5 JUNE 1886, Page 3

The Americans begin to feel that-their store of public lands

is not inexhaustible. They resent, therefore, the large purchases recently made by foreigners, who buy and hold huge blocks, which are thenceforward closed to settlers. The Knights of Labour, the strongest league of artisans in the country, on June 1st condemned this practice, pledging itself to resist any candidate who did not vote against it, and the Senate has unanimously passed a Bill for its prohibition. No one not a naturalised citizen, either in fact or intention, is henceforward to hold more than five thousand acres. The measure is, of course, a mere advertisement, as foreigners will hold through native trustees, or under cover of mortgages ; but it indicates the growing feeling against large landed estates, which, in the popular belief, shut out poor men from their natural inherit- ance. As the law is prospective only, there is no injustice done ; but the next logical step will be to discourage emigration by reserving ownership to native-born Americans. The short-lived Know-nothing Party had a notion of that kind in \their heads, and some fifteen years ago, Mr. C. Pearson, as a result of his observations on the spot, prophesied in our columns that this step -would be taken within a generation.