Washington telegraph., 1855-08-01
The Railroad Grant Rejected.

On the first page of our paper to-day, we
publish the report of the Executive Com
mittee of the Cairo and Fulton Railroad
company. through their President. rejecting
the terms and conditions of the act of the
last Legislature for turning over to the COM
pany. the lands donated by Congress. to aid
in the construction of the road.
While VIC cannot object to the action of
the Committee in rejecting the grant. re-
stricted and trammeled as it was, BY condi-
tions, which renders i it of no avail in the
construction of the york, it is but light that
the people should know upon whom the re-
sponsibility of attaching the proviso to the
second section of the act rests, This pro-
viso, it is evident, rendered the donation
valueless for the purpose for which Congress
made it. at least. we are advised that this
is the generally conceded opinion, and ap-
pears to be the principal grounds upon
which the grant was rejected. It has been
suggested that this Objectionable and ridic-
ulous proviso was intended to have been at
tached to the third, instead of the second
section of the act and that its present posi-
tion was the result of an error on the part
of the enrolling clerk, which the enrolling
committee failed to detect 1t is, we be-
lieve. the business of this committee to
examine and report upon the correctness of
all bills enrolled, before they are presented
for the signature of the Executive Is it
possible that the committee could have been
so negligent of its duty as to permit the
whole force an intention of an act. so i'm
portant to the interests of the State. to be
destroyed. by being improperly and erro-
roneously enrolled? We do not know who
composed the committee, but if want of
attention to their legitimate duties has pre-
vented and restricted the application of the
grant of lands made by Congress to aid in
the construction of an important work, for two
years. they cannot be too severely censurcd.
But. if the act passed in its present shape.
and received the approval of the Executive,
then the Legislature and the Governor are
alike censurable Previous to the meeting
of the last Legislature, nearly two years of
the ten allowed by Congress in which to
construct the road, was permitted, by the
Governor and those who had charge of the
work. to pass unimproved.- mere
survey of the route.-and now, to permit
the lapse of two more years, either from un-
wise and hasty legislation, or the negligence
of the enrolling committee, is to say the
least Of it. extremely reprehensible. Why
an act so detrimental to the interests of the
State received the executive sanction is al
SO strange, and induces the belief that the
Governor must have signed it without ex-
amining it. We do not believe he would
have sanctioned the bill had he been aware
of Its Objectionable features
If it can be done. we would be gratifed
to see some plan adopted, by which the
lands donated by Congress to aid in the con-
struction of the Cairo and Fulton road might
be selected, and those reserved from sale be
again brought into market. The reservation
| from sale and settlement of such a large
quantity of land, for SO great length Of
time, is operating to the serious deiriment
of this portion of the State. For the last
few years this portion of Arkansas has been
rapidly filing up with desirable popula-
tion, and many more are anxious to secure
homes upon the lands reserved from sale
for Railroad purposes. Can no plan be
hit upon for the speedy removal of the re-
servations. that would in no way injuTe the
interests and prospects of the road9 If there
car, the permanent interests of the State calls
loudly for it, aud it should be carried into
effect with as little delay as possible.
Gov. REEDER's MEssAGE-The mes
sage of Governor REEDER to the Legisla-
ture of Kansas, was delivered on the 10th
ult-. and the following synopsis of it was
telegraphed from st. Louis to the Louisville
Journal. The Governor recapitulates the
Congressional laws of the Territory from
the time it formed portion of the district
of Louisiana to the present, and shows what
laws are now in force On the slavery
question he is pacific. contending for the
right of the people to settle their own af.
fairs. uninfuenced by the representatives
of citizens of other States, and unbiased by
the destructive spirit of Abolitionism, and
holds that Territorial Legislature has an
undoubted right to legislate on the question
of slavery to limited extent, and NAV,
temporarily prohibit, tolerate, or regulate
slavery in the Territory. He directs atten-
/ tion to the creation of counties and federal