haps Tennessee. The proprietors of slaves have a
double purpose in acquiring new territory : to obV
tain a fresh field for the labour of the slaves thej|
possess; and, (what is at least as important,) to!
keep up the equality of the representation of thel
slave and free States in Congress^ We have before"
seen that there is a provision against the introduc
tion of slavery into the lands north-west of the Ohio.
When to the representation of the new States of
this region, shall be joined that of the old States
which relinquish slavery, the remaining slave States
will be in a hopeless minority in Congress, unless
a representation from new slave regions can be pro
vided. ATexas is to be obtained first ; and, if de
sirable, TO be divided into several States ; and after
wards, the aggressions on the Mexican territory
will doubtless be repeated, as often as a new area
for slave labour is wanted ; and an accession of re
presentation, for the support of slavery, is needed
in Congress.} Thus it happens that a host of land-
326 DISPOSAL OF LAND.
speculators, adventurers and slave-owners have, for
a long series of years, been interested in the acqui
sition of Texas.
" On the refusal of the Mexican Government to
sell Texas, the newspapers of the slave- holding por
tion of the United States began to indicate methods
of obtaining the territory, and to advocate the use
of any means for so desirable an object. The a^ent
of the United States at the Mexican capital is Tbe-
lieved to have been instigated by his government to
intrigue for the purpose which could not be obtained
by negotiation. The settlers in Texas made it
known along the Mississippi that they might soon
be strong enough to establish slavery openly, in
defiance of Mexico. This brought in an accession
of slave-holding settlers, who evaded the Mexican
laws, by calling their slaves " apprentices for ninety-
nine years." The Mexicans took alarm ; decreed
in the State Legislature of Texas that no appren
ticeship should, on any pretence, be for a longer
>term than ten years; forbade further immigration
from the United States ; and sent a small body of
troops to enforce the prohibition. This was in 1829
and 1830.
In 1832, the Mexican troops were unfortunately
wanted near the capital, and called in from the
frontiers and colonies. The settlers shut up the
custom-houses in their part of the country, and
defied the laws as much as they pleased. Then a
great number of restless, bad spirits began to pour
into Texas from the whole of the United States ;
pien who had to fly from their creditors, or from the
pursuit of justice. There was probably never seen
a more ferocious company of ruffians than Texas
contains at this moment. These men, who had no
thing to lose, now set to work to wrench the ter
ritory from the hands of the Mexicans. They
actually proceeded, in 1833, to organize a State
DISPOSAL OF LAND. 327
Government ; opposed earnestly but feebly by the
honest, original settlers, who were satisfied with the
contract under which they had settled, and had
everything to lose by the breach of it. A Conven
tion was called, to prepare a State Constitution,
which Stephen Austin had the audacity to carry to
the Mexican capital, to pray for its ratification by
theJVTexican Congress. After some time, he was
committed to prison on a charge of treasonable con
spiracy. He was still in prison when I was at New
Orleans, in May, 1835; and no one of the persons
who conversed with me on Texan affairs alluded to
the fact. They spoke of him as if living and acting
among the settlers. He wrote to the colonists from
his prison, advising strict obedience to the Mexi
can laws ; and, finally, gave his promise to the
government to promote order in the colonies ; and
was dismissed, by the clemency of the administra
tion, without further punishment than an imprison
ment of nearly two years.
The wilder adventurers among the settlers had
chafed at his advice, but found it necessary to be
quiet for a time. The Mexican government put
too much trust in them on this account, and re
stored, during Austin s imprisonment, the freedom
of immigration, on the old conditions. The liberty
was again shamelessly abused. Slaves were im
ported from Africa, via Cuba, and illegal land spe
culations were carried on with more vigour than
ever. Troops were again sent from the capital to
re-open the custom-houses, and enforce their re
gulations. But it was now too late.
It had long been a settled agreement between
the Texan adventurers and many slave-holders of
the south, that if slavery could no otherwise be
perpetuated in Texas, it should be done by the
seizure of that province ; all possible aid being
given by the residents in the United States, who
328 DISPOSAL OF LAND.
were a party to the agreement This was avowed
by the adventurers in Texas ; and the avowal has
, been justified by the subscriptions of money, arms,
and stores, which have been sent through New
Orleans ; the companies of volunteers that have
given their strength to the bad cause; and the
efforts of members of Congress from the south to
hurry on the recognition of the independence of
Texas by the United States Government. It was
with shame and grief that I heard, while I was in
New York, last spring, of the public meeting there,
which had been got up by men who should have
put the influence of their names to a better use,
a public meeting in behalf of the Texan adven
turers, where high-sounding common-places had
been played off about patriotism, fighting for the
dearest rights of man, and so forth. The purpose
was, I believe, answered for the time. The price
of stock rose; and subscriptions were obtained,
Tphe Texan cause was then in the lowest state of
/-depression. It soon revived, in consequence of an
/ / unfortunate defeat of the Mexicans, and the cap-
v ture of the President of their republic, Santa Anna.
This, again, was made to serve as the occasion of
a public dinner at New York, when some eminent
members of Congress were passing through, to the
Springs, in the summer. The time will come when
those gentlemen will look back upon their speeches
at that dinner as among the deeds which, dying,
they would most wish to blot. By this time, how
ever, the true character of the struggle was be
ginning to be extensively recognised : and, day by
day, the people of the United States have been
since awakening to the knowledge of how they
have been cheated in having their best sympathies
called forth in behalf of the worst of causes. The
great fear is, lest this should prove to be too late ;
lest, the United States having furnished the means
DISPOSAL OF LAND. 329
by which the usurpation of Texas has been achieved,
the people of the Union should be persuaded that
they must follow their common, and otherwise fair
rule, of acknowledging the independence of all
States that are de facto independent, without
having anything to do with the question de jure.
What has been the national conduct of the United
States on this great question ? The government
has been very nearly impartial. It must be allowed
that factions and individuals were already doing so
much that, if the government wished all possible
success to the Texans, it could hardly do better
than be quiet while they were receiving the aid of
its constituents. While the theft of Texas has been
achieved, (if it be achieved,) by United States
n, money and arms, the general government has
been officially regarding it as ostensibly and actually
a foreign affair. However much may be true of
the general belief in the interest of its members in
the success of the Texan aggression, the govern
ment has preserved a cool and guarded tone
throughout ; and the only act that I know of for
which it can be blamed is for not removing General
Gaines from his command on the frontier, on his
manifestation of partisanship on the Texan side.
General Gaines was ordered to protect the settlers
on the south-western frontier, who might be in
clanger from the Mexicans, and from the fierce
Indians who were engaged on the Mexican side of
the quarrel. General Gaines wrote to head quar
ters of his intentions of crossing, to attack the
Mexicans, not only the inner bounds of the United
States territory, but the disputed boundary, claimed
by the United States, and disallowed by Mexico.
Immediate orders were despatched to him to do no
such thing ; to confine himself, except in a strong
emergency, to the inner boundary ; and on no ac
count whatever to cross the disputed line. This
330 DISPOSAL OF LAND.
was not enough. An officer who had shown him
self so indisposed to the neutrality professed by
his government, should have been sent where he
could indulge his partialities with less hazard to the
national honour.
Some senators from the south pressed, last ses
sion, with indecent haste, for the recognition of
the independence of Texas. The speech of Ex-
President Adams remains as an eternal rebuke to
such.* This speech was the most remarkable in
dividual act of the session ; and no session has
been distinguished by one more honourable. There
was no attempt at a reply to it, in or out of either
House. Mr. Adams left no resource to the advo
cates of the Texan cause but abuse of himself:
the philosophy of which he, no doubt, understood
as well as other people. Various public men, in
various public assemblies, have declared their de
sire for the success of the Texans ; and have joined
with this the avowal that the value of slaves will
rise fifty per cent., as soon as the independence of
Texas is acknowledged.
The war is not yet over. The vicissitudes have
been so great, each party has appeared at times
in so hopeless a condition, that the friends of Ame
rican honour, and the foes of slavery, do not yet
despair of the ultimate expulsion of the aggressors,
and the restoration of Texas to Mexico. If these
hopes must be surrendered, if slavery is to be re
established on a constitutional basis, in a vast ter
ritory where it had been actually abolished, if a
new impulse is thus to be given to the traffic in
native Africans,! if the fair fame of the Anglo-
* See Appendix A.
t The Texans pretend to deny that the slave-trade will receive,
or is receiving, an impulse from them. The case is this. In the
Texan constitution, the importation of slaves, except from the
United States, is declared piracy. A most wealthy slave-owner of
DISPOSAL OF LAND. 331
Americans is to be thus early, and thus deeply
stained, good men must rouse themselves the more
to enlighten the ignorance through which the mis
fortune has happened. They must labour to ex
hibit the truth, keeping unshaken their faith in the
theory of their constitution that " the majority will
be in the right."
It is much to be feared that, even if Texas were
acknowledged to-morrow to be a l^Iexican State,
an injury would be found to have been done to the
American people, which it will take a long time
and much experience to repair. No pains have
been spared to confirm the delusion, that the pos
session of more and more land is the only thing to
be desired, alike by the selfish and the patriotic ;
by those who would hastily build up their own for
tunes, and by those who desire the aggrandisement
of their country. No one mourned with me more
earnes^y over this popular delusion than a member
of Congress, who has since been one of the most
vehement advocates of the Texan cause, and has
thereby done his best to foster the delusion"? He
told me that the metaphysics of society in the south
Louisiana told me, in 1835, that the annual importation of native
Africans (by smuggling) was from thirteen thousand to fifteen,
thousand. This has much increased since. As long as there is a
market for slaves, there will be the slave-trade, though there were
a preventive cruiser to every mile of the ocean.
An official gentleman, from the British West Indies, informed
me that much mischief has ensued from the withdrawing of two
or three small British schooners, which used to cruise about the
islands, and were broken up on the plea of economv ; it being
supposed that vessels so small could do no good which would
compensate for their expense. This is a mistake. If a slave ship
surrenders on summons, the ship and car^o are forfeited, and that
is all. If a gun is fired, in defence, the captain and crew become
thereby liable to be nanged as pirates. Of course, those who man
a slave ship are ready to surrender to a cock-boat, with two men
in it, rather than become liable to hanging for property in which
they can have, at most, but a very small interest. Thus a schooner
renders as good aid, and is as much an object of dread, in this kind
of service, as a larger vessel.
332 DISPOSAL OF LAND.
afford a curious study to the observer ; and that
they are humbling to a resident. He told me that,
so far from the honour and happiness of any region
being supposed to lie in the pursuit of the higher
objects of life, any man would be pronounced
f " imbecile" who, having enough for his moderate
\ wants, should prefer the enjoyment of his patri-
Vnony, his family relations, and intercourse with
;he society in \vhich he was brought up, to wand.r-
\ing away in pursuit of more land. He complained
that he was heart-sick when he heard of American
books : that there was no character of permanence
in. anything ; all was fluctuation, except the pas
sion for land, which, under the name of enterprise,
or patriotism; or something else that was creditable,
wauld last till his countrymen had pushed their
out-posts to the Pacific. He insisted that the only
consolation arose from what was to be hoped when
pioneering must, perforce, come to a stqp. He
told me of one. and another of his intelligent and
pleasant young neighbours, who were quitting their
home? and civilised life, and carrying their brides
" as bondwomen" into the wilderness, because fine
A land was cheap there. If all this be true of the
^ young gentry of the south, as I believe it is, what
hope is there that the delusion will not long remain
among those who have no other guides than Ex
perience ; that slowest of all teachers ?
f The people of the United States have, however,
{ kept their eyes open to one great danger, arising from
V this love of land. They have always had in view the
) disadvantage of rich men purchasing tracts larger
\ than they could cultivate. They saw that it was
I contrary to the public interest that individuals
I should be allowed to interpose a desert between
Bother settlers whose welfare depends much on their
having means of free communication, and a peopled
neighbourhood ; and that it is inconsistent with re-
DISPOSAL OF LAND. 333
publican modes that overgrown fortunes should
arise by means of an early grasping of large quan
tities of a cheap kind of property, which must in
evitably become of the highest value in course of
time, j The reduction in the price of land would
probably have been greater, but for the temptation
-which the cheapening would hold out to capitalists.
Another reason assigned for not still further lower
ing ttie price is, the danger of depreciating a kind
of property held by the largest proportion of the
people. This is obviously unsound; since the
property held by this large proportion of the people
is improved land, whose relation in value to other
kinds of property is determined by quite other
circumstances than the amount of the original pur
chase-money. The number of people who sell
again unimproved land is so small as not to be
worthy to enter into the account.
t Large grants of land have been made to schools
and Colleges. iJp wards ot eight minions of acres
h"ave, 1 believe^ b,een thus disposed of. There
seems no objection to this, at the time tt was done ;
as there can be no doubt that grants will be culti
vated that have such an interest hanging on their
cultivation. These granfc^ere made while there
was a national debt. N^Bf there is a surplus re
venue ; and appropriatioSTof this kind had better
be made henceforth from the money which has
arisen from the sale of land than in a way which
would force more land into the marl^t f It is to
be hoped, too, that no more recompenses for public
service will be offered in land, like the large grants
which were made to soldiers after the revolutionary
war. Thespldiers have disposed of their lands
nrmnh unde_thegove,rnment price, murder to 007
tain a, sale I and the hurtful dispersion of settlersy
and the sale of tracts too large to be well-cultivated,
have been thereby assisted. }
334 DISPOSAL OF LAND.
x->
( The great question incessantly repeated through-
\ out the United States is, what is to be done with
J the immense amount of land remaining unsold;
| and with the perpetually increasing revenue arising
/ from the sale, as it proceeds ? Various proposi-
\. tions are afloat, none of which appear to me so
wise as some which remain to be offered. One.
proposition is to divide the lands again amongTne
States, apportioning the amount according to the
representation in Congress, or to the population as
given by the last census. Besides the difficulty of
making the apportionment fairly, this plan would
afford fatal inducements to a greater dispersion of
people than has yet taken place. It is also argued
that no constitutional power exists by which the
cession of 1787 can be reversed.
Another proposition is, to let the sale ofjands
gp on as it does now, and divide the proceeds among
the several States, for purposes of Education, Co-
loTiisaliuil uf the" coloured race, and Internal 1m-
tinder sucii a plan; there wo lilcTTSe
endless disputes about the amounts to be paid over
to the different States. The general government
would have a new and dangerous function assigned
to it. Besides, as mucj^of the surplus revenue is
derived from duties, i^ftems a shorter and more
natural method to leav^Bff levying money that is.
not wanted, than to levy it, use it, and make a dis
tribution of other funds among the States. This
subject will^however, come under consideration
hereafter.
Others propose that nothing should be done^
tfeat the lands should go on being sold aceording~to
the present demand, and the proceeds to accumu
late^ -till some amdeiil happensT. a war, or other
ex^en~siv^"a"d^venl;ure",~to help to dissipate them.
Tiler fcrst part of the proposition will probably
stand good ; for it seems a difficult thing to raise
DISPOSAL OF LAND. 335
the price of land again : an impossible thing, till
the people shall show that they understand the
case by demanding an increase of price : but the
second part of the proposition cannot be acceded
to. It is inconsistent with the first principles of
democracy that large sums of money should accu
mulate in the hands of the general government.
The accumulation must be disposed of, and the
sources of revenue restrained.
There are modes of advantageously disposing of
the surplus revenue which are obvious to those
whose economical experience is precisely the re
verse of that of the people of the United States.
They are not likely to be at present assented to,
perhaps even to be tolerated by the inhabitants of
the new world. Such as they are, they will be
presented in the next section.
The lowest price given of late for land, that I
heard of, was a quarter-dollar per acre ; (for these
are not times when three thousand acres are to be
had for a rifle; and a whole promontory for a suit
of clothes.) (Some good land may be still had, at
a distance from roads and markets, from those who
want to turn their surplus land into money, for a
quarter-dollar per acreA Some that I saw in New-
Hampshire under thesre circumstances has ad
vanced in five years to a dollar and a half per acre :
and some of about equal quality, about fifteen
miles nearer to a market, sold at the same time for
ten dollars per acre. I saw some low land, on the
banks of the river, near Pittsburg, which would
not sell at any price a few years ago, when salt
was brought over the mountains on pack-horses,
and sold at a dollar a quart. Now salt is obtained
in any quantity by digging near this land ; and the
meadow is parted into lots of ten acres each, which
sell at the rate of one thousand dollars per acre.
This is, no doubt, in prospect of the salt-worka
336 DISPOSAL OF LAND
wnicn are destined to flourish here. The highest
price I heard of being given (unless in a similar
case in New York) was for street lots in Mobile;
one hundred and ten dollars per foot frontage.
For agricultural purposes, the price of land
varies, according to its fertility, and, much more,
to its vicinity to a market, in a manner which can
not easily be specified. I think the highest price I
heard of was fifteen hundred dollars per acre.
This was in the south. In the north and west, I
heard of prices varying from thirty to one hundred
dollars, even in somewhat retired situations. One
thing seems to be granted on all hands : that a set
tler cannot fail of success, if he takes good land, in
a healthy situation, at the government price. If
he bestows moderate pains on his lot, he may con
fidently reckon on its being worth at least double
at the end of the year : much more, if there are
growing probabilities of a market.
The methods according to which the sales of the
public lands in the United States are conducted
are excellent. The lots are so divided as to pre
clude all doubt and litigation about boundaries.
There is a general land-office at Washington, and
a subordinate one in each district, where all busi
ness can be transacted with readiness and exacti
tude. Periodical sales are made of lands which it
is desirable to bring into the market. These are
disposed of to the highest bidder. The advance of
the population into the wilderness is thus made
more regular than it would be if there were not a
rendezvous in each district, where it could be as
certained how the settlement of the neighbouring
country was going on ; titles are made more secure ;
and less impunity is allowed to fraud.
, / The pre-emption laws, originally designed for
Vthe benefit of poor settlers, have been the greatest
provocatives to fraud. It seemed hard that a squat-
DISPOSAL OF LAND. 337
ter, who had settled himself on unoccupied land, and
done it nothing but good, should be turned off with
out remuneration, or compelled to purchase his
own improvements; and in 1830, a bill was there
fore passed, granting a pre-emption right to squatr-
ters who had taken such possession of unsold lands.
It provided that when two individuals had culti
vated a quarter section of land, (one hundred and
sixty acres,) each should have a pre-emption right
with regard to half the cultivated portion : and
each also to a pre-emption of eighty acres any
where else in the same land district. Of course,
abundance of persons took advantage of this law to
get the best land very cheap. Two men, by
merely cutting down, or blazing a few trees, or
"camping out" for a night or two, on a good
quarter-section, have secured it at the minimum
price. A Report to Congress states that there is
reason to believe that " large companies have been
founded, who procure affidavits of improvements to
be made, get the warrants issued upon them, and
whenever a good tract of land is ready for sale,
cover it over with their floats , (warrants of the re
quired habitation,) and thus put down competition.
The frauds upon the public, within the past year,
(1835,) from this single source, have arisen to
many millions of dollars." Such errors in matters
of detail are sure to be corrected soon after being
discovered. The means will speedily be found of
showing a due regard to the claims of squatters,
without precipitating the settlement of land by un
fairly reducing its price in the market. Whatever
methods may tend to lessen rather than to increase
the facilities for occupying new land, must, on the
whole, be an advantage, while the disproportion
between land and labour is so great as it now is in
the western regions of the United States.
VOL, I. Q
338 RURAL LABOUR.
SECTION II.
RURAL LABOUR.
English farmers settling in the United States
y used to be a joke to their native neighbours. The
\ Englishman began with laughing, or being shocked,
/ at the slovenly methods of cultivation employed by
\ the American settlers : he was next seen to look
I grave on his own account ; and ended by following
the American plan.
The American ploughs round the stumps of the