There is no
reason to suppose that future sales will be more productive. The
Government, therefore, has no adequate pecuniary interest to induce it
to drive these people from the lands they occupy for the purpose of
selling them to others.
Entertaining these views, I recommend the passage of a preemption law
for their benefit in connection with the preparatory steps toward the
graduation of the price of the public lands, and further and more
effectual provisions to prevent intrusions hereafter. Indulgence to
those who have settled on these lands with expectations that past
legislation would be made a rule for the future, and at the same time
removing the most plausible ground on which intrusions are excused and
adopting more efficient means to prevent them hereafter, appears to me
the most judicious disposition which can be made of this difficult
subject. The limitations and restrictions to guard against abuses in
the execution of a preemption law will necessarily attract the careful
attention of Congress, but under no circumstances is it considered
expedient to authorize floating claims in any shape.
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