anything like it? A majority of Representatives would very soon reside
west of the mountains, he admitted; but would they all come from States
in which the public lands were situated? They certainly would not; for,
as these Western States grew strong in Congress, the public lands passed
away from them, and they got on the other side of the question; and the
gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Vinton] was an example attesting that fact.

Mr. Vinton interrupted here to say that he had stood on this question
just where he was now, for five and twenty years.

Mr. Lincoln was not making an argument for the purpose of convicting the
gentleman of any impropriety at all. He was speaking of a fact in
history, of which his State was an example. He was referring to a plain
principle in the nature of things. The State of Ohio had now grown to be
a giant. She had a large delegation on that floor; but was she now in
favor of granting lands to the new States, as she used to be? The New
England States, New York, and the Old Thirteen were all rather quiet upon
the subject; and it was seen just now that a member from one of the new
States was the first man to rise up in opposition. And such would be with
the history of this question for the future. There never would come a
time when the people residing in the States embracing the public lands
would have the entire control of this subject; and so it was a matter of
certainty that Congress would never do more in this respect than what
would be dictated by a just liberality. The apprehension, therefore, that
the public lands were in danger of being wrested from the General
Government by the strength of the delegation in Congress from the new
States, was utterly futile. There never could be such a thing. If we take
these lands (said he) it will not be without your consent. We can never
outnumber you. The result is that all fear of the new States turning
against the right of Congress to the public domain must be effectually