Bedinger: Motion for Sale of Government Lands at Harpers Ferry

HARPER’S FERRY.— The Richmond Whig has an article on the proposition now pending in Congress, on the motion of Mr. Bedinger, the representative from the Charlestown district, which has for its object the sale of all the Government lands at Harper’s Ferry, not actually wanted for public uses, and commends it to the attention of the Legislature of Virginia and the people of that State, and says:

The original purchase by the Government embraced the whole of the site of Harper’s Ferry, except a reservation of six acres; and of this reservation, a great part has since become the property of the Government, leaving that portion occupied by the hotel and some of the stores on the street, in the hands of individuals. Upon the Government property a number of houses have been built, which are rented out principally to persons in their employment. The management of this property is very troublesome to the officers of Government, and the expense of repairs very great, while the income arising from the rents is comparatively unimportant.

On the other hand, the small proportion of property owned by individuals, and the stimulus of private interest, combine to make the houses and lots thus situated, highly productive. Hence it has resulted, that many persons driven from the town, partly by high rents, and partly by the difficulty of obtaining houses at all, have settled and built up the villages of North and South Bolivar, about a mile distant from Harper’s Ferry. The demand for property in these places are very good, insomuch, that land which was sold ten or fifteen years since at $10 per acre, has been since divided into lots, and has realized near $400 per acre. It scarcely admits of a doubt, that the property owned by the Government, if brought into market, might be sold to very great advantage, thus relieving the Government from a good deal of trouble and expense, and converting the property into a more productive shape. Of course it is presumed that a sufficiency would be reserved fro all the public buildings, and other public uses, connected with the works at that place.

But there are other considerations which recommend this measure still more strongly to the people of Virginia, and especially the inhabitants of that vicinity, and of the Valley of the Shenandoah. The natural advantages of Harper’s Ferry, as a site for manufactores, and a depot for the trade of the Valley, are obvious at a glance. Its inexhaustible water power, to be derived from the two rivers– its situation at the mouth of the Shenandoah, making it a natural outlet of the Valley– its central position on the great Railway between Baltimore and Cumberland– and its canal communication with Alexandria– ought long since to have made it one of the most active, prosperous and wealthy, of the inland cities of America. What has prevented it? What cause has impeded its advancement? We see no other, except the fact, that the property has not been held by individuals, and that enterprise and industry have been thus shut out from a field which would so richly have rewarded their exertions.

There is another feature in this case which deserves attention. The inhabitants of Harper’s Ferry live upon the government land, but within the limits of the State of Virginia. Their position is an anomalous one. They pay taxes to the State, and vote at elections; but they do no militia duty, and are exempt from most of the other burdens of the citizen. The civil jurisdiction of the State, so far as it extends to them, is extremely vague and indefinite. The only local authority to which they are subject, is that of the county court, in its general superintendence of the county. And thus a population of 5,009 persons, including the two villages already alluded to, are without the important and necessary protection of a local magistracy and police. It is a matter of surprise and congratulation, that a place so situated, has not become a resort for the disorderly and turbulent of the two States: but there is a reason to believe that apprehensions of this kind have, in some instances, contributed to deter capitalists and men of business from locating themselves here.

It is especially proper that our State Legislature should take it into consideration at this time, when they have before them a proposition for the improvement of the Shenandoah river. The towo subjects are naturally and obviously connected.