The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1855-01-20
Correspondence Of the Minnesotian.)
From Washington.

WASHINGTON, Dec. %, 1854.
MEssRs. EDITORS Nothing is doing in Coz
gress this week, and nothing will be done, a
was to be expected, until after the first of Jan
uary. Then there will be rush, till the ent
of the session. In this confusion, many act
will pass, that never should become laws ant
many bills that should be passed, will be en-
tirely overlooked or neglected. This is Away
the result of too much haste.
A matter of the greatest Importance to you
Territory, and to the whole Northwest, in my
opinion, is now being agitated in Congress
On Wednesday, the 2Gth, Mr.. Letcher, of Va.
introduced resolution in the House, instruct
ing the Judiciary Committee, to inquire into
the expediency of disappearing the act of your
Territorial Legislature, Incorporating the
minnesota and North Western R. R. Compa
n.y." A bill, to that effect, will pass the House
like whirlwind; and then, farewell to the
bright prospects of Minnesota, and to the once
promising greatness of her capital. St. Paul
instead Of outstripping all her competitors, as
she might have done, will fall into the rear
and soon sink into nothingness. Some point
on the Minnesota river, on the''one side, and on
the St. Croix, on the other, will eclipse her
drain her of her trade and commerce, and total
ly annihilate her. as the great mart of Mime
sofa. Mark my words, that in less than in five
years, St. Paul would not be found on the map
of the Territory, was it not for the fact, that it
will be referred to and placed there, as the
once capital of Minnesota. Minnesota herself
will decline, if the grant of lands given her, is
defeated. She will lose her present position
among the Territories. and her prosperity will
not be of the present, but solely of the past. A
Railroad through her own territory was her
only hope-destroy that hope, and you ruin
her. By destroying or defeating the grant to
the /" NJ. and N. w. R. r., you defeat the build
ing of that road, and by defeating that road,
you ruin Minnesota. The one will follow the
other, just SO certain as that day follows night,
or that death follows the cessation ofbreathing
And it is all idle for would-be lawyers to talk
about defeating the Railroad Company, that
the grant of lands, if the grant be sustained by
the Supreme Court, will inure to the Territory.
Will any sensible man suffer himself to be so
easily and Silly duped? The repeating act
of August 4th, as against the Territory, would
be perfectly ualid and effective, for the simple
reason that no right vested in the Territory
The lands were not granted to the Territory in
fee, but simply as the agent of the Govern
ment, to pass them over to the Railroad Com
pany. She was the mere agent, or at most
trustee, holding the lands for the use and bene-
fit CT another person; not for herself There
fore, she had done no act, could do no act, I'M
less she, herself built the road, by which she
could acquire any right to, or interest in the
fee of these lands. Thus has she no right, Ell
Their vested or incohate /; nor could any consid-
Grafton flow from her, to induce the vesting of
right. Consequently, having no vestediright
in the lands, if you defeat the Company, by de-
stroying the act creating it, you bring ruin
upon the Territory, and bankruptcy on many
Of her best and most deserving citizens