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

passed the House of Representatives, read as
follows And be it hereby further enacted
that the lands hereby granted to said Territory,
shall be subject to the disposal of any legisla-
ture thereof for the purposes aforesaid, and no
other nor shall they enure to the benefit of any
Company heretofore constituted OR organized"
Thereby expressly excluding all corporate bod
les before chartered by our Legislature. Be-
fore it was acted upon by the Senate of the
United States, the word cor" in said third sec
ton was, without the authority of the House of
Representatives, improperly struck out, under
circumstances no doubt quite as familiar to
yourselves as to me- 1t must here be borne in
mind, that said Company assumed during the
pendancy of said bill before Congress, that they
were Reconstructed" but not at the passage of the
bill organized" Thus, you will perceive
the motive their agents had in desiring to have
stricken out the word ''or" and have substituted
therefor the word sand" The 10th section of
the charter made null and void, all the priv
ileges and powers therein granted unless the
board OF directors of said company were organ
lied on or before the 1st day of July, and
therefore, they say that they did organize said
board OF directors on said LIST. day of July.
To this end, they gave notice in the New
York Express, " for the first time, on the
3Oth day of June last for a meeting of said
|
Bank OF the Republic, in the city of New York.
1t is then matter for your consideration wheth-
er such notice was sufficient compliance with
the charter. l am not prepared to inform you
where the stockholders resided, but it is reason
able to infer, that as the charter requires the
books for subscription to said stock, to be open
ed at different points in the United States, that
there were stockholders elsewhere than in the
city of New York and if so, such notice was
| SllrQV h1o on6 incuffionpf ic f.
isfactory evidence to my mind, and will be, 1
presume, to yours, that their hot haste, was in
tended to avail themselves of the alteration
made in the third section of the law of Con-
gress, and thus attempt to bring themselves
within the purview of the 18th section Of their
charter And even now, am totally unable
to inform you who were the officers and direc-
tors elected at this hasty meeting of said Com
pany.
1t may not be amiss, at this stage of the his
tory of this company's action, to look for mo-
ment at the language of the third section of
the act of Congress as it was approved by the
President. 1t reads as follows: Sec. 3. And
be it further enacted, that the said lands here
by granted to the said Territory, shall be sub
ject to the disposal of any Legislature thereof,
for the purposes aforesaid; nor shall they enure
to the benefit of any company heretofore con-
stituted and organized" 1t is evident and in
all companies previously chartered by our Leg
islature, or why would they say, that the lands
they were granting to Minnesota should not en-
ure to any company heretofore constituted. The
first part of the section enjOins it upon our LIE
gislature to dispose of the lands thereby grant
ed for the purpose of constructing Railroad
from the southern line of Minnesota, commenc-
ing at point between township ranges and
II, thence by way of St. Paul, to the eastern
limo Of co;1 in bo 90 Oh
Superior, and for "no other" We must then
see if there is any charter on our Statute Books
constituting any company to build road along
this specifically designated line, commencing
and terminating as the act of Congress directed.
The answer is plain, that no such company
but the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad
Company had ever been constituted in Mime
sofa before that day. Other charters for rail-
roads had been granted, but none on such lines
as the act Of Congress appropriated these, lands
to aid us demonstrating. Thus the custom is
plainly put. What company did Con ress de-
sire to exclude from the benefit, of this grant
What company was there to be excluded but
| the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad Com
pany? By the 18th section of their charter, Cali
acts or parts of acts that in any manner con-
fict with this act, or the rights and franchises
hereby granted, are hereby repealed; Provided,
Said company accept this charter in manner
and formsas provided in Sec. 2; ".and provided
further, That the passage of this act shall not
vitiate or render void any railroad charter here
tofore granted by this Legislative Assembly.
The repeating clause herein, makes it mani
| fest that Congress intended to exclude the Min
nesota and Northwestern Railroad Company,
and all others. By further examination of the
Sd section of the act of Congress, you will OBJ
serve that if the words "sball be subject to the
disposal of any legislature thereof" mean any
thing, it must mean to direct future disposal,
or surely other words would have been employ
ed than "shaN be subject to the disposal off,"
evidently pointing to future, and not past &C
ton,
| It would have been quite as easily for Con-
gress to have said '.that said lands shall be sub
ject to the disposal of any past legislature
thereof" And equivalent words would have
been used no doubt, if such had been their in
tentions, unless we come to the conclusion that
Congress was legislating expressly for the ben
fit of this Minnesota and Northwestern Rail-
road Company, and not for the Territory of
Minnesota! A conclusion which no rational
mind would entertain for moment
! It is not reasonable to suppose that Congress
intended these lands to be subject to the past
action of the Legislature of Minnesota, for in
the next following sentence they attempt and
do exclude the past action of the very body
they authorize to dispose of them. And the
words used to exclude previously chartered
companies explains and qualities the power to
dispose Of said lands, thereby excluding the
conclusion that any company could take the
lands without subsequent action Of the Legis-
lature.
But it is manifest that the alteration which
the friends of the Minnesota and Northwestern
Railroad Company procured to be made in the
Sd section of the act of Congress, was intended
(as the investigating committee say,) to throw
the grant into their hands, and thereby avoid
the future action of our Legislature.
The general rule in regardt all grants is,
that they shall be construed so as to effect the
intention of the grantor. And it is evident
that some company before chartered by the
Minnesota Legislature, was intended by the
grantor to be excluded from the benefits of the
grant, and the inquiry is again forced upon us,
What company was it? The Congress of the
United States having retained supervision
over our Territorial acts, evidently intended
from the manifest construction of the Language
used, to protect US from any former hasty or
improper legislation.
| After the House of Representatives was ad-
vised that an unauthorized alteration in the
text of the said railroad bill had been made, by
which Congress seemed to have done that which
they did net intend to do, an investigation was
ordered by that body to ascertain if possible,
where and how it was done, The committee
appointed was composed of men Of the highest
character for integrity and ability. They dis
charged the duty assigned them, and reported,
that there had been material and unauthor-
zed change in the text of the bill, which ''de-
served serere censure." And recommended
that the Sd section be amended to conform to
the exact language of the bill as it passed the