Speech #510019573

Hitherto the experience of the country has justified no alarms on this subject from such a source. On the other liand. the public lands hold out. after the discharge of the national debt. ample revenues to be devoted to the cause of education and to sound learning and to internal improvements without trenching upon tie property or embarrassing the pu.rsuits of the people by burdensome taxation. The constitutional objection to the appropriation of other revenues of the Government to such objects has not been supposed to apply to the proceeds of the public lands." I call especial attention to this last sentence in the extract from Storys Commentaries. where lie says: "The constitutional objection to the appropriation of the other revenues of the government to such objects Iats not been supposed to apply to al appropriation of the proceeds of the public lands." Congress having absolute power of disposal over the public lands. conferred byexpress grant of the Constitution. has made donations of them to colleges and schools. to railroad corporations. to immigrant foreigners. to soldiers and sailors as bounty. has promoted timberculture by donations of them. has sold them for money. has created reservations for Indians on them. and. indeed. has disposed of them in every way that lauids can be disposed of. and nobody questions the power of Congress thus to dispose of them. In accepting donations of land for educational purposes the States have simply taken what Congress has a constitutional right to give. No implication of a right in til National Government to take charge of tile schools of tile States can arise from such donations. whereas Congress. having no power to tax the people except to raise revenue for the support of the Government and to execute the powers and enforce the jurisdiction of theGovernment. can notappropriate the revenues thus raised by taxation to time sapport of the common schools in the States. except upon the assumption that the common schools are within the jurisdiction of theNational Government. whose duty it is to provide for them.