SPEECH OF HON. JUSTIN S. MORRILL. 115 



There were, September 30, 1861, of surveyed public lands, 134,- 

 218,330 acres, the unsurveyed being many times greater. Of these 

 lauds, it is proposed to donate to the States for these colleges, if 

 all should accept the conditions, about 9,000,000 acres, or 6,000,- 

 000, if only the loyal States should be able to avail themselves of 

 the grant. It is an inconsiderable grant in proportion to our means 

 and not a large one in proportion to the object in view. We have 

 now abandoned the public lands as capital, with the design of 

 deriving a large revenue from those who may settle upon them and 

 make them fruitful. And here these land colleges come into aid 

 in the plan of improving, not only the new lands, but also the 

 old, and thereby extending the basis of taxation and revenue. 

 A tract of land to a man who knows how to make it a 

 real homestead, with all its train of joys, is a blessing ; but 

 to all others it is at best a bauble, and often a curse. To give 

 all men an opportunity by their own labor to obtain a substantial 

 support, is a problem most governments endeavor to solve. We 

 have a higher and possibly more diflScult task, which is to combine 

 the largest freedom with the largest rewards of labor, free govern- 

 ment and personal independence — and this can only be done by 

 the largest knowledge. Success in working out this problem 

 secures the immortality of our Eepublic. The man who earns but 

 fifty cents a day cannot be taxed one fourth part of it, or twelve 

 and a half cents, without starving his children ; but let him earn 

 two dollars a day, and he will pay double the amount, or twenty- 

 five cents, and not only survive it, but ask the tax gatherer to 

 stop and dine ! 



The policy of the Government towards the Territories and the 

 New States, has been liberal as it deserves to be ; but I think few 

 who have not read the report of the Secretary of the Interior, are 

 aware of the extent of that liberality. Within the last four years 

 there have been granted to. States and Territories, and reserved 

 from sale, 49, "754,606 acres. Each new State now has university 

 lands, salt-spring lands, public building lands, and 500,000 acres 

 each, under the act of 1841. One eighteenth part of all the lands 

 are also at once given to the new States for schools. We have 

 given them, up to 1861, 9,998,497 acres for railroads. Then we 

 have surrendered all the swamp lands, amounting, within the past 

 four years to 3,910,310 acres ; and the entire claims of the several 

 States under this head, amount to 57,895,577 acres. Added to 



