Now I know full well that the States in which these lands lie need no defender like myself. But, as a Senator from one of the old States, I desire thus early to declare my dissent from these views, and the reasons for this dissent. Beyond a general concern that the public lands, of which the Union is now almoner, custodian, and proprietor, should be administered freely, generously, bountifully, in such wise as most to promote their settlement, and to build upon them towns, cities, and States, the nurseries of future empire,--beyond this concern, which leads me gladly to adopt the proposition in favor of actual settlers brought forward by the Senator from Wisconsin [Mr. WALKER], I find clear and special reason for supporting the measure before the Senate in an undeniable rule of justice to the States in which the lands lie.
Let me speak, then, for _justice_ to the Land States. And in doing so I wish to present an important, and, as it seems to me, decisive consideration,--not adduced thus far in this debate, nor do I know that it has been argued in any former discussion,--_founded on the exemption from taxation enjoyed by the national lands in the several States, and the unquestionable value of this franchise_. The subject naturally presents itself under two heads: _first_, the origin and nature of this franchise; and, _secondly_, its extent and value, after deducting all reservations and grants to the several States.
I. In the _first_ place, as to the origin and nature of the immunity enjoyed by the national domain in the several States.
The United States are proprietors of large tracts within the municipal and legislative jurisdiction of States, not held directly by virtue of any original prerogative or eminent domain, by any right of conquest, occupancy, or discovery, but under acts of cession from the old States, in which the lands were situated, and from foreign countries, recognized and confirmed in the statutes by which the different States have been constituted. Words determining this relation are found in the Ordinance of 1787, as follows: "The Legislatures of those districts or new States shall never interfere with _the primary disposal of the soil_ by the United States in Congress assembled, nor with any regulations Congress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to the _bona fide_ purchasers." This provision is incorporated, as an article of compact, in subsequent statutes under which the new States took their place in the Union. It is "the primary disposal of the soil," without any incident of _sovereignty_, which is here secured.