. l3y our report, all the land subject to private entry is Included, and, in addition, all the odd-numbered sections or the sun-eyed public lands, which have not been opened to public sale- a most material and beneficent enla•·gemcnt of the Senate bill. We were otrered, after thid agreement, whichever half of ~c unoU'ered lands we chose, and we took the odd-numbered sections. i'he reason fur this was, that the loth scr.tion or o. township, being reserved for school purpowea by (iUr la.nd laws, the four acljvinin(J JS~ctions to it, ou tho north, west, east, anll sout h, are se.c· t•ons 9, HS, 17, and 21, all odd-numuered sections, whtch are thus saved for homestead settlers, who have reserved for them 18 out of the 85 disposable sections iu each township or six miles square. Un all these lands, actual settlers, who are heads of families, are allowed, after having occupied the land for !ive years, to purchase at ~ cents per acre which itt abllut the average cost price or the public lan'cls to the Government. We struggled, or course, to include all young men ove•· 21 who are not heads of famllles, and to adopt the J!'rec Homestead principle of the ilous~ bill· l.lut on the::~e points the Senate wo.s lnfiexiule and w~ took what we tlill beca.use it was the very best ~e could get. '!'he Senat.e bill originally provided that the IIomelltead settler rui~ht acquire title to his land at any time by paying full Government pl'ices; but desiring to promote actuo.l t!etLJement, we now provide that he cannot do this till after he has IJeen on the land six months. When he stays, or hia family if he deceases, the full five years he obtains it at ~ cents per acre. The Senate have also agreed to strike out the eighth section or their \)ill, which wade it impet·ative upon the ~ 1'1'ident to ex· YI> .\S.-~f -:s!lr~ . C. F. A clam~, All t!n, A llt'.l', Al<ll'ich, Aslr ley J' ·thhitt Barr Ileal.· llilwhn 111, ~· rauri~ P. Blair, Sam' ue><l S. Bl'a ir, llla' ke, Hm'y ton,r lil'.l .l!/', ll ull.l nlon, IJ ur-,:..h., Burlin){~lm c , Uurnham, llutter!idd, 1 :1 " I' ··II, Uar,•y, Car· ter, Case, II .~·. Clark, Cobb, Cnlfax, ('••nd 1, l•JVO•h· 1 Cox, Curtis .John G. Dads, Dawes, Dcl.lllo, Dul'll, J>unu, ~.dgc r· ton, ~;~lwar<ls, J<:lliot , l~ly, l<'erry, Floreiii;L', ~·o;;ter, rrunk, Io'rcnch, Gooch, Onlhnm, Orow, Ourlt·y, Hale, lbtll, l!a:!· kin, lll'lmkk, lfoar•J, \\'m. llowar<l, llumphn·y, ll.~•tcluns, Junkin. !<'. \\'. K cllog~, Wm. 1\cll()gg, Kt•uyon, Ktliingcr, De \\'itt C. Leach, Ler, LonJ.ineckl'r, Loo111is, Maclay, Marston, ~lcK ea n, 1\l c Knl ~ht, l\l cl'h cr!"on, .~lilllrartl, Moorhead, ~l o n·ill, 1<:. Joy Morri,;, 1. N. ~l orno, h~or~.t·, Niblack i\i 'I. On Olin l'alm r r, l't.:JHIIclon, Pcrr.v, I etltl, l'hclpt; 'Porter 'rottc~ ltlcc, IUg,t;~ Cllri:~topllcr Jtohin~on, Jtoyce 1 ~ed ~wlck Sh~nnan, Some's, Hpaulcllug, ~pinner, Stanto;1, William ~tewart, tout, Tappan, 'l'aylor, 'l'h~.rer, 'l'heaker, 'l'o111pkin:~, Train, 'l'rimiJlc, \'and~vcr, Van \\yck, Verrce, Wade, W;tlton, V. C: Washburn, ~·· Jl. Washhuruc, Is mel Washbum, We ll~;, Wmuom, 1\IH.I \\ ootlrutT-llG. N A Yi:I - 1\Iessrs. Green Adam!~, Will:am C. Anderson, Ashmore A very l3arksdalc Bocock, Bonham, lloyce, l3mbson 'nranch: Duruett Cl~pton, Burton Craige, Cra~· Cord, U~rry, De Jarnette: U1lmer, Hardeman, J. Morr· l:IOU Hard!!, John '1'. Harris, Hatton, Houston, Jenkins, Jones Keitt Landrum J ume::1 ~I. l,cach, Leake, Love, 1\lallo~y, Maynard, McQueen, 1\lile:;, Millson, Sy_denha.m }foore, N olson, Peyton, Quurlcs, ltea.gan, Ruffin, Wll· ll:4m ::lmith, William N. H. Smith, :::itevenson, Stokes, 'l'homas Underwood Vance Weuster, Winslow, Wood- son, and' Wrightr-61,' ' 'l'he nays arc all from tho Slave States. The Senate agreed to the report of the Conference Committee, 36 to 2-Mcssrs. Dragg and Pearce. 'l'he fo~lowing is tho bill as it was finally rcpox·ted by the Conference Committee and passed both Houses: A.N .A.OTt<J secure Uomesteads t<J act-t~al settl8rl l>lt the Public Domalin, and for ot/Ltjr purposes. 6n· .Be it enacted b'll. the Be'TIA.J,te a11-d IIotJ:~6 of .Reprll eu t'ives of tiLe Un1-ted Statu of Amerwa ~1~ Oon(Jrl asaembled, That any pt:rson who Is the heaci o! a famty, TilE IIOMESTEAD BILL-TilE VETO. 191 and a citi1en of the United States, shnll, from and nfter &he pasenge of Uds act, be entitled to enter one qua rteraectlon of vacant and unappropriated puhlic lands, or any less quantity, to be located in It IJocly, in conformity with the legal subdivisions of the public lands, after th~ same shall havo been surveyed, upon the following con· ditions : that the penon npplylng fot· the benefit of this llCt shall, upon application to the r egister of the lnntl-ofiice In whl ~ h he or she is about to make such entry, mukc atll.ta vtt before the snlll r egister or receiver of Ra id lan<lollice that he or she 1:~ the head of a family, and is actually setLlell on tho quarter- ection, or ot.her suhclivi~ion not exceclling 11. quarter-section, propo::~cd to be entered, and that such 11 pplicatlon Is matle for his or her u ~e a nd btmefit, ot· for the use and benefit of those specially mcntioneu Ia t.his section, nnll not either directly or lndircclly for the use or bene ft.\ of :t ny other person or per sons whomsoever, and that he or she has never at any previous time, had the benefit of this act; ltpcl upou making the affidavit as above r t·quircd, and tiling the eatue wtth the r egister, he or she shall thereupon be permitted to enter the quantity of land already spec!fiecl : Provided, lwwe;oer, That no final certificate shall be given, or patent issued therefor, until the expiration of five y ears from the date of sur.h entry ; and If, at the expiration of such time, tho person making such ent ry, or, I! he be dend, his widow, or, in case or her death, his child or children, or In case (J( a willow ma king such entry, her child or children, In case of her death, shall prove, by two credilJio witnesses, that he, ~he, ot· theyt. ha.t Is to any some member or rnembct'tl of the same family-has or have creeterln dwelling-house upon sa.it.l land, and continued to reside upon and cultivat.e the aame for the term or five years, and still reside upon the earne (n.ntl thn.t n either the said ln.nd or any part thereof has been alienated); then, in such ca:~e, he, she, or they, upon the pa.yrnent of 20 cents per acre for the qun.ntity eat~retl, shall be entitled to n. patent, as In other en es provided by law: And p r01Jided f/JI1'tlurr, In case or Ute death or both father and mother, leaving a minor child or children, the right and the fee shall inure to the benefit of said minor child or children, and the guardian shall be author ized to perfect the entry for the bcnetlclar lcs, as if tht:ro had been a continued residence or the settler for five years. Pr01Jided, That nothing In this section shall be so construell as to embrace or in any way include any quarter-section or fracti onal quarter-section of land upon which any preemption r ight has been acquired prior to the passage of this net. A.nd providodftt,rtlter, '£hat all enkies made under the provisions ofthiK section, upon lands wll:iclt MtVe not bee1~ o.ffored f or p1tbUc Rate, 11halt be con, .. jtt•ed t<J ctnd up01~ B~ctions desi(Jnate<t by odd m11mbers. sho.ll be permitted to enter more Htan one quarter·section or frac tional quarter-section, and that In a oompac& body; but entries may be made at different times under the provisions or th:s act; and that the Secreta.ry'or the Interior is hc•·eby required to prepare and Issue from time to time, such rule:~ and regulations, consistent with this act, 118 sltnll he necessa•·y and proper to carry Its provisions into eiTect; IUHI that the registe rs and receivers of the several llmd offices shall uc entitled to receive, upon the tlling of the first affidavit, the I!Um of 60 cen ts each and a like sum upon the i11suing o r the final certificatt . 13ut this shall not be construed to enlarge the maxiJt.um or compensation now prel!crihecl by law for any t·eglstor or receiver: Pr'OfJide<l, 'J'hat noth ing in this act shall be so construed as to lmpa1r the existing preemption, donation, or grn.duution laws or to embrace lands which have been reserved to be r:o ld or entered o.t the price or $2 60 per acre; b1tt no entry, u1uler sai£l (l_raduation, act, shall be allowed 1meil after proof oj acllbal 8ettlement and cuttitoation or occupancy for at least three months, as provided for In Sec. 8 of the said act. § 2 • .And be it ftvrther e-nacted, That the register of the Land Ollice shall note all such a}lplications on the tract books and plats of his oillce, and keep a register or all 1uch entries, and make return thet·eof to the General Land Office, together with the proof upon which they have been founded. § 8. And l1e it ftbrth6r enacted, That no land o.cquired nnder the provisions of this act s httlllu any event, be· come liable to the satisfaction or any debt or debts until after the issuing of the patent therefor. § 4 • .And oe itfnrtlter enacted, That If, at o.ny time after filing the affidavit, as required in the Jlrst section of this act, and before the explnttlon of tho fi vc years afo'rosaid, It shall be proved, after due notice to tlte settlor, to the satisfaction of the register of the Land Otllce, U1at tho person having flied such affidavit shall have eworn falsely in any particular, or shall have voluntarily abandoned the possession nud cultivation of the said land for more titan six months at any time, or sold his right under the entry, then, a nd in either of those events, the register shall cancel the entry, and the land so entered shall revert to the Government, and be disposed of as other public lands are now by law, subject to an appeal to thc Secretary or the Interior. And in no case ahall any laud, the entry whereof shall have been cancelled, again be suuject to occupation, or entry, or purchase, umil the same shall hn vc been reported to the \1-cueml Land Ollice, and, by the direction of the President or the United Sta.tes, again advertised and otrered At public sale. § 1'5. And be itf11irtlte1' encwte£7, That if any person, now or hereafter, a resident of any one of the States or Territories, anu not a citizen or the United States, but who at the time of making tmch application for the bene· fi~ oC thii net,. 8hall h(Jit)ejlted a dectnraUon of intentwn, as reqmred by the naturalization lllws of the United States, and shall have become a cltlzen of the lame before the issuing or the patent aw provided hr in &his act, such person ahall be entitled to all the rights con fer red by tbls act. § 6. ..d.nd bs it jut·tlwr Macted, That no ~ell rldual § 7. And be it ftbrther enacted, That each actual settler upon Janus of the Unlted States, which have not been o1Tcred at public snlo, upon fillng hls d~clnration or claim, as now required by law, shall be ent1tled to two yeara from the comme.tcement of his occupation or settlcm •nt ; or, if the lauds have not been surveyed, two yom·s from the receipt of the approved plat of such lnucls at the J>lstrlct Lanu Ofiice, within which to complete the proof::~ of his said claim, and to enter and pay for the land so claimed, at minimum price of such lands; and where 11ucb settlements have already IJeen made in good faith, the clalma ut shall be enlitlell to the said period of two ye<u·s from and after tho date of this act ; Pt·ovided, '!'hut no claim of preomptlon shall llo allowed for more than 1 tiO acres, or one-quarter section of land, nor shall any 11ueh claim be admitted under the provisions or tills act, unless there shall have been at least throe months or actual n nd continuous residence upon and cultivation of the land so claimed from the date of settlement, and proof thereor made according to law; J>rovide<t furtltet·, '!'hat any claimant uuder the preemption laws may take lel:!S tltaa 160 acres IJy legal subulvlslons ;•Provicled furtlte?', That all person11 who arc precmptm·s, on the date of this a ·t, shnll, 'M]Jon the payment to the proper aut.lwl'i(Jy of G~ cent8 per ac ··e, 'if j)aid '!.Oithin two years from tlte pasBa( le of this act, be entitled to a patent from the 0 overn· mcnt, as now provided by the existing prci.imptlon laws. § . At~d be it further enacted, 'l'hat the 5th section of the act entitlctl "An act in addition to an act more etrectually to provlt.le for the punishment of certain crimes against tho United States, and for other purposes," approved the 3d of March, in the year 1857, shall extend to all oaths, allil'lnatlons, and allidavlts requlrell or authorized by this act. § 9. And oe it f urtker enacted, That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to prevent any person who has availed him or herself of the benefit of the first section of this act from paying the minimum price, or the price to which the same may have graduated, for the quantity of land so entered at any time after an actual settlcmcn' of six months, and before the expiration of the five yean, nne! outulning a patent therefor from the Government, aa in other cases provided by law. § 10. And be it jtllrtlter enacted, That all lands lying within the limits or a State which have been subject to sale at private entry, and which remain unsold after the lupse or thirty years, shall be, and the same are hereby, ceded to the State in which the same may IJe situated ; Provided, These cessions shall in no way invalidate any inceptive preemption right or location, or any entry undt:r this act, nor tmy sale or sales which may be made by the United States before the lands hereby ceded shall be certitled to the State, as they are hereby required to be, undCI' such regulations as may be prescribed by U1e Secretary of the Interior. .A1~d providedj1J11'ther, 'l'hat no cession:~ shall tn.ke ~trect until after the States, by legislative act, shall have assented to tho same. r On the 28d, the President returned thQ bill to the Seuate with his veto, as followil: TilE ITOMESTEAD BILL. VETO MESSAGr: OF TilE PRESIDENT. To the 8u1ate of the Unit6d Statu. I return, wlth my objections, to the Senate, in whlela It originated, the bill entitled ·• An act to secure Homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain and fot other pur}Josee,, presented to me on t~ .. 'lOth lnst~Ul4. |