The daily Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1855, 1854-09-08

ty was spoken Of, and good deal OF talk
was hsd about it, but no conclusion was ar
rived at. / told them distinctly that / could
not and would not have anything to do with
any such arrangement myself, that had
no private interest to stbserve, but that MIR.
Alvah Hunt might be considered as rep
est, and that possibly something might be
hit upon which would secure justice to tie
Territory and to all interests. Mr.. Hunt
came on to Washington, and Mr.. Smith
and myself had an interview with him on
the subject; but nothing was done, or agreed
to be done, at that interview. Mr.. Hunt
said he would go to New York and see who
the parties were who Billings pretended to
be acting for. He WENT New York, and
nothing more was done or said about the
matter, as | recolIect | had come to a
conclusion in my own mind that the scheme
was impracticable. Soon after this time
the Hon. H. H. Sibey came on from Min
nesota, for the purpose, as understood
among other things, of procuring the pas
sage of new bill. He came to see me OIL
the subject, and expressed to him my views
arising from the fact of the charter having
been granted by the Territory to compa-
ny | told him that pretty much all the
change from the old bill that was wanted
was to insert a provision making the grant
subject to future legislature, and also to
provide that the lands granted should not
inure to the benefit OF any company hereto
fore constituted or organized. He agreed
with me, and was to draw up bill. Hav-
ing come to this determination in regard to
the shape of the bill, on the 23d of April,
| wrote Mr.. Hunt my conclusions on the
subject. kept no copy of my letter, and
cannot now recolect what its wording was,
but know the tenor of it from the ideas
entertained at the time MIR. Hunt can pro-
duce the letter, and it will speak for itself
On the oath of April Mr. Hunt replied,
and the extract from his letter, here pro-
duced, pertaining to this subject, is hereto
annexed, and marked c. No other CONVEX
sation was ever had by me with any person
in regard to the company building the road
down to the Tcte de Mort to connect with
; the st. Charles Airline Company; and Mr.
Sibley drew up his bill SOFAS to provide in re-
gard to future legislation on the grant, and
to exclude all companies from its benefits
without future action of the legislature
He showed me draft, think the first draft
of the bill, and it was about as had sug-
6ested; but think requested him to change
the language of the bill before he presented
it to the Committee on Public Lands. So as
to make it little more specific in regard to
the exclusion of any company; which he said
he would do, and Which was done. Nobody
who had anything to do with the bill could
have been mistaken in regard to its provs-
ions in that respect. | supposed all agreed
that that should be the shape of the bill,
and all were united i'll its support in that
shape; and that the grant was be subject to
, future legislature, and that all companies
: would 60 to the Legislature Of Minnesota
hereafter on an equal footing.
Mr.. Billings must have known what the
bill was. He never had any conversation
with me, after Mr. Sbley drew up the bill,
, in regard to any alteration of it whatever,
: for he knew that | would resist it; and he
: knows, what l now state that l lever as
scented to Or knew of any change in the bill
after it left Mr. SibIey's hands. had talks
with him frequently about the prospects of
the passage of the bill mean the bill as
drawn up by Mr.. Sibley, and excluding all
companies from the benefit of the grant,
not the bill as altered after its engrossment;
5 and | spoke of the bill to him and other per-
: sons interested in it as our BILL" and in a
e letter to him, and the only one ever wrote
him, and that was in answer to one from
: him inquiring about the prospects of the bill,
, | spoke of it as "Our bill" This was long
: before found out the bill had been so al
l tered and changed as to defeat the object
g that myself and others had in view from
: the beginning. After the passage of the
: bill by the House, had some intimations
that there had been foul play in regard to
S it, and sent for the printed bill to see how
2 it was, and then observed that the word
"future" had been omitted; [ spoke to sew.
l eral friends on the subject, and stated that
: the change had been made without my knowl
: edge or consent, but that did not think il
J would alter the legal effect of the bill. The
| word cor" was in the printed bill; and l re
n marked, that if any fraud was intended to
: be practiced for the benefit of the company
t that it did not go far enough; and the O.
n ject had not been accomplished. On Mon
d day, the oath Of July, my attention wa
+ called to the alteration in the engrossed ant
t original bill, and believing that it was done
for the purpose of enabling the company t
t hold the grant, and also believing it to b'
h one of the most gigantic frauds ever perpe
h trated, l deemed it my duty to expose it t.
n the House and to the country. l never woul(