orations were regarded by ancient laws as held in mortmain, or by
"dead hand," and from the time of Magna Charta corporations required
the royal license to hold land, because such holding was regarded as in
derogation of public policy and common right. Preemption is itself a
special privilege, only authorized by its supposed public benefit in
promoting the settlement and cultivation of vacant territory and in
rewarding the enterprise of the persons upon whom the privilege is
bestowed. "Preemption rights," as declared by the Supreme Court of the
United States, "are founded in an enlightened public policy, rendered
necessary by the enterprise of our citizens. The adventurous pioneer,
who is found in advance of our settlements, encounters many hardships,
and not unfrequently dangers from savage incursions. He is generally
poor, and it is fit that his enterprise should be rewarded by the
privilege of purchasing the spot selected by him, not to exceed 160
acres."

It may be said that this company, before they obtain a patent, must
prove that within two years they "have erected and have in operation
in one or more places on the said lands iron works with a capacity for
manufacturing at least 1,500 tons of iron per annum." On the other hand,
they are to have possession for two years of more than 12,000 acres of
the choice land of the Territory, of which nearly 2,000 acres are to
contain _iron ore and coal_ and over 10,000 acres to be of _timber_
land selected by themselves. They will thus have the first and exclusive
choice. In fact, they are the only parties who at this time would have
any privilege whatever in the way of obtaining titles in that Territory.
Inasmuch as Montana has not yet been organized into a land district, the
general preemption laws for the benefit of individual settlers have not
yet been extended to that country, nor has a single acre of public
land in the Territory yet been surveyed. With such exclusive and
extraordinary privileges, how many companies would be willing to
undertake furnaces that would produce 5 tons per day in much less time
than two years?

It is plain the pretended consideration on which the patent is to issue
bears no just proportion to that of the ordinary preemptor, and that
this bill is but the precursor of a system of land distribution to a
privileged class, unequal, unjust, and which ought not to receive the
sanction of the General Government. Many thousand pioneers have turned