The eastern clarion. [volume] (Paulding, Miss.) 1837-1863, 1859-02-05

show the difficulty under which the Com |
pany Iab5red, and the nature Of the relief /,
ought. the debate viii be read With in
tcrest by the friends OF the road, and hy
the public at large:
1Ir. COBB. from the Committee on Pub
lie Lands. reported back. with an amend
mert House bill No. 66q) for the relief
of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad Compa-
~. Tie Lin cuacts that whereas the
state q. Mississippi. by its act approved
january -. 1857. and the State Of Ala
anna. g. its act approved December ],
fs-I. did transfer 70 the Mobile and Ohio
Railroad Company the lands granted to
saii States under the provisions oI the
act of Congress. approved September 20,
l-5r. T. aid i'm the construction Of rail
road from Mobile to the mouth of the
Ohio river. the transfer Of the lands made
liz the aid States to the said company
.re hereby recognized. ratified. and con-
frmed: and the bill also extends the
time Granted hv the act OF Congress to
the said company to complete the road,
to September, l-G5.
The Committee on Public Lands report
ted an amendment to the bill. to insert, at-
ter the word confirmed" p" the words. and
the titles to all jraa tile purchasers Of said
camlanv are also hereby confirmed.
Mr.. COBB. Will state the objects Of
tlatlil as briefly a. possible, as 1t is my
{ l,-irc 10 facilitate business, and not to
! consume he time Of the House by unne-
rc-.aIy remarks.
/ In the year 1850, the Congress Of the
. United States made q grant Of lands TO
( The States Of Mississippi and Alabama, to
aid in the construction Of a railroad con
f. meeting Mobile with Chicago. The I.eEis-
I latufe Of Mississippi and Alabama went
. on and gave the lands TO this company
! IN he condition that they should build
/ the road. / question arosein Mississippi
! which. as | understand. brings this bill
/ here. Some court in Mississippi decided
/ that the LEGISLATURE of that State could
not vest the title in the railroad company.
They therefore decided to come here and
confirm the grant of the land by the Leg
stature.
do not think any man in this House
would tolerate such a decision as has been
made in this case for moment. The
grant OF land was made to hesitate. clear
and distinct, and they had the right to
give MP the land 10 the company upon the
condition that they should build the road
| Under this grant. the company have gone
on and completed large portion Of the
road which j. 10 form the connecting Ink
| between Mobile and Chicago. | have M
doubt that the grant was perfectly valid
Still in order to avoid all difficulty. il ha
been thought best to have it confirmed
by Congress.
| care nothing about the extension 0
time which the bill provides for. ! hav,
no doubt myself that the company vii
be able to complete the road within tn
year: hut presume there will be no ob
b. 1 lection to the extension which Is Prov
ded for. The committee have decide,
I that il should be made to provide acains
all contingencies. | do not regard tn
amendment which has been reported q
i Of any consequence, believing that tn
grants made by the company would b
confirmed bv the courts; but | hope tn
House viii pass the bin and allow us t
pass to other business. | call the prev
h Gus question upon the chgrossment of tn
bill.
Tho previous question was seconded
and thema.n question ordered to be Tu
The amendment reported by the Con
mittee on Public Lands was agreed to.
The bill as amended. was ordered 10
eugro--ed and read a third time am
4 being CnrIo-Sed, it was accordingly rsa
:, the third time.
Mr.. JONES. Of Tennessee. | call {,
the yeas and nays upon the passage
the bill.
, Mr. BARSKDALE. l call for telle
i M on ordering the yeas and maya.
T.ller- were not ordered.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
Nir. RARKSDALE. ask the unor
y nous consent Of the House TO make ;
explanation in relation to this bill. |
not think il is understood by the Hous
= Nir. MORGAN. ! object for the rC
son that am opposed to this whole
"a fair, and | should want an opportuni
to reply.
Mr.. RARESDALE. There would be
Y. opposition to this lii if it were und,
stood
r.. The SPEAKER. Debate is in ord,
the previous question not having be
.s- called on the passage of the bill.
Mr. BARKSDALE. | was under {
ne impression that the previous questi
p. he'd been called. In 1850 Congress pa
ce "a an act making a grant of land to t
States OF Mississippi and Alabama. to {
8 ill ltlt ''ll~lllollhn OF TIC AlOillc a
Ohio Railroad. In 1852 the LeCislatur
Of Mississippi and Alabama passed a
- conveying the land to the compal
and the company entered upon the p
81, session of it. 4 portion Of il has sir
on been and is still m0rtgaged; a port
..a OF it has been sold hy the company: a
r- a portion Is still in their possession. c
.ut tain parties in Mississippi became trcsp,
,ig ti.f crs mon me iUf, aud hcy instituted 81
Tin against them for trespass, Upon the
n.- n of this case the circuit Judge in Mis-
.as sipri decided that the transfer Of
lands Nv the Legislature was illegal o
w., ~, void. and that the suit could not be ms
tanned.
The object of this bill is to ratirv
n transfer Of these lands bv the Lerisatu
- of Mississippi and Alabama and to ca
TO | ont the policy of those States in civ
the company entire control of the land
de ire to state further in this com
..I. ton. that the Legislature Of MississiI
nor at its last session, passed unanimousI
lie resolution requesting Congress to pass
act confirming the transfer which
fthe been made hy the legislature. If
bill i not passed, the House will Sc
usu- once that the credit Of the company
hc seriously impaired, and that the
c1 ties who have purchased lands Of the {
pany. or who have mortgages upon tn
IN will suffer serious inconvenience.
3ras Mr.. NICHOLS. VIII the gentler
'nc, allow me to ask him question:
- or Mr.. BARKSDALE. | do not thin
necessary to make any further expl
.,i,- ton Of the bill.
rs Mr.. NICHOLS. | merely wante,
~ ask what was the ground of the deci
Of the court to which the gentleman
referred
a 70 Mr.. BARKSDALE. | have not tina
-ahIe cision before me. and do not know
Z - precise grounds of the decision. 1t
amps made. however, by an enlightened iu
r. and understand that the transfer by
az LOgiAlAturS waS pronounced illegal