Ss33>

S 533

M74
Copy

SPEECH
1

JUSTIN
:

MORRILL

S.

VERMONT,

ON TUB

GRANTING LANDS POR AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES

EREO

OP

REPRESENTATIVES, APRIL

WASHINGTON:
;~D AT

THE CONGRESSIONAL
1353.

GLOfiE OFFICE.

42 3<1/M

AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES.

Mr.

CLINGMAN.

will prevail, as

lo the floor [Mr.

Mr.

now hope my motion

who is entitled

see the gentleman

Morrill]

HOUSTON. Was

last in consideration of the

is in

Before

not the House,

when

business of the morn-

is

a pend-

HOUSTON.

resume the

to

call,

Does the gentleman propose

commencing where the call

The SPEAKER. The pending bill is

bill

do-

its

consideration until

the 21st instant; and that the

bill,

Wednesday,

and the report

of the majority and views of the minority of the

committee, be printed.

The gentleman from Maine

[Mr. Washburn] moved to reconsider the bill.

The gentleman from Vermont [Mr. Molr-ll] is
entitled to the floor.

it

for

MORRILL.
I

enacting clause,
the

that

now

send to the Chair,

whole

bill.

when

there

in the

offer the

amendment

come

in after the

to

nature of a substitute for

Mr. Speaker,
is

know

very well

a lack of arguments

to

be

brought against the merits of a measure, the Constitution is fled to as an inexhaustible arsenal of
supply. From thence all sorts of missiles may
be hurled, and though they " bear wide" of the

mark, they do not " kick the owner over." I have

accustomed to roar around

also noticed that lions

MORRILL.

There has been no measure

which has received so much attention

in the various parts of the

country as the one

now

the Constitution are quite disposed to slumber

whenever it
But, while

by

stitutional

which have been received here from

the various States, North and South, from State
societies, from county societies, and from individuals.
They have come in so as to cover almost
every day from the commencement of the session.

is

desirable for certain gentlemen,

who

carry extra baggage, to leap over the impediment.

underconsideration,sofarasthefactcan be proved

<Z

withdraw

motion.

Mr.

petitions

will

There is a pending motion

recommit, which must also be withdrawn, before an amendment will be in order.

which

Mr.

to

which may provide colleges for the benefit

of agriculture and the mechanic arts. The gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Walbridge] moved
ritories

for years

WALBRIDGE.

that purpose.

nating public lands to the several States and Ter-

postpone

mo-

his

introduce

Mr. MORRILL. I ask the gentleman from

Maine to withdraw the motion to recommit.
Mr. WASHBURN, of Maine. I withdraw the

was last suspended ?

Mr. CLINGMAN. Certainly.
The motion was agreed to.

to

may

The SPEAKER.

ing report.

Mr.

lation to the Territories.

Mr.
was; but there

withdraw

an amendment,- which I propose to offer, merely

changing the bill so far as to strike out all in re-

reports?
It

desire to ask the

to

tion to postpone, in order that

his seat.

ing hour, engaged in the call of committees for

The SPEAKER.

proceed further,

gentleman from Michigan

do not propose

argument

not wholly blink

it

at

to

consider the con-

any great length,

out of sight; and

all

shall

the favor

asked is, that the Constitution may not be strained

and perverted to defeat a measure no less of public good than of public justice
just politically,

to ail

manhood
'

the

1.

of our country.

ms to
ur power ami e:
and promote commerce thn
s, coast surveys, improvement of harbors,
and through our Navy and Naval Academy. Our
tary "crown-jewels" are manufactured at

2.

Upon

the education of the proprietors of the

ct

We

West Point on Government account.

use grants of lands to railroads to

We

of internal trade.

Is

prol

bhe

make
open new

secure to literary

ction of copy-right.

growth and

discipline of

We encour-

hardy seamen by

king out their scanty rewards through govern-

We

bounties.

ed

secure to ingenious me-

by our system of patent-

chanics high profits

We make munificent grants to secure gen-

ights.

edueation in

new Slates.

But

all

the

to

agriculture has been rigidly

encouragement

all

aire

cornea to our doors, gay in

and lavish

in its

tures appears, with a

e

tender, at worst, a

god of
we have

fiery little

luivoc of

all

we " hand

When

MahufaCneedy and downcast look,

" compromise. " And then
war bristles up and makes
left.
So that, when Agri-

deliver" at once our gold.

.u;d

\\

promises,

culture appears,

"A

For human nature's

there

is

to

support

her sisters and idle

all

nothing

left for

admission of heraffinity
ting

all

utes.

Treasury notes
It is

iiius

to the

If

it

metes and bounds of their forefathi

fective as to
it

concern. If

make

we

of cultiva-

parts of our country

all

the soil poorer year

most deplorable

ia

common mode

be true that the

ting the soil in

fact,

and a

fact

and

skill

in a picture

on one of our

whatever we undertake.
The
of our artists and artisans have

of

natii

productiveness of the

soil,

it

is

nation;-,' v.nate,

What are

the facts?

In

New

England, the pasture-fed stock

not

is

on the increase, and sheep-husbandry is gradually

growing of less importance, excepting perhaps in

Vermont and

New

once abundant,

lowing table

is

Hampshire. The wheat crop,

now

inconsiderable.

will exhibit

The

something of the depre-

ciation of the crops in ten years:

P rtrtfoes

Wheat bushels.

hahels.
1650.

B7..003

U;tD

3,1

Massachusetts.. 137,923

31,211

5,3

Connecticut....

49

91 1.97 J

185,658

6,208,500

4.30

848,166

295,359

10,392,280

3,43

495,81

535,955

'

Maine
Vermont

2,014,111

1.090.132

19,751

4,951,014

19,418,1^1

In

many

production

of the southern States the decreasing

ia

equally

marked
'

Wht

3810.

in

'

Tennessee
Kentucky

In
1,61

4,803,152

2,14
1,0E

Alabamti

885

294,044

12,012,723

commended.

ll

ompetition.

so de-

is

by y

are steadily impairing the natural

compensated only by private robbery.

family by omit-

Our naval archicture is a subject of national pride.

Our engiirs are doomed to no merely loc^l fame.
Our
agricultural implements are beyond the reach of

we may be
many of the

Yet, while

<>f;he civilized world in

is

their education, on the contrary, is lim-

ited to the

we coldly

een universally

and

aries;

our province, as a nation and as individ-

ds, to do xoell

of seek-

her, and even spurn

mention of heron the records of our statCeres does not appear among the gods of

ympus only appears

'!

ai

ing a higher cultivation, are ex tend ini: their bound-

New Hkmpahii

daily food''

brothers, and to espouse their quarrels

1

agriculturist?,

Rhode Island...

creature not too wise or good

though taxed

Our

direct

withheld.

When Commerce

vision of the land into small par-

cels.

a humiliating fact that

we

in

advance

useful arts,

are far in the rear

of the best husbandry in Europe; and, notwith-

and there an elevated spot, our tendency is still downward. Does not our general sysof agriculture foreshadow ultimate decay ? If
riding here

beyond our constitutional power and duty

to provide an incidental remedy?
The prosperity and happiness of a large and
io, is it

ulous nation depend:

These facts, after all proper allowances for errors

and a short crop, establish, conclusively, that in
all parts of our country important elements in the
soil have been exhausted; and its fertility, in spite
of

all

improvements,

number of

is

The

steadily sinking.

of land in use in the Sta'

acres,

New York, in le25 was 7,160,967; in 13j5,

number had increased to 26,753,182 acres; but
number of sheep had decreased so that, there

the
the

nearly three hundred thousand less than there were

thirty years ago;

and within a period of

five

the decrease has been nearly fifty per cent.,

the decrease in the

swine,

abote

number of

fifteen

percent.

years
v.

horses, cows, and

In 1845 the prod-

uct of wheat was 13,391,770 bushels.

ily declined since, until the

did not exceed

(>,

000,000 bushels.

yield of corn per acre in 1S44

but

1854

in

The

It

Since these words were written,

has stead-

done

prod uct of the past year

The average

Mount Vernon ii self, losing the eye of its

master, has lapsed into the general degeneracy.
While the yield of wheat has increased in England

was only 21.02 bushels.

it

some new

greatly deteriorated, and

to thirty

fertilizer, be-

may

Alabama and Georgia but five bushels

even the largest of any State in
the Union, that of Massachusetts, was but sixteen
this,

with the leanest

a u can nari!ly be necess;lry

t0 atton)pt t0 impregg (]pii
you the depressed and wretched condition of thefarmint
.

\\

soil,

Interesfe t&toagndut Hie State at large, with the exception

of S"e few portions of it. which constitute honorable and
praiseworthy exceptions."

!'

proves her agricultural science far in advance of

net*

-i
-txn ]
r
While
the crop of
cotton m
Texas and Arkansas was seven hun-

<s.
Bister States.

new

lands of

dred

Even in Ohio the wheat crop

remunerative than formerly, and

pounds per acre,

iiundred and twenty pounds per
the older cultivated fields of South Caroseven hundred and

to

in

fifty

tivated are given

Kentucky and

of grain
In a

southern journal

&"

find the following state-

An Alabama

in the

for a price

planter says that cotton has destroyed

more than earthquakes

come

where so large an am
and carried off, instead of being

to

than that of 1840,

less

No

by

:n

tin-

shape of wheat and corn, and that

Commerce, foundeconomy as this, must

utterly ruinous.

an end, although the folly will

con.:;

be avenged on posterity even to the third and

fourth generation.
to

cently published,

pounds.

long cul-

In Indiana,

In the agricultural survey of Mississippi, re-

condition of the country, of the ruins of ancient Gre

In Virginia, the crop of tobacco in 1350,

to pasturage.

ed upon such agricultural

Witness tile
red hills of Georgia and South Carolina, vvliicji have produced cotton till the last dying gasp of the soil forbade any
(nither attempt at cultivation and the land, turned out to
nature, reminds the traveler, as he views the dilapidated
or volcanic eruptions.

all

Illinois,

sold

is

up

is

fields

out to stock, they are selling their lands by

bushel

ment:
ci

in

1850, to the Agricultural Society of Albemarle.

in Virginia, he said

And

bushels per acre; and

Hon. A. Stevenson,

'

peracre. In

per acre.

it has sunk to seven

opinion of the " English farmer
be imagined.

The

In an address of the late

was only seven bushels

for 1850,

bushels per acre,

Virginia.

yond rotation of crops, is anxiously sought. The

average crop of wheat in Virginia, Tennessee, and
North Carolina

has beer

ing, and

was 24.75 bushels;

planting lands of southern States have also

little

elevate the character of Virginia farm-

to

was

system pursued

million

Mr. Harper, speaking of

in that State,

the

says:

This agriculture has hitherto been a very exhausting

crop has proved more destructive

one. Mississippi

isanewStacej

it

dates

its

existence only

to the fertility of the soil

and

than the tobacco crop,

||

commodity, unless a cheap and

remedy can be found, must be either ban-

and notwithstanding all its fertility, a

part of the land is already exhausted; the State is foil

this staple

effective

ished or

it

banish the cultivators.

will

A recent address issued by the agricultural con-

where tobacco, corn, and wheat have been

continued for a century, many districts arc no
longer cultivated. Liebig says, " that from every
of this land, there were removed in the space
of one hundred years, twelve hundred pounds of
alkalies, in leaves, grain an(l straw."
In a letter
of General Washington, dated August G, 1786,
to a friend (Arthur Young) in England, he

vention in South Carolina, declares:

" Our stocks of ho^'s, horses, mules, and cattle are diminand decreasing in number, and our purses are

ishing in size

being strained

In the late

Writing
date,

to the

(December

system of agriculture that glories

the application

same person

at a

eJf

in

excluding

scientific principles."

My

time will not permit a greater accumulation

of evidence oh this point, although I have a cloud
of witnesses in reserve, nor is pointing out tl

adhered to."

5, 1791,)

message of the Governor of Georgia,

upon the ''educational

wants" of his State, and among many other facts,
he notices "the exhaustion of the soil under a

" The system of agriculture, ifthe epithet system can be

it, which is in use hi this part of the United States,
is unproductive to the p
as it is ruinous to the
iti

cent to supplj their places from

he eloquently diseants

applied to

Yet

for their last

ten! States."

W ri te s

lolders.

1818-;

of old deserted fields."

In this

State,

'-

from the year

subsequent

dness of the land an agreeable duty. Tinleading fact, however, of a wide-spread detei

he says:

' The English farmer must entertain a contemptible opinin of our husbandry, or a horrid idea of our land, when he

l|

informed that not more than eight orten bushels of

||

rat ' on

f the

n;ed.

The

soil,

stands out too boldly

to

great, irreversible law of Arm.'

'-'"'

tnt

and incn

6
diminution of agricultural products, without any
advance in prices. It follows, just in proportion,
that capital

is

disappearing, and thatlaborreceives

from which we sprang, and that we present our

land bettor than we found it. But this is not beautiful

unless true!

We 'bring

growing
debilitated, and we propagate the consumptive
disease with all the energy of private enterprise

forth new States by the litter, and

when we want more, like our Norman ancestors,
we commit " grand larceny," and annex them.

and public patronage.

There is little doubt but that three fourths of
the arable land of our whole country is more or

This progress seems wonderful, but with

less subjected to this process of exhaustion.

become depleted and stationary. This early maturity is followed by sudden barrenness.

Our country

a diminishing reward.

is

It

has been estimated by Dr. Lee, of Georgia, that

the annual income of the soil of not less than one

hundred millions of acres of land in the United

States is diminishing at the rate of ten cents an
acre.

This would amount

to

10,000,000, and in-

volve the loss of a capital of $>1G6,6GG,G66 annu-

ally.'

sum

greater than

State taxation

Men

all

our national and

waste hundreds of acres of land on the the-

ory that it is inexhaustible, whose entire wealth

might not purchase the raw materials the magnesia, lime, soda, potash, phosphorus, sulphur,
necessary to make a single
carbon, nitrogen, &c.

acre possessing primitive fertility.

Thus

mulated store of ages passes away

in a single gen-

the accu-

eration.

And

this

waste of

not the only thing

soil is

For want of the knowledge and skill

which the institutions aimed at can alone impart,
wasted.

Colonel Wilder, a gentleman of well-earned fame,

pears the bitter fact that these

a century

grains, at 2,000,000.

same

Another gentleman,

in the

State, of great experience in the line of

stock, dairy,

&c,

reports the loss from the

ignorance and unskillfulness

in

same

these interests, at

$15,000,000 for that State alone.

The

loss of

New

York, upon her four hundred and fortyseven thousand and fourteen horses, (and Ohio,
by the census of 1850, had more,) through the
universal incompetency in the veterinary art, has
been reckoned at not less than two million dollars.
The horse, that " wonder of nature," so
universally adored by man, for the slightest ailment, is handed over to the butchers of quackery,
whose practice is more fatal than that ascribed
even to Dr. Hornbook:
" Folk maun do something for their bread,
An' sue maun Death."

We

are indebted to

Europe

habitants, and for nearly

all

for

our civilized

of our domesticani-

mals, whatever the testimony of the rocks

be as to the preexistence of the

we

in-

latter.

The

may
soil

have acquired by the displacement of the red

man. The only thing we constantly dwell upon
with complacency is, that we surpass the stock

it

ap-

States in half

a brief time in the history of States

Concerted

effort is

necessary to educate and ele-

That

vate whole nations.

effort is

being

made

abroad with governmental aid in the lead. Here,

in the "model Republic," where a free republican

government

is

installed to

guard the gene-

no such effort is being made. Governmenthas notyetfollowed the lead of the people,
ral welfare,

We

do not ask for constant and

and guidance; but a recognizance for once, and in the most convenient mode,
of the propriety of encouraging useful knowledge
among farmers and mechanics, in order to enlarge
our productive power, give intelligence to those
who will esteem it a higher boon than land or
titles, and relieve ourselves from the thraldom of a
debt due to holders abroad, for the little agricultural science we now have, and which is quite
unsafe to use, by reason of the great differences of
soil and climate.

even afar

off.

persistent outlay

estimates the annual loss of the single State of

Massachusetts, in the one product of her cereal

new

Many

foreign

support

States

a population

we maintain,
but, by the sys-

vastly larger per square mile than

and hold their annual increase;

tem of husbandry generally pursued here, the land
is held until it is robbed of its virtue, skimmed of
its

cream, and then the owner, selling his wasted

field to

some

skinflint neighbor, flies to fresh fields

with the foul purpose to repeat the same spoliation;

all

and this annual exodus which prevails over

the older States, and even begins

settlements of the

new

upon

the first

States before their remoter

borders have lost sight of the savage, painfully

indicates that

we have reached

the

maximum

of

population our land will support in the present

state of

our agricultural economy. Our

be further developed, or here

is

skill

must

our limit.

warmed by speculative
by panics, may be kept

fever-and-aguish progress,

excitements, and chilled

up while our unpeopled public domain

posed

to be inexhaustible,

is

and while those

sup-

who

and never otherwise intend " to

hold or drive." But there is a barrier already
visible, more impassable than the Rocky Mountbuy, buy

to sell,

ains, the great sand plains stretching

North and

South, commencing near the ninety-eighth degree

of west longitude, or about the center of Kansas,

and running
of

to the

soil, water,

Rocky Mountains,

timber, and

all

so barren

vegetation, as to pre-

consequence, ought not

tine,

to be left to lingering

rou-

but the aid of science should be invoked to

clude the possibility of settlement by civilized in-

accelerate

Here the wave must be stayed;but,shall

we not prove unworthy of our patrimony if we
run over the whole before we learn how to man-

of other industrial pursuits of mankind.

aroused

age a part ?

higher point of dignity and influence, have fired

habitants.

We

are dilated with the notion that, as a na-

tion,

we may now

best,

and the strongest.

claim rank with the oldest, the

Our population

rap-

is

idly increasing, and brings annually increased de-

mands
meet

for bread

this

and clothing.

If

demand while we have

appropriate,
decline and

we

we

can barely

fresh soils to

shall early reach the point of

The

fall.

nation which

tills

our

the soil

to leave itworse than they found it, is doomed

decay and degradation. Other nations lead us,
not in the invention and handling of improved im-

so as

pace, until

its

all

the practical sciences

which can be brought to aid the management and

We

results of agricultural labor.

owe

it

to our-

become a weak competitor in

most important field where we are to meet

selves not to

world as

rivals.

It

the

the

touches us in tenderest points,

our national honor as well as our private pockets.

While we ought to possess the granary of the
world,

it

has been but a brief time since bread-

stuffs rose

almost to starvation point, and Indi-

cated the possibility that

escape the only

test, that

we might

not forever

of famine, to which our

institutions have not been subjected.

Able

to be

an area

ninety-five times as large

as England and seventeen times as large as Belgium, yet over one hundred million of our imports
of the last fiscal year were products mainly of the
.soil.

own

to their

The

their zeal.

wants. Periodicals, from a

eager crowds which throng

to

the annual fairs of our agricultural societies,

from

"

mag-

down

the National

to

all

the stars of lesser

nitude," proclaim the universal hunger there

is

foraprofounder information touching that which

comes home to their business and bosoms. They

know there are mysteries dearly concerning them,

and they demand of learning and of science a solution. " Deformed, unfinished," experiments
" scarce half made up,

And
will

that so

lamely"

Farmers

not do.

will not be cheated longer

by unsustained speculations. The test of the field

must follow and verify that of the laboratory.
The half-bushel and the balance must prove the
arithmetic.
The result must support the theory.
They want substance and not a shadow bread
and not a stone. They know well there is a vast

force of agricultural labor hitherto misapplied,

muscles thatsow where they do not reap, and they

demand to have their arms unpin-

demand

light

ioned

What

has been an art merely

physical wants must become a science

to

supply

though

it

wears
"hodden gray and

independent, in a broader sense than any other

people, having

can keep step with that

Theagriculturists have been, within afew years,

to

plements, but in nearly

it

a'

that"

doing the same service, but more abundantly,

and also doing something to satisfy and elevate
the

manhood of the mass of the people.

have such colleges as

may

authority

announce

of. teachers to

Let us

rightfully claim the

facts

and fixed

Rome, deluded with military

conquests and luxurious living, had become large-

laws, and to scatter broadcast that knowledge

ly indebted to her conquered provinces for her

tion

It

was not

until

" populous north"

rude horde which obtained the

which

will

prove useful in building up a great na-

great in

its

agricultural products, that the

but greatest of

poured forth that

mastery and accomplished the downfall of the
Roman EmpireAgriculture undoubtedly demands our first care

gence and virtue.

because

its

products, in the aggregate, are not only

of greater value than those of any other branch

of industry, but greater than

and because

it

is

all

others together;

not merely conducive to the

health of society, the health of trade and of com-

merce, but essential to their very existence. Eut,

while

it is

the

most useful and

sluggish have been

its

earliest of arts, so

advances that we are yet

resources of wealth and power,

all in

The mineral wealth

the aggregate of its intelli-

.
of our country, already dig-

assumes almost unbounded proportions;

we are, and largely
dependent upon the skill of those but half-taught
from other lands, our mines are much less rem*unerativ.e than they would be under the control of
Americans, with some fundamental instruction in
closed,

but destitute of experience as

their vocation.

There

we may

is

no class of our community of

whom

be so justly proud as our mechanics.

Their genius

is

patent to

all

the world.

For

la-

experimenting upon problems which were mootpoints with farmers two thousand years ago.

bor-saving contrivances, their tact seems univer-

Surely an interest so superior, and of such

the breathing of any engine, he speedily furnishes

vital

sal;

and when any one of them

is detailed to

do

8
lungs for the engine to do that sort of work for
But they snatch their education, such as
itself.
it is,

from the crevices between labor and sleep.

grope in twilight. Our country relies upon

They

right arm to do the handiwork of the

Let us, then, furnish the means for that
arm to acquire culture, skill, and efficiency.
We have schools to teach the art of manslay-

them as

its

nation.

make masters of " deep-throated engines" of war; and shall we not have schools to
teach men the way to feed 4 clothe, and enlighten

ing and to

man?

the great brotherhood of

It is

just on the

to elevate the class

upon

whom

they lean for sup-

and upon whom they depend for their audience. There is no clashing of interests. It is not

being

in

crowned with
ant honors."

laurels

and decorated with triumph-

Many of the purest embellishments of literature

have been drawn from the field of the husbandman. Gems, not only of poesy and song, but of
painting and sculpture, of philosophy and eloquence, thus have their origin. Let agriculture,
make

then,
at

once

its

and build up a literature

and satisfactory forits millions

reprisals,

intelligible

of thinkers.

We need a careful, exact, and systematized re-

part of statesmen and legislators, just on the part

of other learned professions, that they should aid

words of Pliny, that " the

tilled by the hands of men

truth of the

took delight

gistration of experiments
at

thoroughly

such as can be made

scientific institutions,

will not be

make every man his own doctor, or

every man his own lawyer; but to make every
man understand his own business. A lawyer is

and

not the worse for having an intelligent client, nor

more widely gathered are the

a clergyman the worse for having a prosperous

the science.

designed to

parishioner.

Our present

have no more

literary colleges need

f agricultural colleges

than a porcelain manufactory would have of an

They move

iron foundery.

in separate spheres,

without competition, and using no raw materia! that will diminish the supply of one or the

The farmer and

the

mechanic require

special

much

schools and appropriate literature quite as

9

<\ny

The

one of the so-called learned professions.

practical sciences are

nowhere

else called into

Would

such repeated and constant requisition.

it

be sound policy for one

who

expected

pound Blackstone to limit his reading

manual or to agricultural chemistry?

how

not,

ntifici

table

are

we

If

and animal

it

expect one to solve

to

life,

who has

to

to a

relations of earth, water, air,

ing, writing,

ex-

expect

amateurs

the pulpit, the bar, the forum,

life

may

whatever
first

soundei

will not be

trumpeted forth until they

have received the sanction of a body less sanguine

than the vendors of a patent. Spurious dogmas
will be touched lightly with the spear of Ithuriel,
and no longer squat around the ears of
plowmen.

need to test the natural capability of soils

and the power of

different fertilizers; the relative

value of different grasses for flesh,

fat,

and milk-

giving purposes; the comparative value of grain,

roots,

and hay,

for wintering stock; the vala<

a bushel of corn, oats, peas, carrots., potatoes,

or turnips, in pounds of beef, pork, or mutton

dies for the potato disease

and vege-

sects destructive to cotton,

These, and
tific

untainted

and the camp.

in

No

obtains this universal tribute,

be the present idol of devo-

and ranks of men hope to

bestowed upon A dam, and become

tion, all classes

that estate

facts, the

The discoveries of Columbus-struck

many more,

interest even

beyond

and for all tribes of inwheat, and fruit crops.

are questions of scientheir

economical import-

ance in the researches of the agriculturist.

The philosophy

of manures, or of giving plants

their appropriate food, is in its infancy. In

Eng-

land they have, through the process of feeding

wheat, raised the average yield to doubl

in 1840 by the
Royal Agricultural Society, was almost the first,
after Sir Humphrey Davy, to practically apply

former amount. Liebig, employed

Itural

chemistry so as to arrest the atten-

was

proprietors of the soil as their ultimate earthly

tion of fanners.

Washington, Calhoun, Clay,- nd Webster, are more secure of love and ho mag as farmers than even as men of highest public renown;
and Mount Vernon, Fort Hill, Ash and, and
Marshfield, the Meccas of Ami
the

seventeen years ago, that guano was brought into

paradise.

deterioration of seeds; breeds of animals; reme-

blood from this source that supplies the waste

other pursuit in

a proper science; and- the

the

only explored read-

It is the

to establish

would
all

and pursuits reckon among

their brightest jewels men who were recruited from

that,

may

this bill, a

upon which we

deep plowing as well as drainage; the vitality and

and arithmetic?

he robust ranks of agriculture.

for in

muck

All other professions

collated, as is provided

rational induction of principles

We

other.

tables,

and such a*

made elsewhere. These tests and thesi

so furnished, will give us, when reported

port,

It

at his suggestion,

only

notice. In 1351, notwithstanding its extravagant

price,

England imported two hundred and forty-

three thousand and fourteen tons of this coi,

I

fertilizer,

proving that the fabled eggs of

9
the golden goose have been eclipsed in value

by

the " evacuations of sea-gulls."

It is

plainly an indication that education

when

ing a step in advance

gins to

demand

tion to

some reference

which they are

is

young men
to the

voca-

be devoted through

to

tak-

public sentiment be-

that the faculties of

shall be trained with

life.

that intellectual discipline can be ob-

It is clear

tained under more than one mode, and,

mary education sought

it is

if the pri-

in the

to re-

and clog and

fled to

embarrass other pursuits and professions with

The New York Mercan-

untrained adventurers.

Agency

tile

states the

number of

stores in the

which would be about

one store to everyone hundred and twenty-thn n
inhabitants. This shows
United States

at 204,061,

"Trade

wtel is the sword and Agriculture leaves

Her half-turned furrows; other harvests fire
An avarice of renown."

destined

apoint clearly gained. Law, the-

ology, and medicine, have been specialities from

who have

claim the truants

for this purpose can be

afterwards applied to practical use

occupation,

industrial ramifications, should furnish such

its

generous rewards, such noble incentives, as

suppose that

to the contrary. Special schools for art, trade, ar.d

might be a fair estimate to say

hundred of these traders
become insolvent every ten years. But had they

commerce, though of later growth, have been long

established in many places throughout Europe,
and in our own American cities. In some places

and labor in agriculture, it

assumed that not twenty out of
every hundred would have failed to secure a c

the time

whereof the memory of man runneth not

sted their capital

ifely

these institutions, intended to be practical rather

than speculative, go by the not inapt

name

portions of Europe are a

own country

age. In our

marked

many

feature of the

the general

icy.

of Real

Schools. Agricultural collegesand schools in

it

that eighty out of every

Adam

Smith, after having noticed " the precari-

ous and uncertain possession" of capital engaged

commerce and manufactures, says:

in

want of such
''

That which

arises from the

places of instruction has been so manifest that

States, societies, and individuals, have attempted
to

supply

it,

The "

ure.

though necessarily

plentiful

their maturity

examples,

in stinted

and usefulness; but there are some

Michigan, liberally sup-

like that of

ported by ihe State, in the

full tide

Adequate means to start on a scale

commensurate with the gres objects in view
seems an indispensable prerequisite. States have
t

been unable

to

impose

once the increased tax-

at

ation that wojild be required, and the liberality of

private individuals has been unequal to the task.

But

if this bill shall

pass, the institutions of the

character required by the people, and by our na-

would spring into

tive land,

life,

and not languish

from poverty, doubf, or neglect.

prove

(if

they should not

of an

i,

literally, like the

schools

hold the children of the State)

urseries of patriotism, thrift

the pe
liberal

They would

information

places

and

" where men do not

decay." They would turn out men for solid use,

and not drones. It may be assumed that tuition
would be

frc

the scythe

cles

all

other expenses of the students.

Mus-

hardened by such training would not become

summer or torpid in winter; and the grad-

soft in

know how

American

in-

desirable that the agricultural hive, in

all

uates would

stitutions with
It is

Mr. Speaker, when a money pressure overtakes the country, like that through which
,

to sustain

American

searching for

is

it

upon

we

cause no

its

agriculturists.

are not only industrious, but frugal. Thrift

They do not produce,

They hasten slowly,

their cardinal virtue.

vend, nor consume luxuries.

and go untouched of all epidemical speculation?.

But when the crisis comes when commerce, manufactures, banks, and even Government itself,
quail beneath the storm
all eyes turn to the hardy

tillers

of the

'

oil

they

Tl.ey stand, as

for relief.

always stand, with enough for themselves and

something to sp^-e. They furnish raw material,

means of liquidation or of supply; and

when they would be even more useful, shall

freight,

yet,

we pronounce them unworthy, and deny them

opportunity
It is

one of the political axioms of the

\v:

dy quoted, everywhere accredited, that

i

wealth

is

by the more or
legislators,

ria-

greatly increased or diminished

loss skill, dexterity,

ment, with which labor

is

and judg-

generally applied.

we can have no

As

subject before us of

higher intrinsic importance.

Manufacturers, when their books disclose a

los-

ing business, change to a different class of goods:

merchants,

vigor.

in

one thinks of charging

They

every whit as no-

ble, artistic, and graceful, as the postures of the

gymnastic or military drill would go far towards

defraying

of hostile and barbarous nations continued for

and that the exercise of holding the

plowand swinging

improvements of

a century or two together."

of successful

experiment.

solid

but by those more violent convulsions occasioned by the

meas-

lack" of funds has retarded

more

durable, and cannot be destroyed

trade

in

like circi

and other markets; but

ces, to
all

diffej

history sir

10
the tenacity with which habits acquired in the cultivation of land cling to a people
to generation.

In

all

from generation

ages farmers have been sta-

Europe.

arts

at

is

" Athens, tlie eye of Greece, mother of

And eloquence,"

arts

use

in

habitant of

the ox, in order to secure the entire strength of the

when he owed allegiGrand Monarch. The old Roman plow,

sometimes drawn, in the days of Nero, " by a,
wretched ass on the one side, and an old woman
on the other," still retains its place in Italy, and

animal, as he did in the days

ance

to the

in parts of

Spain and the south of France.

turn to the descendants of the Puritans,

some of

find

their corn in

and

If

we

common

than

staff of professors

United States.

in the

stations, or experimental farms, with laboratories

more schools exclusively for

There is no country in the world
where agriculture and all branches of industry
are pursued with more enterprise and success
than in the little monarchy of Saxony; and there,
of 315,185 children between the ages of six and
attached, and five or
agriculture.

fourteen years, 311,454 were, inl851, in actual

attendance at school.

Belgium has

its

agricultural schools also,

and

great opportunies for general education are given,

Here farming

these yet kill their pork and plant

especially in the larger towns.

conducted most on a scientific basis; and Belgium, supporting a population of three hundred

In

all

ages,

in all countries, the habits, as well as the vir-

keeps them at

men dwell

and thirty-six

Their business
home, and they cannot combine to
apart.

secure general improvements, or to

They

complaints heard.

make

suffer in silence

mile,
in

the

is

Governments

the different

alive to the

first in

Europe.

Virginia, averaging

Its

rank as an agricultural State

once noted

now

battle-fields are

equally noted as model farms. This preeminence

is chiefly

All over the highest civilized parts of Europe

Kentucky or

only twenty-six and twenty-three to the square

their

only noted by " seed time and har-

is

to the square mile, in a climate in-

ferior to that of

the

vest."

find

the children at-

" the old of the moon."

Agricultural

we

all

and schools for the mechanic

and higher trades, are liberally sustained,

and with a much larger

we

shall

tues of agriculturists, remain fixed.

rolling years

be said that

This nation is
making rapid progress in wealth and intelligence.
In Saxony they have a number of experiment

among the modern Greeks. The

Canada as much believes to-day in the
propriety of placing the yoke on to the horns of
is still

may

agricultural colleges,

and reverent to antiquity. The

same plow as described three thousand years ago

ble, conservative,

It

tend school until they are thirteen years old; and

the result of scientific attention to

ma-

nures.

France, from the time of Napoleon, has done

agriculture.

They have established min-

much

for agriculture.

Beet-sugar, the mulberry,

isters of instruction,

model farms, experimental

the grape, as well as

Merino sheep and the Thi-

wants of

gardens, colleges, and a large

farms, botanical

number of secondary

schools, with no other pur-

and they need no higher or nobler than

improvement of the industrial resources the
farms and the farmers of the respective counAll these are chiefly supported by large
tries.
annual expenditures of the different Governments,
except so far as any may be self-supporting in-

pose
the

The

stitutions.

effect is in the largest

degree fa-

bet goat, have received imperial attention.

expense

in

France

cultural science.

is

shirked

in the

No

cause of agri-

Her botanical gardens, chemical

laboratories, physiological

museums, and schools

for instructions in the veterinary art, surpass all

others in existence, and with her five agricultural

colleges,

and almost one hundred

inferior agri-

cultural schools are performing herculean labors

for the elevation of the

farming population of the

The Revolution and

vorable to the people and to increased production.

empire.

But the teachings of European professors are of

loaded France with an immense debt; but this

little

consequence

to

Americans, even

if

they could

was

the successive

wars

rapidly extinguished from the never-failing

The abrogation

be comprehended and instantaneously adopted,

resources of her

as they are rarely suited to our circumstances.

laws and

Can we not have something that we may claim

own ? Young Americans should have some

her progress, but the breaking up and division of

every estate at the death of the owner; doubtless

as our

chance

to

study agriculture as a profession, and

be attracted to

it

as to a learned, liberal, and in-

tellectual pursuit.

Is

it

true, as

our detractors

assert, that science can flourish only

under the

This system of education

in

this

is

known

to

be more

Prussia than in any other nation of

much

soil.

of the

game

other feudal enactments has aided

of permanent improvement. But for

abuse of a true principle, and the

illiterate

condition of her people, France would have been

the pioneeer of rural

As

patronage of royalty?

complete

retards

many

economy.

we look more to England and Scotland, and to Ireland to some extent, for principles and facts for our instruction.
Here we find
it is,

'

11
agriculture developed in

all its

Italy, anciently far in

noblest attitudes

advance of

poraries, in theory and practice,

Science, wealth, taste, mind, and rank, combine

her cotem-

all

now

is

behind

to increase its profit, beauty,

The

and honor.

large fortunes of individuals enable Science to

delve constantly in
far

its

behalf; but the

Government,

same

object, especially in

Ireland.

Colleges and schools of agriculture are

numerous

in

is

Great Britain, but their usefulness

greatly restricted on account of the limited

and here we

suits,

find but

one person

might contrast Bohemia with Saxony, and

tons of Switzerland with each other, to

enormous consumption of luxuries, and density

as

of population, could not be otherwise supported.

Science, like the rod of Aaron, has touched the

character are to be shunned.

the crops are doubled.

Nothing

but this in Ireland could have checked the dispersion of a nation

a nation, too, that

in

ten years

preceding 1846, exported more grain than

all

of

Notwithstanding the magnificent proportions of her commerce, freckling all

the United States.

seas with

its flag,

and notwithstanding her

all-

show

the

between ignorant and educated culture

of the soil, but I have not space.
Thus, we behold the suffrages of all the wiser

difference

civilized nations in favor of the

and behold

pro-

even Ireland with England, or the different can-

attendance arising from the jealousies of caste.

Agricultural improvement is imposed on such a
people from necessity. The heavy taxation, the

soil,

in fifty

vided with any instruction whatever.

from thinking that enough, annually contrib-

utes liberally to the

other States in her farming and industrial pur-

all

by the bill under

much to be imitated

plated

we

vance, though

The

as those of an opposite

is

If other nations ad-

we

but pause,

voice of our country,

ance,

measure contem-

consideration; examples

are distanced.

could find utter-

if it

believed to be overwhelmingly in favor

of the establishment of these institutions on our

own

They

soil.

are as

much needed and

will be

as gratefully accepted in one direction of our coun-

More

try as another.

than four

of our pop-

fifths

ulation are engaged in agricultural and mechanical

employments.

increase," would be numbered with things that

This vast number out of thirty

now, to be increased to fifty
millions in less than twenty years, will forever
furnish an inexhaustible supply of pupils who

were, and the earth no more rock at the sound of

will not forsake their calling.

Trafalgar or Waterloo.

importance

embracing manufactures, with their countless fires

blazing day and night, England, were her agriculture to retrograde, or the land

The Government

fail

"to yield her

of Russia,- the growing giant

of Europe, has recently taken a conspicuous lead

in the education of its people, and the cause of
agriculture there holds a deserved prominence.

Of colleges, schools, and

to agriculture,

special schools devoted

Russia maintains a greater number

than any other nation, France only excepted.

No

millions of people

direction

Is

and fifteen, 5,106,257 inhabitants of our country.

There were engaged in the professions of law,
medicine, and theology, 94,575 citizens, and in
pupils only.

If these pupils required

a steadier splendor than the great northern bear,

how many

which, instead of pawing,

millions engaged in agriculture?

hinder-parts to get free "from the

is

mud

of the Nile,

struggling to get free from the Polar ice of ig-

The back-bone

norance.

of Russia, in her recent

contest, lay in her agricultural forces, and against

these but half-tutored resources of men and wealth,

half the strength of Europe could only

drawn

Here we

battle.

wage a

find a despotism,

from

motives merely of governmental policy, elevating

all

the colleges of the United States there were 27,159

dred and thirty-nine colleges for

Milton's lion, "his

not of grave

an intelligent

In 1850 there were, between the ages of five

nation has arisen in the political firmament,with

like

it

to give this vast force

ought we

number which
for

it

to

may

have for the sons of the

for

some years than

will be required in

At

Why,

this bill will

to

were situated

felt

hardly do

secondary schools.

about these lands.

whose boundaries

the

supply teachers that

was much

the close of the Revolution there

difficulty

sir,

be hoped will be provided

under the auspices of

more

two hun-

their instruction,

the

The

States within

ungranted crown lands

to claim them, unjustly

disposed

within the power of her agricul-

as the other States thought, as State property.

and artisans to become educated and skillful, while our people with the Government in their
own hands, parley on the brink, and do nothing

But finally all yielded to the Union, using in their

conveyance words of like import that the lands

labor, placing

it

turists

for their

Spain

own

is

benefit.

weak

in all

should be considered a common fund for

benefit of all.

her industry, because, while

an uneducated Spanish gentleman,

it is

said, can-

not be found, so neither can a peasant be found

who can read or write.

the use

and

Since then the revolutionary debt

has been extinguished; gratitude for military services has been

acknowledged

forty-four million one hundred

to

the extent of

and nine thousand

eight hundred and seventy-nine acres;

new States

12
The

have been properly treated with statesmanlike

s, by whose
riowby this bill th
blood and tn asure the public domain was so

'

jelyacquiredjWiHbeallowedsbrnedirecl
but not greater than that of oth
bution.

pos

any

is

It

What

cannot

'i.

iperty

Here

is

that this

one of a

is

one where four

the people are directly, and

and,

all

can

No other can come up representing

more than a fractional part of the remaining fifth.
Our Government is also directly interested, as
the holder and dealer in large tracts of land. If
it

be for the interest of a.large holder. There

even an exclusion of those

their land. If the

measure

who do

any degree

shall in

may

we do

would be a cure
rs

may

it

tile

may

is

resulting

more

can be no doubt that the benefits

in-

disposed

of.

ations ever received for

called, in

legal

and that also

to

Pennsylvania,

ft

does not give complete control

am

it

compliance with the powers conferred

proceeds " to dispose of and make ail

any

loss to the

As

a prudent proprietor,

profitable

Up

and mere

agricultural labor

dei

to the 30th of

pursuitin

will no;, appropriate,

red and thirty-six

hundred and seventy-two acres of
schools and universities.
No one shall

thousand
land for

five

be twitted forsuch acts

by me;

but,

if

populated,

Ohio, costing o vet-

fifth

part of

its

mount of

York

bill

it

is

certainly no

thickly peopled.

If

such donations are cdnstituUl

would postp

original cost,

all

the purpose

be a noble: one as applied to a Territory spar

ti

mal when proposed

Empire, Keystone, and

a more urgent

and Erie canal, and then

among

more
Hffe?

June. 1857, we had ungrudg-

sixty-seven million se\

triumphs over the savage to a remoter a'r e.

Our " western empire" might be taXed the whole
be the gainer; and vet the

may we

ingly donated to different States and Territories

million dollars, and the buffalo and

New York

Will

by Government, but make

cost of the

much

Whether the policy

Government or

the fur-trader on the western prairies might strive

In

the

value of all land whether own. d by individuals or

be derived,

wanting here.

far the mastery', but civilization

to

considering

not do that which will not only tend to raise the

any estate by parent, is

" love and affection;"

New York, and

ItsCordant opinions

literal

never forget.

There

Blot out the canals and railroads of

two hundred

better thing shall

States were treated with a liberality they will

institutions

These considerations are tendered by those

Slates, to whose toils and expenditures the marketable value of our public domain is so largely
indebted.

result in

parlance,

will not be

Wl

price of the remainder.

ample consideration for the lands

One of the most adequate consider-

will prove an

What

embraced in the bill.

Grants of lands during and since 1830 have been
made to ten States and one Territory, to aid in th#
construction of more than fifty railroads, of an
extent of about nine thousand miles, amounting
to 25,403,993 acres. These grants were made on
the argument of " prudent proprietorship," and
alternate sections were given away to double the

part of the

actively engaged in scientific agriculture.

with them

now proposed

extent

to the limited
?

how

their rightful arid exact

needful rules and regulations" respecting so

may still be lost; but some

improvements may safely be predicated

the labors of thirty-two or

all

as is

cotton and wheat crop

upon

restric-

may

in that

not be within

human enginery, one sixth

the reach of

no

benefit of all,

United States; and the measure

in-

value

These

wheat midge.

for the

is

over the land (the property) belonging

be,

not be overcome;

common

be wronged

will pretend that

not

whether held in
small or large quantities, will be augmented. The
cotton-gin has hardly done more to raise the price
of estates in the South, than would now the discovery of a remedy for the boll-worm, and other
destructive insects, which gore and gorge the
cotton-plant; nor have the reaping machines been
of more advantage to western wheat fields, than
land, wherever

all

and there

it;

have recently existed touching the true

interpretation of this clause, as to persons, no out/
there

it

must
is

in rfta

deeds of cession. Our public

be wrong to give

it

Who will

not cultivate

crease the future profits of cultivators,

of

whole of

held for the

if

proportion

interested.

be for the interest of small holders of land,

and

lands are no longer pledged for a national

class

of

fifths

the rest indirectly,

all

to dispose of-

belonging to the Uni ed States."

the

is

tion save that in the

for here

Kayc power

shall

itory or

the distri-

:rs, in

(of cases;

The Congress

all net

clause in the constitution ihter-

barrii r to this

third section of article four of the Constitu-

tion declares:

liberality;

demand

Little
for

COnStifn-

Dominion,

Rhody?

such aid

ople ofaTerritory free ofdebt,

in

Is

th

there

behalf of

whose frame

am advoC

of government

the States, one

all the debt and burdens of the national Government, and bending
under $2 15,211,259 of present Stale indebtedn.

and not one

in

the yet unpaid canal debt of

New

..

is

supported by the nation, than

behalf of States bearing

Surely the endowment of agricultural colh

IS
branches oui of the hands of private enterprise, tt
ages so much better "all the concerns to which

ought not to it peijd upon the resources of States

idyso oppressively laden, nor upon the cc
! administration of the Government
biia

v.

been expressly constituted the trustee

store for the

ile

common

plete the circle,

embodied
measure are of great weight and authority.

can be arrayed to sustain th

Commencing with

the Consti-

ith

th

and continuing to a recent date, we have

-pinions and acts of men that few at the pres-

any Fav

>rite

"The

to claim for

robbery

which

and

message, December

He

'It will

in prpportion as nations

mce.
ftnd

<

itl

ments, by requiring for

is

of primary

advance

'

"

germ of

have heretofore proposed

to the

these institutions

The

ppi.

new view

have

the opportunity

tken of the subject, that

onco

ot*.

The assembly

to

for all, recalling

which

cannot omit
to

the ablest,

pi (lessors in

the dif-

for the

knowledge for the institution

contemplated, though they would be excellent auxiliaries."

This

will be

enough

the opinions of Jefferson.

now

see

reason that

cent, before there

the other States.

what were

and

In his sixth messagf

in

that

is
it

here placed

1831, and that in

it

first

gave

to

the

States

was

to

be any division

among

This he denounced as injustice

It is enough to say that no such
'--! against the division

h- thus speak?:
Education

in

wherever the lands might lie, twelve anda half per

to satisfy all as to the opin-

Let us

Lawrence, Mis-

an act was passed chang-

ferent departments of liberal

ions of Washington.

canal.

granting

compact that they should keep the same in repair

and collect the tolls approved by General Jackson, and the act decided since to be constitutional
by the Supreme Court of the United States. General Jackson rejected the land bill of 1833, mainly

honor, contains many seminaries of learning, highly respectable and useful; but the funds upon which they rest

command

2, 1833,

bill

Virginia in 1833, to the respective States, with A

ened not to be fully sensible how much a flourishing state

ofthe arts and sciences contributes to national prosperity
and reputation. True it is, that our country, much to its

are too narrow to

Miami

he approved of a

road in Ohio was surrendered

address myself is too enlight-

March

among

tl.c

would be proposed

to

its

ordinary

I]

eral

pro-

There can be no 1uestion that Gen "

Jackson and the men who cooperated with

P osed

articles of public

take

ap*

with obligations attached. This was approved by

General Jackson. That part of the Cumberland

with

your attention

He

giving land to a

ing the Illinois canal grant to a railroad grant.

desirableness of both
!

13, 1831,

a single section for schools, in

consideration of Con-

bill

for the construction of the

January

lablislu'Bg a national imi

and also a military academy.

statistic::,

from Europe by Austria.

proved, April 2, 1830, of a

ceeds:
I

purposes the resources des-

of giving thirty-six sections of land to the-Po

of land for agricultural colleges would have received the approval of Washington. He pro-

own

1837, to call into the PatentOface a prac-

exiles expelled

cannot be doubted that donations

It

its

As Senator, General Jackson voted a township of

land to La Fayette. He approved, June 30, 1834,

cultivation of the soil," institutions

supported by the public purse," he exclaims,

to what object can it be dedicated with greater

propriety?"

produce the necc

farmer (Mr. Ellsworth) to Collect

tical

whole pro*

the

ot

with those

submit that here the whole question of Con-

first, in

the very

it

niore

i-nl ;u

"The

on a donation

power is covered, as well as a power-*

argument suggested, by Jefferson.
For want of time, all reference to Madison
Monroe, and Adams, must be omitted. Jackson
was the steadfast friend of agriculture, and the

promoting h grow op, supported Uy the public purse; and

it be dedicated with greater propriety?"
town

Thus we have

it

endow

ful

,,;1

ject.

earliest lo

to

stitutional

Ira-

in population

task

er circti

more

found

power

hem."

'erenee.either to in-

r,

in their

cir-

approving the proposition:

says:

dividual or national welfare, agriculture

eligible to

now

amongst the

will he

is,

income. This foundation would have the advantage ol

independent in war. which may suspend other improve-

1796, he recurs to

7,

with elaborate argument.

it

rendered proper by this

is

Congre

if

more

it

lands, they have

He thought it

his experien.ee increased that conviction; for in

it

also, that

shall yet think

the subject of agriculture

bject within the constitutional jurisdiction,

his la3i

present consideration of a national establishment

education, particularly,

for

cumstance

in his first message.

Congress

the parts of which contribute to the Iraoun try, and some of them to its preserva*

his favorite university thus!

an equality.

Washington brought
ire

it

The message goes on to show that if public

moneys were to be used for roads and canals, an
amendment of the Constitution would be necessary, but that land mightbe used for that purpose
withoutan amendment. He then proceeds to urge

tution,

ould not think

[iial

benefit of all the

executive and legislative precedents which

in this

all

oi

kites.

The

ti

but a public institution can alone supply those sciences

which, though rarely called for, are yet nee-s-ary to com-

by-chance charities of individuals) but upon the

now

"

"

14
him would have approved of grants of land

advancement of

to

to

the States for the benefit of agricultural col-

all

asrictilture.

time that this reproach

ft Is

our legislation should be removed

and

sincerely

hope

that the present Congress will not close their labors without

leges.

The

ticut, for

donating lands to the State of Connec-

The

bill

approved Jan-

uary 23, 1827, donating lands to Kentucky for a

seminary of learning for the deaf and dumb, passed
the Senate by a vote of 27 to 6; and we find such
men as King of Alabama, Johnson of Kentucky,
Benton of Missouri, Eaton and White of Tennes-

and

Woodbury

for the measure.

of

In the

among

120 to 43; and

New Hampshire, voting

House, the bill passed by

the yeas will be found the

names of James Buchanan, James K. Polk, CamMcDuffie, and Wickliffe.

breleng, Livingston,

Surely these are no mean authorities on constitu-

added to the names of CrawMonroe, Calhoun Webster, Clay and ClayIn 1838, a township of land in Florida was

tional questions, to be

ford,

ton.

granted to Dr.

Perrine, to " promote the

Henry

cultivation of tropical plants." In 1841, there

donated

to

new
The

each of the

was

States five hundred

present law, now on

thousand acres of land.
our Statutes at Large, is, that when duties are
brought down below twenty per cent., the pro-

ceeds of the public lands are to be distributed to

the States. Congress donated to the State of

nessee,

August

Ten-

1846, of unproductive lands

6,

lying in that State, one million three hundred

thousand acres, on the condition that the State

should endow and establish a college, at an expense of not less than forty thousand dollars. Over
fifty million acres of swamp lands have been given
President Taylor, in his mes-

to different States.

No

ment

been given by tbe General Govern-

direct aid has

to the

improvement of

agriculture, except by the ex-

penditure of small sums for the collection and publication

of agricultural statistics, and for

which have been, thus

This

aid, in

my

far,

opinion,

some chemical analyses,

paid for out of the patent fund.

wholly inadequate.

is

President Fillmore, in his message of 1850,

says:

may justly

be regarded as the great interest

Four

of our active population are

"Agriculture
of our people.

ployed

fifths

in the cultivation

our settlements over

number engaged

of the

new

citizens.

and the expansion of

adding to the

in that vocation. Justice

means authorized by

interests

soil

em

territory is daily

therefore, alike require that the

the

and sound policy,

Government should use

all

the Constitution to promote the

and welfare of that important class of our fejlow-

And

yet

it is

a singular fact that, whilst the

man-

ufacturing and commercial interests have engaged the attention of Congress during a large portion of every session,

and our statutes abound

ai.d

The

involved.

in provisions for their protection

encouragement, little has yet been done directly

for the

citations

made show

that there is

a great preponderance, almost uninterrupted from

the foundation of the
legislative,

the

Government, of executive,

and judicial authority,

power of Congress

at its discretion

The

derivative

is

plain, absolute,

title to

to

to dispose of the

prove that
public lands

and unlimited.

a moiety of the lands im-

posesa condition upon the disposal of that portion

so derived a condition itself persuasively urging
our present object which is " for the use and

common
While

benefit of all the States."

agriculture has been a neglected field of

legislation,

it

does not

now

call for the

of novel constitutional power.

exercise

Congress has long

asserted the riyht to dispose of the public kinds

to establish

one

now

school funds and universities, and no

questions the soundness of such a policy.

This measure

is

but an extension of the same

principle over a wider field

wider in

its

applica-

amount, for the number of acres now proposed for all the States is
scarcely larger than have been donated to individual States. It is general and not local in its
reach.
If we have the power to make special
grants, in particular and individual cases, we certainly have the power, and it would be far more
just and expedient to exercise it, in its general application.
Pass this measure and we shall have
done
tions, but not

Something

sage of 1849, says:

"

The constitutionality of a measure does not

depend upon the amount, but upon the principle

the Senate in 1819, without even a

of the yeas and nays.

see,

to supply the omissions of those

who have preceded them."

a seminary of learning for the deaf and

dumb, passed
cull

means

adopting efficient
bill

wider

to

in its

enable the farmer to raise two

blades of grass instead of one;

Something for every owner of land;

Something for all who desire to own land;
Something for cheap scientific education;
Something for every man who loves intelligence
and not ignorance;
Something to induce the father's sons and
daughters to settle and duster around the old
homesteads;

Something to remove the last vestige of pauperism from our land;

Something for peace, good order, and the better

support of Christian churches and

schools;

Something

common

to

enable sterile railroads to pay

dividends;

Something to enable the people to bear the

enormous expenditures of the national Government;

15
Something to check the passion of individuals,
and of the nation, for indefinite territorial expan-

quantity equal to twenty thousand acres for each Senator

and Representative in Congress, to which the States are

now

sion and ultimate decrepitude;

Something to prevent the dispersion of our population, and to concentrate it around the best lands
all

consumer will be placed at the door of the producer; and thereby

Something to obtain higher prices for all sorts
of agricultural productions; and
Something to increase the loveliness of the
American landscape. Scientific culture is the sure

Our

have a

Many of our

poses prescribed in this act, and for no other use or purpose

whatsoever: Provided, That in no case shall any State to

will

which land scrip may thus be issued, be allowed to locate

same within the limits of any other State, but their as-

the

may thus locate said land scrip upon any of the unappropriated lands of the United States, subject to private
signees

wisest statesmen have denounced

source of

prolific

entry.

corruption; but what corruption can flow from

endowing

Here

agricultural colleges?

is

Sec.
of

neither

Without meaning

to

opinion for or against the homestead policy,

in all candor,

what man

is

there in the

length and breadth of our country,

not prefer,

if

my

express
I

whole

The

Sec

4.

And

be

Which the lands

to the

purposes hereinafter men-

it

further enacted, That

and that the moneys so invested shall

which shall re-

constitute a perpetual fund, the capital of

main forever undiminished (except so far as may be provided in section fifth of this act,) and the interest of which
shall be inviolably appropriated, by each State which may
take and claim the benefit of this act, to the endowment,
support, and maintenance of at least one college where the
leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific

have 1,088,792,498 acres of land

Land

to

Office,

we

dispose of; and

when

this bill shall have passed, there will then

remain about one thousand and eighty-three mil-

We shall

still

be the largest land-

holder in the world, while confessedly

we

are not

Let it never be said we are

" the greatest and the meanest of mankind."

the best farmers.

or classical studies, to teach such branches of learning as are

related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such manner as the Legislatures of the States may respectively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and

professions in

Sec.

5.

And

life.

be

it farther

enacted,

That the grant of land

and land scrip hereby authorized shall be made on the following conditions, to which, as well as to the provisions
hereinbefore contained, the previous assent of the several
States shall be signified by legislative acts

donating public lands to the several States which

may

provide colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the me-

it

arts.

of America in Congress assembled, That

there be granted to the several States, for the purpose hereinafter

mentioned,

it

shall be replaced by the State to

which

it

belongs, so that

the capital of the fund shall remain forever undiminished

enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives

of the United States

any portion of the fund invested, as provided by

the foregoing section, or any portion of the interest thereon,
shall, by any action or contingency, be diminished or lost,
First. If

APPENDIX.

Be

moneys de-

are apportioned, and from the sales of land

value of said stocks

the recent statement of the

chanic

all

be invested in stocks
of the United States, or of theiStates, or some other safe
stocks, yielding not less than five per centum upon the par

persuasive arguments of precedents; the

importance.

bill

the expenses

lands, previous

scrip hereinbefore provided for, shall

all

rived from the sale of the lands aforesaid by the States to

hundred and sixty

lions of acres.

further enacted, That

tioned.

example of our worthiest rivals in Europe; the

rejuvenation of worn-out lands, which bring forth
taxes only; the petitions of farmers everywhere,
yearning for "a more excellent way;" philanthropy, supported by our own highest interests
all these considerations impel us for once to do
something for agriculture worthy of its national

By

it

any diminution whatever

who would

education as might be obtained at one of these

acres of land

be

therefrom, shall be paid by the States to which they may

belong out of the treasury of said States, so that the entire
proceeds of the sale of said lands shall be applied without

ask,

he could have his choice, such an

colleges to a warrant for one

And

3.

management and superintendence of said

to their sales, and all expenses incurred in the management

and disbursement of the moneys which maybe received

profligacy nor waste, but a measure of justice and

beneficence.

which there are

to those States in

provisions of this act, said scrip to be sold by said States,

and the proceeds thereof applied to the uses and the pur-

mirers of land that belongs to others.

our general land system as a

further enacted, That the land aforesaid,

hereby directed to issue

opportunity to become great ad-

fairer

it

no public lands of the Value of $1 25 per acre, land scrip to

the amount of their distributive shares in acres under the

esthetic

have no land,

be

one quarter of a section; and whenever there are public

lands in a State, worth $1 25 per acre, (the value of said
lands to be determined by the Governor of said State,) the
quantity to which said State shall be entitled, shall be selected from such lands, and the Secretary of the Interior is

the

who

And

States, in sections or subdivisions of sections, not less than

places hallowed by church spires,

and mellowed by
the influences of time where

Diedrich Knickerbockers,

2.

after being surveyed, shall be apportioned to the several

of our country

precursor of order and beauty.

respectively entitled.

Sec.

five millions,

thousand acres of land,

to

nine hundred and twenty

be apportioned to each State a

and the annual

interest shall be regularly applied, without

diminution, to the purposes mentioned in the fourth section

of this act, except that a sum, not exceeding ten per centum

upon the amount received by any State under the provisions

of this act, may be expended for the purchase of lands for

10
u

'

annual *;
1

ig

With their

other

any improvements and

opy of which
:

by mail

ileo.

by each, to
r

this ai

ivisiona of

i!.is

act shall proi

Blieh

all

the

the provisions of

'

at

riculti;;

Wi

than one college, as deseril

ii-.ose

bound to pay
any lands previoi

liall lis

reived of

have

double the

minimum

the quantity.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

001 919 126 6

Which

price, in conge-

al!

the

Ss33>

Ant

o* co

Illl
I

0^

Hollinger Corp.