The daily Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1855, 1854-08-17
why was the Railroad Grant Bill Re.
pealed!

SouioC vi OCCuIIcHCtS tt w doiuHS 'th, uui
ing, the last session of Congress, and whose
easy natures permit them to rest satisfied
in regard to the interiors of things from a
glance at their surfaces, are nowadays ask
ing the question in all innocency-Why did
Congress repeat the act which had been
fraudulently altered, and which granted
lsnds to Minnesota for Railroads, instead
of passing one supplementary thereto, from
the benefits of which the Schuyler Compa-
ny would be excluded-and by this means
render Justice to the Territory, while affix-
ing their seal of reprobation upon the for
gers and their accomplices ? This question
we propose to answer. And in answering
it, we find only one hypothesis upon which
its solution can be made, by which justice
can be done to large majority of the rep
resentatives Of the nation, and justice done
also, to the guilty party involved. If the
forgery committed in the body of the bill
originally passed, had been done by, Or at
the instigation OF, the Wall street branch
Of the Schuyler Company alone, the Terri
tory of Minnesota would not have been re-
sponsible for the crime, nor would it, on that
account, have been visited by the vengeance
of Congress. But if, on the other hand,
the delegated agent of this Territory was
himself party to the forgery, OF if he COM
tenanced its commission, OF gave it the taclt
appreciation Of his silence, then the fraud
became, in the eve Of Congress, through
the action Or nonaction OF its accredited
agent, one for which the Territory was re-
sponsi)le Minnesota, then, presented this
anomalous aspect before the nation asking
from the country, as gratuity, the grant Of
a large fraction Of its public domain, under
especial restrictions as to its disposal, while
at the same time, by positive act or by SUI
ftrance, she was continuing through the aid
of forgery to Illustrate the design OF the
donor.
The grounds which we have assumed in
this hypothesis, we charge to be true. We
charge that HENRY NJ RICE, the Delegate
in Congress from this Territory, was by one,
if not ALL Of the means we have indicated,
a party to the forgery of the bill alluded to-.
We charge, that, by prostitution of his
official position, the Territory of Minnesota,
of which his pimp Of lie lWnnesoiiaA calls
him :" the fathcr,' was dragged before the
National Legislature, was tried, condemn
ed, and kicked from thence, as a common
swindler, deSroilcl both Of her treasures and
her far fame. We charge that upon Hen
EY VI. RICE, and not upon Congress- rests
the responsibility, and should be fixed the
odium, Of robbing our infant Territory, i'll
the hour of her greatest necessity, OF this
immense largcss of land which was needed
to develop her resources, and lift her from
fccblcncss and Obscurity, into power and
equality with the proudcst Of the States OF
The Nation.
Congress could have acted no otherwise,
and have preserved its self-respcct, and the
dignity of the country. Minnesota, stand
ing before the government, in the person of
her authorized agent, with the left hand
extended to receive the gift, and with the
right hand changing, by forgery, that gift
into theft, could expect no other treat
ment than that she has received. Nor can
she expect that treatment to be altered in
her favor, until by some formal and solemn
act, she repudiatcs the man who has viola
ted his faith, and worse than trifed with
her interests.