The daily Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1855, 1855-02-28

ES we nave on hand NUMBER OF Iouts q oeau'hui
and useful JOB TYPE, which will be disposed flap
piled for soon.
Debates in the Council.
Remarks of Hon. ISAAC VAN ETTEN.
in the Council, Feb. 10, 1855.
No. SO III. of r. A Bill to amend an
Act entitled can Act to Incorporate the
Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad Com
pany," being under consideration-Mr VAN
ErrEN offered the following amendment to
subdivision one of section two:
Section 2. The said company hereby required to
epot the of $50 900 in specie or per cent u 3
Stock with D. L. Fuller, John r. Irvine, Louis Roberts,
vetal Guerin and Charles BAIL within six months nom
and after the passage of this act Said persons aforesaid
SHALL within six days after receiving said $3.50 600
Gle stock notify The Governor OF the Territory thereof
accompanied with their af1davits Of the manner IN
viii deposit made: Provided the said persons
above named shall not use, convert, negotiate the
same and shall report at the end Of every three months
stock still held by them and the manner in which Is
held and in the said Company shall fail to comply
th all the proyi ions of this act and the act to VIII
this is amendatory the money herein provided
be deposited by said Company, shall become forfeited
and become the property Of the Territory future STATE
VI
lature thereof.
The object is, Mr.. President, to place the
sum specified in the amendment in the hands
of the gentlemen named therein, who have been
designated as the repositories thereof, by the
friends of the bill, in such o manner, as to
avoid the legal technically pointed out by me
on Saturday last; and also to have it at all
times under the control of the persons author
ised which persons are not to use, convert or
negotiate the same. The amendment also
provides and renders it obligatory on the per-
sons named in the amendment to notify the
Governor, accompanied by their affidavit,
within six days after the reception of the afh-
davit by them, of the manner in which the de-
post was made, in order that he can, at the
animal meeting of the Legislature of the Ter
ritory, communicate the same to that body.
And, also, that the money or stock thus to be
deposited by said company, whenever forfeit
ure is made of it may be subject to the dispo-
sal of the Legislature of the Territory.
Mr.. Brown then offered the following amend
ment to the amendment:
Insert after 'doars in the rst line of section the
words Sin specie or per cent. U. S. Stock"
Add to the LIST clause of section the words"Provi-
died. that said dposors shall not use convert or negoti
ate the same but at all times hold the subject to
the disposal of the Legislative Assembly of this Territory
the said persons shall report the Legislature at the
annual meetieg thereof the condition of the said Deposit
the said report to be made under OATH and within six
days after the meeting of the legislature"
In Offering this amendment, Mr.. Brown said
he was in favor of having as many and safe
restrictions thrown around the gentlemen pro-
posed as repositories, as the gentleman who
offered the original amendment, but he was
unwilling to have them make their report to
the Governor. They should only be made am.
euable to the law-making power Of the Terri
tory.
IA desultory debate here took place be-
tween Mr.. Brown and Mr.. Van Etten) Mr..
Brown proceeded to say:-that he was happy
to have the opinion of the gentleman from st.
Paul, that the company had vested right un
der the original charter of said company, OF
which right they could not be diverted by
Congress.
Mr.. Van Etten asked permission to make a
correction, which being granted, he said:-The
member from the 9th Council district was Ia
boring under q mistake. He had never said
that any right had vested absolutely, in the
Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad Com
pany, but to the contrary he had always de.
MED that any right had vested in said Com
pany which could not be defeated by Congress
Every charter that passes the legislature OF
this Territory, granting to any person or per-
Sons a franchise, and the corporatOrs therein
named accept of it. they take it subject to the
right Of Congress to disapprove of it and rem
der the same null and of no effect. Congress
in the Organic Act under which this Terrific
~ was organized and brought into existence
reserved this right to itself. Nor was it limi
ted as to the time in which they should disap
prove of our Territorial enactments. By the
Sd section of the Organic Act, it is made thu
duty of the Secretary of the Territory "tt
transmit Que copy of the laws and one copy o
the executive proceedings, on or before tn
first day of December, in each year, to thu
President Of the United States, and at thu
same time two copies of the laws to the Speak
er of the House of Representatives, and tn
President of the Senate, for the use of Con
gress" In the last paragraph of section 6, o
the Organic Act, it isprovided that "All law
passed by the Legislative Assembly and Gov
ornor shall be submitted to the Congress o
the United States, and if disapProred, shall b.
passed by the Legislature of this Territory
until one year, or nearly 80, has elapsed afte
its passage. The members of the Council
will bear in mind that the Organic Act is {
public act, and every person is presumed to b,
ACQUAINTED with its provisions. Therefore
every person, or company Of persons, accepting
or acquiring rights under Territorial act
whether those rights have vested or not, the.
take them at their own risk, subject to be de
f,ated by the action of Congress within rea
sonable time This was the construction Civ
en- to our Organic Act by Mr.. Cutting, Of tn
Judiciary Committee Of Congress, in his re
marks when he reported from that COMMITTEE
favorsble to the passage Of the resolution re