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Show MILITARY BOUNTY LAND POLICIES 269 land, making it impossible to provide nearly as much land for veterans as had been hoped. Delays in surveying and finding an adequate supply of good land prevented holding the lottery for selections until 1820. After selections were made and patents issued it appeared that some tracts had already been entered as preemptions while others had been confirmed as private land claims. Furthermore, the provision of the legislation assuring the soldiers good or fit land, was not satisfactorily carried out until Congress, on May 22, 1826, authorized the exchange of land "unfit for cultivation" for any good land between the St. Francis and Arkansas Rivers, provided that the warrantee had not been divested of his title by any conveyance or other encumbrance.55 Few soldiers who opted to have their warrants located in Arkansas settled there. The Arkansas Gazette of November 22, 1826, reported that more than 95 percent of the tract fell at the outset to speculators. Among them was Colonel Joseph Watson, the largest single owner of bounty land in Illinois. It is not clear how extensive his holdings in Arkansas were, but he advertised in the National Intelligencer of May 1, 1824, offering to buy 600 quarter-sections of bounty lands in that state. For 100 additional quarter-sections he was prepared to exchange lands in Ohio, Missouri, or Illinois. In 1828 Watson had 8,930 acres in Arkansas advertised for tax delinquency. At that time he was spoken of as the mayor of Philadelphia.56 There were practically no lands in Arkansas taxable when the bounty lands became subject to taxes in 1823. Consequently the territory had to rely heavily upon them for its support. It levied a tax of $2.40 on each quarter, whether improved or not. This may have seemed unfair to absentee owners whose land was just as nature had made it, while the few settlers who had made improvements of considerable value enjoyed 5 years of tax exemption if they had bought land from the government. Some lands also were assessed an 80-cent county tax. The territorial legislature, after levying its tax, permitted too short a period for payment, as the National Intelligencer of November 22, 1825, pointed out; it took 37 days for news of the taxes to reach Washington and by that time it was too late to transmit funds for payment. Absentee-owned lands then became delinquent, tax titles were promptly issued against them, penalties and interest charges piled up rapidly.57 Many complaints of the Arkansas tax policy reached Congress and induced a House committee to look into it. Without imputing bad faith to the territorial legislature, the committee reported that the course of the territory on taxes was "characterised by a looseness altogether unusual." Redeeming the lands was almost impossible because no officers were appointed to accept redemption money. Furthermore, the tax title holder, having obtained possession, insisted on payment for his improvements if the lands were redeemed. The committee recommended congressional action to extend the period for paying taxes without penalty to a full year, to allow a redemption period of 2 years, and to station a territorial officer in Washington to receive taxes and other payments. The House passed a measure to ease the problems of the absentee owner but the Senate failed to act on it.58 In the absence of Federal legislation, taxes and titles fell into ever deeper disarray in Arkansas. In 1827 the bounty lands still constituted the only important source of revenue. They were annually taxed; the taxes were not paid in time and went into default, and the hands were sold for taxes. As late as 1829 the National Intelligencer, which was read by many holders of the bounty lands, pointed out that it would be necessary for owners to set out for Arkansas as soon as news of the tax levy arrived and to travel faster than the 55 Act of May 22, 1826, 4 Stat. 121. ™ Arkansas Gazette, Sept. 2, 1828. 57 Arkansas Gazette, Aug. 3, 1824. 58 Carter (ed.), Territorial Papers, XX, 212-16. |