Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

 Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow JEFFERSON TO GALLATIN. - The Writings of Albert Gallatin, vol. 1

Return to Title Page for The Writings of Albert Gallatin, vol. 1

Search this Title:

Also in the Library:

Subject Area: Economics
Subject Area: Political Theory

JEFFERSON TO GALLATIN. - Albert Gallatin, The Writings of Albert Gallatin, vol. 1 [1879]

Edition used:

The Writings of Albert Gallatin, ed. Henry Adams (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1879). 3 vols.

Part of: The Writings of Albert Gallatin, 3 vols.

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


JEFFERSON TO GALLATIN.

March 31, 1807.

Th. J. to Mr. Gallatin.

I return you the circular letter to the registers on the subject of intruders on the public lands, with a proposition for a single alteration. This is in the paper B, where, instead of specifying for what purposes they may cut wood, how much land they may clear, and what other acts shall be deemed waste or damage, which would be to be accommodated to every tract according to its nature, and consequently difficult, I would use the general words of the law, “on the condition of doing no waste or damage on the lands.” In both forms you are free to remove the tenant on discovering that he is committing waste or damage, and in both, if he has committed it before discovery, you must resort to a court to recover the damages, and they are the proper judges what act is waste, according to the circumstances of the land. The spirit of the late session of Congress being conciliation, I think it will be more promoted by these general words than by a higgling bargain with the tenant. Affectionate salutations.