Minnesota weekly times. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1859, 1854-09-19

exclude the other ro.l in my district for an ad-
vantage to be drived fom the Minnesota road as
a feeder Mr.. Billns insisted that the Illinois
Central should have no control OF the matter,
but other parties woul that such other parties
| would build road so as to connect at Tete de
Mort with the st Chales Air line road, as we'll
| as to connect at Dubuque, if that would only
| remove my objections 1t was proposed to give
security to make this onnexion, but l objected,
that there were no paries that could contract
| Individual security WIS spoken OF, and a good
| deal of talk was had uoutit, but no conclusion
was arrived at. l toll them distinctly that l
could not and would MT have anything to do with
any such arranccment myself, that had no pri-
vate interest to subsevc, but that Mr.. Alvah
Hunt might be consideed as representative of
the st. Charles Air-lip, interest, and that pos
sibly something might be hit upon which would
secure Justice to the Territory and to all interests
Mr.. Hunt came to Washington, and Mr.. Smith
and myself had an interview with him on the SUBJ
iect; but nothing was 6one or agreed to be done,
at that interview. Nj. Hunt said he would 60 to
New York and see who the parties were whom Bill
lings pretended to be acting for. He went to New
York, and nothing more was done or said about
the matter, as | recolect. l had come to a con-
clusion in my own mind that the scheme was i'm
practicable. Soon after this time the Hon. IL. IL.
Sibley came on from Minnesota, foi the purpose,
as understood among other things, of procuring
the passage of a new bill. He cane to see me
on the subject, and l expressed to him my views
of what the bill to be introduced should be, ars-
ing from the fact of tie charter having been
granted by the Territory to a company. 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. Having come to this
4 1otor ,ipaf ard IN 10
on the 23d of April, wrote to MIR. Hunt my con-
clusions 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. Mr.. Hunt can produce
the letter, and it will speak for itself. On the
9th of April Mr.. Hunt replied, and the extract
from his letter, here produced, pertaining to the
subject, is hereto annexed, and marked q. No
other conversation was ever had by me with
any person in regard to the company building the
road down to the Tete de Mort to connect with
the st. Charles Airline Company; and Mr.. Sib
ley drew up his bill so as to provide in regard to
future legislation the grant, and to exclude all
companies from its benefits without future action
of the legislature. lie showed me q draft, think
the first draft of the bill, and it was about as
had suggested; but l think | requested him to
change the language Of the bill before he present
ed it to the Committee on Public Lands, so as to
make it little more specific in regard to the ex-
clusion of any company; which he said he would
do, and which was done. Nobody who had any
thing to do with the bill could have been m'stak
en- in regard to its provisions in that respect.
supposed all agreed that that should be the shape
Of the bill, and all united in its support in
that shape and that the grant was to be subject
to Il future legislature, and that all companies
would 30 to the Legislature of Minnesota here
after equal footing.
Mr.. Billings must have cknown what the bill was
w.
Sbev drew up the bill, in regard to any alteration
of it whatever, for he knew that would resist it;
and he knows, what now state, that never as
scntcd to or knew of any change in the bill after
1t iert MIR. eiblvy's hands. had talks with MN
frequently about the prospects of the passage of
the bill mean the bill as drawn up by Mr.. Sib-
ley, and excluding all companies from the benefit
of the grant, not the bill as altered after its en-
grossment; and | spoke Of the bill to him and
other persons interested in it as 'sour bill - and
in letter to him. and the only one ever wrote
him, and that was in answer to one from him in
quiring about the prospects of the bill, spoke Of
it as '' our bill" This was long before found
out the bill had been so altered and changed as to
defeat the object 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 it, and sent
for the printed bill to see how it was, and then
observed that the word ' 'tuture'' had been omit
ted spoke to several friends on the subject, ana
stated that the change had been made without
my knowledge or consent, but that did not think
it would alter the legal effect of the bill. The
word "or" was in the printed bill and l re-
marked, that if any fraud was interded to be
practiced for the benefit of the company that it
did not 60 far enough; and the object had not
been accomplished. On Monday, the Oath of Ju
ly, my attention was called to the alteration in
the engrossed and original bill, and believing that
- lc,, Co &c fbo
pany to hold the grant, and also believing it to be
one of the most gigantic frauds ever perpetrated,
deemed it my duty to expose it to the House and
to the country. | never would have consented to
any such alterations in the bill as were made, and
that was known to Mr.. Billings and others con-
nected with the company; and they knew if the
bill was amended in the Senate so that their COM
pany could come in and claim the land, that
would resist concurrence in such amendment by
the House and hence, in my judgment, the alter
alton Of the bill to preclude the necessity of
its coming back to the House.