Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1859-03-01

ed so far as sach sale might or could eTeet ,ba,,
sSse OGtbe DAY Of sale. this lease aud ininnesio
read 70 The people. and tas lsnd s1d upoa thai
u tice These facts were all reported TO the Couri
and no exceptions being made the report was-cop.
6rmed at TAD October term, 1859 Soon after this
the purr hasars sold the land at large sdvaace and
ass gued their csr,i6oate Of purchase 70 CGarl 1
CoBgdeB and as Os fes. tfNew York, through thti,
Aeeaf, Samtiel Ccngden, then upon The groand and
having full knoRleage Of al the facts. The ssid
Charles Consiea hasiug paid the original purchase
money Sl750 and holding the efihcste Of Pur-
chase by assignmenf, Obtained grant frOm the
Stale on the 23d OF February, 1888 The f. st Pur.
chssers mads no warranty Of title. notwithstanding
the large advance made Oa their bid by COngden
The bills and cross bills. betseen the essee5 and
purchasers alt compromised snd settled BY the
purchase Of the lands by CongdeR.
Having thus coneen trated in himself both titles,
an ect Of Incorporation sas procured from the Leg
islature and the PROF eriy passed 10 the "Teunes
see Mining Company, consisting Of the said
/ Charles Congden aod some otter stockholders. by
whom it has been put into suecesslul mining opera
lion, and is now, and has for several years been
! Rorked on large and profitable scale, as one Of
q celebrated ''DuektoWn Copper Mi cs." Two
preliminary objections are made 10 the relief sought
| 10 the bill.
Ist Thatthis is a bill Of revieF, and consequent
| lyis blried BY Ibe lapse Of three ears from The
| confirmation Of the sale in the Circuit Court We
do consider il bill Of that character Its OBJ
Jsct Is 20 impeach and sat aside the proceeding
trey, and nOt TO revisR aud correct it, Il assumes
that the sale was not only erroneous but void The
jurisdiction given ihe Circuit Court in the case
I is not much Judicial ministerial There are
20 pleadnEs no questions for adjudication, no poW-
/ er TO decide upon the pTOpriety of selling or the
terms OF sale, or even the minimum TO be fixed; all
this is dOne under the statutes BY other machinery
Il is more like The Jurisdiction TO condemn land 10
be sCld fr taxes upon the report CT collector than
a suiT. If il be certified to him that the sense of
the people has been ascerlaine in ether of the
modes prescribed, snd that majority are for the
sale, il is made the duty OF the Circuit Judge to
der it without question and OoEhrmsriJB would be
matter Of course unless something should have Oc-
Cured in making it, that Woud render it improper
He is not required TO pass the title by decree
hat goes by the certificate CT purchase upon what
grant is to be issued when the consideration is paid.
Such the provisions Of the statutes referred to-
The legality Of the sale must depend upon the cir
euDsanees attending it, aud the eOnfJImi'y Of the
previous steps TO the Requirement. Of the statutes
The Circuit Judge wou doubtless have power 20
set asdethe sale for good cause. But failure TO
do so does not close the question an adjudication,
as in ordinary suits unless opened BY by bill of
egiew, or osher prescr bed mode of proceeding in
the regular practice. The validiyOf the tile pro 81
cured must sill depend upon The facts Of the
I'd. Il is. OOntendfd that the grant of the State
closes all quRsiiOAs and cures every impeEfeeton in
the anterior proceedings and is conclusive upon the
llt6 II Is general RUE kAaE tne btAte UTalt- OF
her own lands cInnot be questioned upon any matter
behind it, b. any whose interest claim origin.
sted subsequently. But grant may be set aside
in favor OF older special entry, upon which
younger grant has is=ued Here there an
older elsimtbe land had been legal, set apart for
Common SoioOls, and been vested in commissioners
for that Parpos And, besides, the land did not
belong 10 the State but was only held in trust.
There are two grounds then upon which The case
is distinguished from that to which the rule referred
to applies. These difficulties beisg out of the way,
the case is open to investigation upon its merits.
And the questions presented are, whs,her the sale
under the order Of the Circuit Court was good in
laW, aud sufficient 70 pass the title, and if not,
whether the lease was valid, and binding upon the
cOmplainants
|. As 10 the sale. Various objections are made in
the bill and perhaps sustained By the proof, in re
lation to the mode aud manner OF obtaining the
Of the people, the question of sale, a5d to
the qua l6cariOn of the voters. We need no. nov
d,lermine whether Ikese can be examined, as they
preceded the order Of sale, but reference to them
is enough excite suspicion mat all not
fair, and that much uudus Undue nee aud exeriiOn
was used 10 diyest this bounty of me general gov
ernment from the lau1sble purpose de igned, and
App IopriaIe il Individual uses It appears hat
men we're employed to canvass he district for the
purpose OF making public and pfisaIe speeehesfo
convince and persuade he IeOple 70 vote fer the
sale But independent Of this, enough appears to
render the sale and title derived from it. null and
void. There vas law authorizing the sale of
school lands already leased II is sufficient
swer this objection thst the lease invalid, il
such WAS the fact A Court of Chaneery had so far
recognized il as to enjoin the sale True the Circuit
Court bai ordered the sa'e in February, but in May
the commissioners had far changed their pup So
90 long grant ea.e, and Fhe Chancellor had fol-
hidden the sale upon that ground II the Clerk Of
the Circuit Court ubder thse Circumstances, WsI {
through the forms of a sale, il was nothing more
~.
80 as to change it. 1t was a fraud upon unborn
infsns and could not be allowed to deprive them of
their Iich Inheritance The purchasers, with full
knowledge Of these Iscts, could claim nothing by
their purchase, transmit any right TO others by
q transfer of the certificate Of Pureease
There is no prstense buL thai these facts were all
well known to The COngdens at the time OF their
purchase, and that this kuo Eedge would equally
affect them and their associates. eorporatOrs
well individuals II was aagrant breach of
trust on the part Of all concerned and cannot be
permitted to stand. That the Circuit Judge would
confirm sale made under such circumstances, can
only be accounted fer on the ground that i. was
regsrded as amaiter of course, unc0nesed proceed
ing, to which his attention was not directed. But
after brief contest in the Cbaneery Court betW'
the lessees and purchasers, IN which each iDpeaeh
and declare void the claims Of the other, tbey fsu
into q harmonious arrangement By which the lease
is sold and transferred to The purchasers and the
two claims ere united IN 'FCogden and associate,
ami pass to the new corpora ion called the '' 'eR
nessee Mining Co" So eonieBded that il their
title is not good fee, under the sale and purchase,
il is good tor 80 years under the lease his posi-
ton we consider equally unayailing and less Plsu
sible than the other It is that by the act Of
Feb L. 1850 ch. l8 sec. g, the Legislature author
lied the commissioners TO lea for mining purposes
any .nns0ld school land, in Polk county, aud that
the land was then -uRsold. But the defendIniss
sumo that all lhs power of the pc, pie, at the in
stance Of the commissioners, had then been exerIed
in the acts of 1914 and 1916 ia favor Of SALE and
that the same was eonclusively and legally settled
nothing remaining 10 be done hut TO carry out she
will OF the InhabIEnis OF the District by natter
of course order of the Circuit Court and formal sale
byits clerk Cou.d the act be construed to agpy to
such cases was it intended 10 set as de the decis-
ion of the people in favor of q sale, uEoa the judg
ment OF the commissioners favor of the policy Of
leasipgS, il isa little suspicious that the Legisla
lure should have thought 1t proper 20 change the
general policy settled in 1916 in relation to com
mon school lands, and passed tins pointed and spe
eial act in relation TO leasing that paTtieula-
time and sgil more strange thai these commission
| eIs should have changed their views so suddenly,
snd adopted course directly in conflict with re
i viii cfthe people, Gently ress, ,d upon their
DOti0r But all that is immateIial They had no
power TO make such 9 lease under any law. NaiV
ing the ohje I'll just stsei, b.s1d upon the as
sumptons Of the defendants in support OF their tle
Under, he sale the lefse Is yuid for want Of author
ity of law The act Of Congress Of ISIS, en- S46
did in case the Legislature sheu d deem il inexPe-
dent 10 sell, authorize provision 10 be made for
leasing for any ,etm not exceeding four yelTs Our