mates and deductions. The boundless and trackless regions of Louisiana, for instance, which are yet not only unexplored, but over the greater part of which, even the eye of an American citizen has never wandered, is taken to be a present valuable and available fund, out of which, in their whole extent, reservations may be made; and therefore, that the old States have a right to claim a quantity of land proportionate to these reservations, to be set off to them, within the settled States and Territories. Judging of the general character of that unknown and unexplored country, from the few portions of it which have been seen, it may be taken to consist mainly of vast plains, without wood, scantily watered, and serving only, for a part of each year, to furnish coarse pasturage to immense herds of wild animals, but which would be of little value were it even nearer to places where some settlements have been made. If these lands can be taken into the account, for the purpose of swelling the quantity upon which our proportion is to be calculated, all being taken as it is to be of equal value, we cannot perceive why it would not be equitable to satisfy our claim out of the same lands. But the grant of a few hundred, or even a few millions of acres, upon the upper branches of the Yellow Stone River, along the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, or even upon the vallies of the Columbia River, would hardly be regarded as a favor, by Maryland or Massachusetts, especially if they were under obligation to survey them, for a century to come. It is also to be considered, that a great part of the lands stated to belong to the United States, more especially those beyond the Mississippi, are still held by the Indian tribes, in full property, from whom the government must purchase, before they can acquire any right to sell them.

It seems scarcely necessary to remark upon the extraordinary fallacy of fixing the price of two dollars an acre, upon those vast tracts of waste and unsettled territory. It is true that this is, or rather heretofore has been the price affixed by Congress to the public lands; but it is to be considered, that the expenses of surveying, and those attending the costly machinery of the land office system, are wholly borne by government; that although two dollars is the gross price, yet with the credits, and discounts for prompt payment, it amounts to about three quarters only of that sum, and more especially, and this circumstance wholly distin

guishes the two cases, that the lands thus sold for two dollars, lie within settled States and Territories, and are in immediate and present demand, for the purposes of actual settlement. And it is this exaggerated estimate, which has led the Legislature of Maryland to the startling conclusion, that the grants or reservations in favor of the new States and Territories, may be estimated to amount in value, to the enormous sum of nearly thirty millions of dollars. This sum, we believe, is more than all the monies ever received from the sales of the public lands, from the commencement of the grants to the present time, a period of thirty five years of unexampled activity and enterprize; during which, settlements have been formed, and a population has grown up upon these territories, with a degree of rapidity entirely without parallel in the history of the progress of society.

It is, however, truly observed by the Legislature of Maryland, "that the magnitude of the appropriations which equal justice requires, cannot be considered as a reasonable objection to them." But your Committee are of opinion, that the magnitude of a claim, urged as a demand of right, furnishes a good reason for bringing it to the test of strict inquiry, to ascertain whether it is in truth founded upon those principles of equal justice, upon which it is asserted.

It is assumed throughout the report under consideration, that these reservations of land, for the use of schools, are to be justly regarded as donations or grants, to the several States and Territories within which they are situated, they are thus granted for the use and benefit of such States, and to be applied to state, and not to national purposes. Supposing this view of the subject correct, in regard to States already formed, and Territories actually peopled; upon what just ground can it be extended to the unnumbered States, existing only in anticipation, which may, at some future time, be formed out of these vacant Territories, in which a cabin has not yet been erected, and towards which the boldest of the frontier settlers have yet scarcely made an approach? A grant implies parties; there must be a party to receive, as well as a party to convey. Yet our claim can only be sustained, to the extent asserted, by proving our right to demand in present possession, an equivalent for these supposed donations to imaginary States.

But can these reservations be justly considered as grants or donations to any State within which they lie? A system

for the survey and sale of the public lands has been adopted, originating in the celebrated ordinance of the twentieth May, seventeen hundred and eighty five, before the adoption of the present constitution, and modified by sundry acts of Congress. According to this system, lands intended to be sold, are surveyed before they are offered for sale, being actually divided into townships six miles square, and these subdivided into thirty six sections, each one mile square, and containing six hundred and forty acres. One of these sections, in each township, is uniformly reserved and given in perpetuity for the support of schools in the township. This plan being adopted and made known, before the township is offered for sale, it is manifest that every purchaser, whether he take the whole or part of a township, purchases his land with this privilege annexed, and pays a full consideration for the privilege, in the price given for the land, to which such privilege is thus previously annexed. The United States, as proprietors of a township thus surveyed, offer it for sale on these terms; that if a purchaser, or company of purchasers, will pay for the thirty five sections at the price fixed, they shall be entitled to a grant thereof in fee, and the United States will forever hold the thirty sixth section in trust, for the use and benefit of such purchasers and their assigns, for the support of schools. When land is taken at this offer, the contract becomes complete, and the United States are bound to execute this trust with fidelity; and it would be a manifest breach of faith, te compel such purchaser, in any shape, to pay a further equivalent for the privilege thus stipulated and paid for. But it would obviously be compelling such purchaser, thus to pay again for this benefit, if in consequence of such reservations, other lands or other funds should be appropriated to the use of all other citizens of the United States, from the benefit of which, such purchaser should be excluded. Your Committee consider these reservations as one of the means resorted to by the government, to give value to their lands, and thus to encourage and promote the sale of them. Suppose the United States, upon opening a tract of land for sale, should stipulate to make certain roads to, and through them; would the price paid for such roads, be regarded as a gift or gratuity to the purchasers of the land, who should take it upon the terms thus offered? Every privilege, benefit and advantage, which an owner of property annexes to it, prior to

the sale, and which thus passes with the property, as one of its incidents and appurtenances, must be considered as a sale for valuable consideration, and not as a gift or gratuity.

This arrangement, by which a portion of the public lands sold, is reserved for schools, your Committee consider to be, in a high degree, wise and judicious. Whilst it serves to encourage the sale of the lands, in the first instance, it remains as a growing fund, becoming valuable in proportion as the occasion for its application arises, by the increase of families within the township. Still it is a fund, paid for by the owners of such township, which the government cannot resume without injustice and breach of faith, and for which, it would be equally unjust to claim an equivalent from other funds. It may, perhaps, be asserted, that the annexation of this privilege to lands, does not enhance their value, and is not ordinarily taken into consideration by purchasers. Such an assertion, however, we think would be entirely unwarranted. It may be very true, that many individuals buy, without entering into any very exact computation of the value of this privilege, in dollars and cents. But as a general and known incident annexed to all lands derived from the public, as a general encouragement to settlers, proceeding from places where the advantages of school education are known, enjoyed, and appreciated, its effect is produced in that general aggregate of the judgments of men, which constitutes the market price, and fixes an average estimated value to such property. It is probable, therefore, that by enhancing this market price, and raising the general estimate of public lands, by the reservation of the school lot, a full equivalent is obtained, for every acre thus set apart, and reserved as a trust fund.

The Legislature of Maryland appear to have anticipated this objection, and endeavor to answer it, by stating "that this increase of value has not been an exclusive benefit to the Atlantic States, but a benefit common to all the States, eastern and western, whilst the latter still enjoy exclusively the advantage derived from the appropriations of lands for literary purposes." But why, we ask, should it have been the exclusive benefit to the Atlantic States? These States were not the exclusive owners of these lands; they were the common property of all the people of the United States. If, therefore, the proceeds of these lands, thus raised in value, go into the common treasury of the United States, and thus

enure to the benefit of the whole people, precise and exact justice is done to all parties. It is not to be forgotten, that an individual does not cease to be a citizen of the United States, by becoming a purchaser of its lands. It is the common case of an aggregate corporation, entering into a contract of sale with one of its members. As an individual, he pays into the common treasury a full equivalent for the property purchased; as a member of such corporation, he enjoys his full proportion of it, according to his share in its capital.

But whatever may be considered to be the relation subsisting between the United States and the purchasers of any township, resulting from the school reservation, it seems quite manifest, that such reservation cannot be regarded as a grant to any State, or to the people of any State. The State Governments have no control over them, and can make no disposition of them. It appears to have been taken for granted, that the purchasers must necessarily be the settlers of the public lands. But it is obvious, that a citizen of Maryland or Massachusetts may as well be the purchaser of these townships; and as the reservation enures to the benefit of the purchasers, and their assigns, this benefit would be extended to such persons as effectually, as if they were citizens of the State or Territory, within which such lands might lie.

Your Committee would suggest another consideration which presents itself to their minds, as one of great weight, and which must reduce the claim in question to a very small proportion of its alleged amount, were it in other respects well founded. If the school reservation can in any respect be considered as a grant or donation, it can only be so considered, to the extent to which lands have been actually sold, under the present system. Certainly where a township has been sold, with this privilege annexed, Congress cannot with good faith, revoke it. But where the rights of purchasers have not intervened, Congress has an unquestionable right to alter this system for the survey and sale of public lands, to recall the standing proposals now by law made to purchasers, without breach of faith, and to propose such other terms, as policy and expediency may dictate. This, in some instances, Congress has done. In some of the early grants, that to the Ohio Company, and J. C. Symmes, a like reservation was made for religions ob