Under this
view of my duty I directed the issuing of the order which will be laid
before you by the Secretary of the Treasury, requiring payment for the
public lands sold to be made in specie, with an exception until the
15th of the present month in favor of actual settlers. This measure
has produced many salutary consequences. It checked the career of the
Western banks and gave them additional strength in anticipation of the
pressure which has since pervaded our Eastern as well as the European
commercial cities. By preventing the extension of the credit system it
measurably cut off the means of speculation and retarded its progress
in monopolizing the most valuable of the public lands. It has tended
to save the new States from a nonresident proprietorship, one of
the greatest obstacles to the advancement of a new country and the
prosperity of an old one. It has tended to keep open the public lands
for entry by emigrants at Government prices instead of their being
compelled to purchase of speculators at double or triple prices. And
it is conveying into the interior large sums in silver and gold, there
to enter permanently into the currency of the country and place it on a
firmer foundation.
Pages:
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606