4409. LANDS (Public), Disposition of.
The new plan of opening our land office, by
dividing the lands among the States, and selling
them at vendue, * * * separates still more
the interests of the States, which ought to be
made joint in every possible instance, in order
to cultivate the idea of our being one nation,
and to multiply the instances in which the people
shall look to Congress as their head. And
when the States get their portions, they will
either fool them away, or make a job of it to
serve individuals. Proofs of both these practices
have been furnished, and by either of them
that invaluable fund is lost, which ought to
pay our public debt. To sell them at vendue, is
to give them to the bidders of the day, be they
many or few. It is ripping up the hen which
lays golden eggs. If sold in lots at a fixed price,
as first proposed, the best lots will be sold first;
as these become occupied, it gives a value to the
interjacent ones, and raises them, though of
inferior quality, to the price of the first.—
To James Monroe. Washington ed. i, 347.
Ford ed., iv, 52.
(P.
1785)
