The weekly Ottumwa courier., 1858-02-04
Desmofnes River Improvement.

10 have received 205 4e9 % acres
of land at ST. % 2s6,S61 s:
Balance in their favor, 1O9,s49 Z;
Or adding per cent. claimed ll5,0ot
The Commissioner says that the above bal.
lance cannot be claimed OF the State under the
adjustment of Dec. oath 1856 until one fourth
of the entire Improvement is completed and
made available for navigation.
The admitted expenditures.
therefore, to Dec. 1st 1856. are $356, Sol SO
Adding amount since expended, to
Dec. 1st, '57, less Is per cent re.
served, 65,5o4 81
Whole amount expended by the
Company, 322,456 4e
By the agreement Of Dec. ID, $50. the COM
pany were to prosecute the work continuously
from the mouth uf tie river upwards, under
the supervision of the Commissioner, and NO
work besides said continuous line, was to be
done without the written consen. Of the Com.
missioner.
In accordance with such agreement. the
Commissioner rejects estimates for various
work which, in the aggregate. reduces the
amount of expenditures to $27o,oo5 IA tc
Dec. 1s., 1857.
For this the company have received certif-
Gates for 2O5, ,489 % acres Of land, and they
hold requisition on the Register for $4,000
acres more, which at 81, ,25 per acre
gives $2s6,861 81
Balance in favor OF State. 1885 SO
Even if the 10000 acres were certified, for
which the commissioner infe.s that the reqni.
sition of Aug. 9th, 1857. was without consid-
Grafton.
| The amount of doubtful and rejected claim:
amount to 81, 2,45o.34, deducted from the whole
amount claimed for expenditures Of 1857 leaves
$33,144 81, which makes a discrepancy ol
$33,144 81 in favor of the State.
The commissioner next alludes to the at.
tempt to adjust matters with the company un-
der act Of Jan. '57, which failed the snbse.
qnent litigation resulting in the decision of the
Supreme Court sustaining the contracts ol
June, '54, and deciding the act Of the Legisla
ture of Jan. 20, '57, invalid so far as it wa!
based upon the hypothesis that no valid con.
tracts existed, but denying the application fo1
mandamus directing the commissioner te
convey the land claimed.
Soon after this decision the agreement oil
9th June, 1857, was entered into, by virtue Of
which the Company agreed to prosecute Wig.
oronsly the works at, and below. Keosanqua,
and iu consideration Of which the Commits
sioner agreed, and did certify $4,000 wor,t
Of land more.
This agreement the commissioner deemed
not to have been performed by The company
and hence he countermanded the order for ths
24,C00 acres of land.
The Commissioner shows othe- points oi
difference with the company, in this that viii! e
the law authorizing the contract with tbs
Company, was conditioned upon stipulation
to pay the certain sum Of sl,3oO,0OO for the
land, and the contract which the Company en-
tered into contains stipulation to pay that
sum, they have recently repudiated that agree
ment and contend that they are only to pay
"$1 rs per acre for the land Of the grant. and
IL the same exceed a certain amount, then they
will or will not" This question is now the
cause of embarrassment.
The Commissioner and an agent of the Co.
visited Washington in September to obtain the
balance of the Grant from the General Gov
ernment, and found the case to rest upon At
torney General Cushings opinion of May, $50,
which was that the grant extended to the
North line Of the State, if the State would re-
linqnish all claims beyond, to the source Of
the river.
Upon this announcement by the Depart
ment, the Commissioner proposed to co-ope-
rate with the Company In accepting or reject
ing the Gushing opinion, leaving the Company
to elect. The Company, however, required
the State to accept, and release the Company
to the extent Of this release to The General
Government, which the Commissioner declin-
ed to do.
The Company claim that for every $4,000
expended they are entitle to land at $l,25
per scre without regard to the lands yielding
81, 800. 900, and the Commissioner construes
the contract to mean that they are to pay 81,
300, 900 for the land more or less, and so the
matter rests.
The amount remaining of the lands certified
to the State is 60 600 and there is difference
Of at least s4O0 900 Of interest to the State be-
tween the Company construction of the con-
tract. and that Of the Commissioner.
The Commissioner prefers numerous charg-
es against the Company, such as failure to
prosecute work as agreed failure to paw sub
contractors non-performance Of $4,000 ad.
ditional work preferring improper estimates
refusal TO vest title Of Way and Water-righi
in the State not paying old liabilities of ths
Improvement; threatening the suspension Of
the work. He alludes to the fact the three
and half years of the fonr have elapsed, and
not single lock or dam completed, although
nearly half million dollars have been expen.
ded, and to the original agreement to complete
one fourth of the work every year.
The Commissioner recommends the adop.
ton Of measures TO adjust and compromise oil
matters between the company and the State,