As I stated yesterday. the judges of the courts of the States and of the United States in these States. in the time of it. many years ago. always upheld the provision of the compact forbidding taxation fora limited time. in opinions which persistently stated in administering justice there that it was an object of the highestinterest to these now States to promote the rapid increase of their population and the development of their industries. It Vas therefore a wise policy on the part of the States to agree to that. and if that be soand the States certainly ought to have been the judges of itthere would be no general equity that a tax should be laid upon all the lands given to soldiers as bounties. past. present and to come. in order to pay something into the treasuries o these States. But when the States began to fill up rapidly and new enterprises made it seem pretty clear that this limitation was not necessary to encourage emigration to the new States. even this tax limit. on bills introduced by Senators and Representatives was repealed in 1847. and that repeal of the limitation upon the power of the States to tax the lands within five years as to sales and three years as to the bounties. referred to as bounties. was made to apply to all States admitted before the 24th of April. 1820. that is to say. down to and including the admission of the State of Missouri. Even then. in the discussion of that question. I have not been able to find that any Senator or Representative from any one of these States hinted or appeared to suspect that a wrong construction had been put upon this statute by the officers of the United States. or that justice or fair dealing required that the words "net proceeds of the sales" should be expanded to include military bounties.
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emigration