Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/408



CHAPTER XVII.

SQUATTERISM.

Some suffer  them  selfe  for  defaut  of  aparaunce, To be  oiitlawyd,  and  other  some  suspendyd, Out of  the  churche  for  hys  mys  goiieranunce, And yet  nought  caryth,  therfr'o  to  be  defendyd, Howe beit  they  myght:  and  haue  theyr  mater  endyd, Suche assay  by  falshode  to  prouoke  the  lawe, And than  it  fie,  and  them  therefro  with  drawe.

The Ship  of  Fools.

Squatterism is  the  doctrine  or  system  which  has for its  base  the  maxim  eminently  American  that  all citizens have  equally  the  right  to  share  in  the  com- mon property of  the  country,  particularly  in  the  public domain. The terms  squatter  and  settler  are  often used synonomously,  the  former  being  no  more  a  word of opprobrium  than  the  latter. A squatter  is  one who takes  possession  of  and  settles  on  unoccupied land. He may  do  so  legally,  taking  possession  of lands  belonging  to  the  government,  and  in  accordance with all  the  requirements  of  government,  or  he  may plant himself  on  lands  belonging  to  another  or on  lands  in  dispute,  or  on  lands  covered  by  Mexi- can grants of  which  he  had  no  knowledge,  or  in  the validity of  which  he  had  no  faith. The term  settler is rather  the  more  respectable  of  the  two,  as  that  im- plies simply one  who  makes  his  home  upon  a  piece  of ground  formerly  either  public  domain,  or  land  held  by another  and  acquired  by  purchase. Thus we  see  a squatter  may  be  a  settler,  and  a  settler  may  be  a squatter. There is  this  distinction,  and  this  only  :  a settler  is  seldom  intentionally  a  fraudulent  squatter, although a  squatter  may  be  a  respectable  settler. As