The daily Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1855, 1854-09-04
Repeal of the M;nnesO!a Land bill.


Express, printed at Dubuque, an elaborate ar
ticc On the repeal of the Minnesota Land Bill,
which, on account Of the falsity Of its state
ments, we feel called upon to notice.
The Express, after portraying somewhat
glowingly the advantages which would have
accrued to the whole Northwest, had the grant
of lands to our Territory been confirmed by
Congress, and lamcnting with becoming unc-
ton the disastrous consequences which must
follow its repeal, states that
"A slight alteration in the Bill substituting the word
and > for o A." bat not materially changing the
oil the bill or tie terms OF the grant after it passed the
House and before il passed the ; nate, furnished
Nenient excuse for its enemies TO make upon it and
Kill il, which they accom- l~hc with due flourish of pa
trotic and vrtuous indignation.
Now is due to thc people of Minnesota and of the
North West to be Informed who the parties who have
brought about this pcccd calamity, and what their
motives we're for so doing After careful icr;lsl of the
reio, of the Committee appointed by the House of Rep
e>enat;ves to invest gate the pretended fraud, it turns
out that T. b. Washburnc of tie Galcna District, and
Gov ,rman, H. ii Sllcy anl j T. suSScr of Minncso
ta 'c'irous Of controlling the ant after made and
o shaping the of the road and the profits of the
enterprise to suit Themselves; and if the bill could he
passed in such shape as to accomplish these ends, they
were willing TO this magnificent enterprise defeated,
and the hopes Of the North West destroyed. X
As TO Me>srs. German, blcy, and R"er. do not
ly were Instrumental in producing it: Why For two
re,sonsone political and tic":iIcr iecunary. In the first
place, the project was avorite with II Il. II. NJ. Rice,
the Delegate from Minnesota and a. the above named gen
tlemen antagoniStic to him personally tn" mo!ica
ton of the Minnesota Land Bill to suit their prpo and
d~aI point his hopes, without killing the l;ll outright
faNori!e project with em. In the second place, ii is
asserted, that thee three Gcn men meni er o
crct company Which desired to obtain the control Of this
grant Se rotary osaer. representing the 81 Fau inter
est at Washington, the first ac tie wind about
the little word and being substituted for the stu small
Ter word or;' and when M gcrtl brce e, riicnel into
rriic hurricane sweeping doan everything before it,
he was the mot anxious TO suppress the St and
the most injured by its sudden and terrible effects His
ingenuity put to the lest t. calm the troubled ell
cmentS. but it wholly inadequate t. the task. Min
ncsot placed at the mercy of the tor IA o--was put
into tie market article of III 'rcanii>e to be traded
uponby her citizens and She has suffered or their
eupity the ham and their want agacity the
ether
The first paragraph we Lave quoted reveals
the quality of the morality of the Express, and
is a fitting prelude to the falsehoods that follow.
Through the process of deliberate forgery, q
solemn act of Congress is changed in its entire
purport-a grant of lands worth millions of
money, diverted from the custody of the Ter
ritory of Minnesota, and placed in the treas
ury of q chartered company, against the will
of the donors--and the plab!c conscience Of
the Express can find no harshcr term to en-
"a slight alteration, not materially changing
the sense of the bill, or the terms of the
grant,
JOIN SMITH, worth a million Of money, ap-
pretending death, employs Attorney WHITE to
draft will, bcqueathine his property to JONES,
his friend or relative. Attorney WHITE, who
has an etching PALM" concludes that, as old
SMITH is bound to die, ard is disposed to give
his torture to somebody, he might as well be
the recipient thereof, as any other gentleman
of his acquaintance. So Attorney WHITE ar
ranges the matter in quiet way, with two or
three associates, and grasses the name of JONES,
and so frames the will that WHITE ct ais. are
named as devisecs therein, and the fraud fully
consummated. Attorney WHITE, and his ac-
completes, thcrcupon resolve themselves into
General Fast Time Society, and proceed to
arrange the details for q distribution of the
proceeds which promise to accrue to them by
reason of the slight alteration" in the will.
Old SMITH rcvives somewhat an honest friend
discovers the slight alteration" and reveals
it to him; he has the slightly altered docu-
ment destroyed, and Attorney WHITE, and
the members of the Fast Time Society gene
rally, find it convenient to retire to whatever
Lake Superior or other remote region may be
within their reach that they may, in its seclu-
sion, bring quiet to their nerves, which have
been somewhat shaken by this veXatious eX-
posure of the aforc mentioned slight altcra-
ton
Now, Attorney WHITE, who came so near
becoming WHITE, the Millionaire, has no scrt
of patience with Brown, who discovered the
"siight alteration in the will he thinks that
had it not been for his impcrtncnt curiosity
he might now he swelling along by the side OF
the most aristocratic Dives in Tic land and
he reasons in this way =" 1t is true erased
the little word Jones, and substituted the other
little word White, but that does not material
iy change the sense of the will SMITH meant
to give away his money, and when it once
passed beyond his control, it can make no DIFF
ference to him who gets it the thing would
all have been right, and coy, and comlorta
bic, if that internal BROWN had only kept his
eyes to himself, and his mouth shut. Instead
sf.u.a4, here | am without the first identical
dime, Hiinus even the funds advanced t.
SHOCKS and STOKES, and Toors, for helping
me through the matter; branded by the worl(
as an aceorlplice in swndlng, forgery, AM
wholesale enormous thieyery, and banshcd b,
my own shame and the public scorn, to vegc
tate here Oh the solitary shores of this LAX,
Superior. BROWN revealed this thing to til,