The Russellville Democrat., 1875-11-11
"A NINETY MILLION LAW
 SUIT.
The Fight for the Possession
 of the Osagc lands.

of the Osagc lands.
 The Missouri, Kansas and Tex.
 as Railroads Mortgage ot
 &3O, ,OOO, ,OOO---A Case that
 Affects q Thousand Happy
 HOmesteads.
 From the New York Sun.
 WASHINGTON, Oct. 1S.-The case of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad Company against the United States and settlers upon the Osage ceded lands will be argued in the United States Supreme Court this week. The case is one of great magnitude. The railroad company claims to have already mortgaged the lands for $30,000, 900, which is not more than one-third of their actual value to the settlers. The rail road company is represented by Senators Edmunds, Conkling, and Frelinghuyscn, and Mir. Philips; the United States by the Attor- ney-G General; and the settlers by Judge Black, Judge Lawrence of Ohio, and Gov. Shannon of Kan sas. This case vitally affects the homesteads and the material in terests of a large community of people. It concerns the reserva- tion set aside by the United States in 1908 for the use of the Osage Indians, and upon which they resided in accordance with the terms of the treaty made by them with the United States in 1865. The lands were then sold by the Indians to the United States on condition that the United States would sell them according to the land laws, and would apply the proceeds in the form of food and clothing for the benefit of the In- dians. The Government, by it's proper officers, made the sales ac- cordingly, and large number of persons purchased. The country was rapidly settled, and is now occupied by thriving indnstri- ous, and intelligent population, numbering several scores of thous- ands. Eight or nine counties have been established. They have churches and newspapers, industrial establishments, and all the institutions of a prosperous community.
 The United States by the At torney- General, and the settlers by their counsel, deny utterly that the lands, which, at the time of the grants, were in the occupancy of the Indians, but which have since come into the possession of the settlers, were included within the grants to the railroad by any fair interpretation. On the con trary, the United States and the settlers assert that these lands were expressly excepted out of the operations of the grant. The Secretary of the Interior, however, oyerruled the settlers, and contra ry to the opinion of the Attorney General, decided in favor of the railroad company. He even gave the railroad company patents for the lands upon which this large were living. The set tiers insisted that they have the authority of Congress, of the Attorney General, of the Presi- dent of the United States, and of all the officers of the Government upon their side, and that the act of the Interior Department in patenting the lands to the railroad was a blunder, if not something worse. But the rail road company holds on with the usual tenacity of such corpora tions, and asserts its claim loudly and with much apparent plausi- bility.
 Should the suits, of which there are two, be decided in favor of the company, the decisions will ruin populous community, and will place the United States in the un- pleasant attitude of having sold lands to which it had no title.
 The AttorneyG General, to re- lieye the United State from such an unpleasant imputation and to quiet the apprehensions of the settlers, has brought these suits with the object of having decree entered to cancel the patents is- sued by the Secretary of the h. terior and to set aside the claim of the railroad. The claim has been heard in the Circuit Court for the District of Kansas before Justice Miller and Judge Dillon, who concurred in declaring that the claim of the railroad company was without foundation in law or equity. From this deere the rail road company appealed, and now insist upon reversal of the Cir cult Courts decree. Senators Edmunds, Frelinehuysen, and Mir. Phillips are here for the railroad. Senator Conkling is detained on political business, but is soon ex- pccted.
 The magnitude of the property interests involved, as we'll as the nature of the claim, excites much