The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1872-01-13

- WIS WI uCot-iateu ~ mO numbers &
the amount Of ten alternate sections I,c
inilc ~ each side Of said road. ON the lin,
thereof. not sold, reserved or otherwise dis
posed Of hy the United States. and /.
which presumption or homestead claim ma,
not have attached at the time the line d
SAID road ~ definitely fixed" For obvious
reasons grant Of this sort is always to i,
strictly construed, and nothing should IL
considered as granted but what is definite.
ly expressed in the law This clause of the
grant alone shows that the error Of the re-
cent decision Is by no means obscure. and
and 1T becomes more and more apparent on
examing other similar grants; for instance.
the act of the same date granting lands to
aid In the construction Of a railrna1 and
telegraph line from Lake Superior to Pu-
gets Sound; the act of July Is, 1866.
granting lands e. aid in the CONSTRUCTION ~
a railroad from the town Of Folsom to the
/ town Of Placerville, i'll the State Of Cali
fOrnia; the act Of July "a, 1866, granting
lands to aid in the construction Of the At
lantic and Pacific and Southern Pacific
railroads and the act Of March 2, 1867,
granting lands for railroad from Stockton
to Copperopolis, in the State Of California,
as well rs other acts unnecessary to desig-
nate.
In each Of the acts referred to the grant
ing clause is expressed in language almost
exactly similar to that used in the grant to
the Burlington and Missouri River Rail
road Company, and yet it is very apparent
from other sections Of these acts that Con
gress had no intention Of making grants
without regard to lateral limits
b And fpnr4har thsa x-arxy -, H.
9Th Of May, 1870, procured the passage Of
an act BY Congress authorizing it to change
its line west Of the the city Of Lincoln, III
the State of Nebraska, in which act it is
expressly provided that the new line is t.
be located within the limits Of the grant
made to the company by the United States,
and that the location If such grant is not
to he changed by said new line Now, if
the grant made to the company had film
its and a location, rs clearly appears
/ from this last named act. the recent deci-
sign thai il las nu limits and no definite
location, must certainly be very wide If
the mark.
THE GIsT OF THE MATTER Is,
and the point in which the people at large
have direct interest, that this company.
under the late construction Of the law by
the Secretary uf the Interior, will obtain
some 3, 3,OO0, 900 acres If land among the
, best i'll the nited States, ranging in value
\ from 81. % IL $50 per acre and averaging
/ $40 nr Sl1 per acre, amounting in the az
I gregate to some Se53. .OOO, 900, to build 10
cal and comparatively unimportant road,
go miles in length. This road. leading
along the valley of the Platte, cannot ex-
ceed i'll the cost Of its construction and
! equipment the average Of <i3, 600 per mile,
/ which would amount to some 81 jOO, 900
( Cnder construction of Secretary Browning
Z tiIU ,,..III,oIIy as sVaueu aD0ve. would re-
ceive about 81, 5OO, OOO acres. which. at the
average az Sl1 per acre, would amount Il
$40, 800, 900, or about 5000. 900 more
than the requirements of the company fnl
the construction and equipment Of then
road already an enormous gIHtuity; hut.
under the recent decision, the company
would receive the value If the read and ID
the neighborhood of S25, 0OO. 900 besides
These figures are quite worthy of cumpari
SON with
TANNANY MATHEMATICS.
I. There is good reason to believe that th,
company have no expectation If maintain
ing this construction undisturbed. for it i,
80 unusual i'll railroad grant and go con
trary to our ordinary notions Of their pro
visions that they have good reason to ap
prehend that another change Of govern
ment officials may bring about another con
struction If the law relative to their grant
WHAT THE NONOPOLIsrs REALLY WANT.
What the mnnopOlists arc really amin.
at is just this and it furnishes the true ex
planation # this extraordinary decision
Just about the time uf the meeting "f Con
gress. Their egents in the two houses
watching the prOpitiOus moment, will pre-
sent bill asking fOI confirmation uf theil
grant as construed i'll the department; and
as such things are often passed on the sly
with compatively few Of the member,
knowing the real object Of the bill, ther,
is some danger that the company may sue
ceed in getting such con6rmatory act
passed, thus adding another to the MANY
successful swindling assaults made upon the
public lands by these railroad monopolies
But it is to be hoped that Congress will h
vigilant, if they do not take measures t,
defeat them by the passage Of an explana
tory act. And it may not be amiss to sug
gest that the case is one Of sufficient i'm
Portance to be taken into consideration BY
the President