Washington telegraph., 1853-10-26
tfron the Gaseste g. Den,ocrotl

f,,oos. :.pifoR-t appears from the n,b,:.i
p:oseealhgs OF the Board of Swami I.and dp1shed r
SET frtb = slat they have for various
lprth IN the preamble to the Ord;rarc, as
On lile suheet assumed the passed
A. n n ,ie oWamp Lands, with the .ol-
s % district In doing this fbev ba,. %
IsnS ~ tneiI power lies. declared that. the os,
1s52 5,' eiecsea under the law of 9th Januar,
Lands n,tI "a a. Hieat nothing to do with Swans
aili e ,he pats. &C., are furnished 4ha..l
o ano ~ tIal until such pas are furnished that -,
VIII not only proceed to reee;vo ,,,,,.e 'iie
,oi swamp Lands but confirm apnlica So
r'a mace and not acted upon. If wond
r. ll. tue commissioners. not being clear a, =
on tba eaiied upon Capt. Pike for his on;n;on
on te supect, and that the opinion o;x ~
was the basis of the ordinariceinaeaa ~ ~ nm
iou i ana ordinance are SO similar in opiii
- Se' that the, latter would apnear ~ - sno
zen almost copied fiom the former A. e. ''.t az
II ;t - itse nave nothing to say. further tban
rn;shad ;I:y ihe usual ability of the distin-
Sisuea individual who drew it; but as so,, ~
tlons OF It refer directly to myself and ,, poi-
,,,h;ai plieGG eharge of usurpation of novrers
which had no right to exercise feel n,,,silf
.as oh 10 JON Issue upon the charge 50 that Il
Gsty. pe seen now the matter really stands That
- r. IKE hils proved to the complete satisfact;on
Aaatt, D"aio tiiat they are, and that the Land
4b &c aie nor; me proper persons 20 dispose of
.ITy .ag swamp Lands. until plats are fi,rnsbeJ :
10y proved oy the Board assuming the control of
the matter by not only receiving annlicat;ons bui
eoilfining applications, which it appears had beea
CIiole Ia 1nat tne made to them In one nortion If
Up me OPINION. after stating that the Land
agenls have no power to act at all until after fhav
receive the plats, he saws aAs little have tbcv 40
power TO receive applications for purchase. and
every purchase he etoore made of land auen,
ana @ every application Tor, purchase heretofore
mace TO him Is perfecf absolute nultav, BEARING
nu % hiii. now that it is proved beyond all doubt
tJcfo AZ - AZ = L.
board that they now can, and always conld act
f 'nie hiatteI properly and rshtfully let us now
lor moment see what they have done. conv
OF an order of the Board made as follows: ~ ~
Office file Board of S.ra,s,o La,,d Cou,rs1
HELENA, April7, 1853.
:, AT meeting of the Board of Swami Land
oofh ihlssioners, held at Helena, in Aprit. 1854
was present Hon. L. J. Rear,lo1l. J. d Dcksor,
and John Mcdaniel, when the following order
was made. to wit - s--1-- - - 20
Orde, ed, the Board, That pre-emption ,,roof
ana papers pertaining TO the rights of parties
claiming land by pre-emption OF otherwise on file
III ihe ONCE OF the Board of Swamp Land Com
liSsioners be turned TO the Land 4gent of fbe
Dir7c to ciic they belong TO ,rtoa is entrusted rde
PoFer and dny Of receirng APPLICATIONS for Scaa,n
l. h0"as' and OF adjndcating the right Of pre-emp-
tons to the same.
certify the above to he a true copy from the
record. (Signed, w. E. BUTTS, See'p.n
Connecting, now, that the present Board are
clothed with all the powers claimed for them.
tout Which, however, with all due resDect bv
no means admit,l until the maps and plats are
furnished to the Land Agents; I say. concetinq
TINS. still, the foregoing order shows that they
had delegated all their ample powers in the pre-
misses, on the 7th April Now. bv ordinance of
9th October, they have proceeded TO resume their
powers. Yet the acts of these agents must ac.
cordlng to Capt Pixies own conclusions he good
from the 7th of April TO the Gih of October. 1853
Under tins state OF case, it would appear to me-
that if the Board possess the powers claimed for
them, that an application made TO an agent oftaeir
own appointing, would be of some avail. and not
quite so ridiculous as the supposed case of address
sing application to the Bishop of the DioceseD
| will go farther. and affirm that between the 7tll
OF April and the 9th OF October the Board had no
right to receive applications for or sell enc loot of
Swamp Land in the Washington district: unless il
should be contended that the Board have no right
to appoint agents at all. for such purpose This
position hardly suppose will be taken however
as the opinion showing the almost boundless pow
crs vested in the Board vctd. II appears to INC.
rather stand in the way this reasoning. | NAV
be mistaken. but suppose that when Capt P. gave
his opinion he had no knowledge of the order OF
the 7th ApriI-as | am well satisfied he would do
one injustice lnowingly; and certainly would
not charge me with usarping powers, when those
very powors are shown to be derived. directly
from the Identical beard which he proves are July
possessed of them. have now done all design
ed which was TO show the trtie state of the case,
far as the opinion referred to me. As to the
point. whether the action of the Board. in the
premises. is right or wrong, it is question that
neither Capt. Pike, the Board. nor any one else
can settle. 4iegal adjudication ,po,, 5,rope, cdse
is the only way the yeXed matter viii! he finally
put at rest. B. T. HEMPSTEAD,
Land agent.