Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-02-15
THE BIG FIGHT
ovER THE SOUTH WESTERN r. r
Shall the Southern Minnesota Extension
or the Southwestern Get the Land Grant
Lively and Acrimonious Debate Be-
fore the Legislative Committees.

th. southwestern Get the Land Grant
Lively and Acrimonious Debate Be-
fore the Legislative Committees.
meeting of the House railroad COM
mittee on railroads was held last evening at
the Merchants, there being large attend
ance of parties interested in the Southern
Minnesota and Southwestern railroads
present. Hon. E. Rice was elected
chairman, in the absence of Hon. D. M.
Sabin. Messrs. Sabin, McCrea and Morse,
of the committee, were absent.
On motion, outside parties were granted
permission to be heard upon the measure
pending in the House regarding the roads
named.
Mr.. Wolstencroft, of Murray county, be-
ieved the Southern Minnesota was going to
be constructed and that the road should be
built on the lands given to the road, indie
pendent of all bonuses to divertit. None of
the lines have been absolutely located.
Mr.. Van Horn, of La Crosse, said the
original legislation named certain points,
Fairmont and Jackson, and the people had
built their hopes on that fact. The South
ern Minnesota had never proposed to deviate,
or consider it had any right to do SO.
Mr.. Dunn, of Winnebago City, said the
point in dispute was as to which should re-
ceive the land grant. Both were on an equal
footing, organized under no special legisla-
ton, but each sought the magnificent
Congressional land grant for railroad
purposes. The Southern Minnesota had
been granted the lands in 1867, on condition
of building the road in ten years, but it had
defaulted, leaving 100000 acres to the State
The Southern Minnesota Railroad company,
has been blotted out, but had been succeeded
by the Southern Minnesota Railway COM
pany under the act of last session, which
now owned the complete line. Next. APP
peared upon the scene the Southern Mime
sofa Railway Extension company, which was
composed of La Crosse gentlemen, except
one. claiming to be an auxiliary of the
Southern Minnesota Railway company. In
the belief of the speaker, the Extension
company would gobble the lands under
prestige of the S. M. Railway company,
which would hardly appear to be honest.
The s. M. Railway company had forfeited
and abandoned it's grants by allowing and
fostering the Martin county railroad as an
independent company, and not as a
branch, joining it's terminus and
continuing its line westward.
The contract with Martin county was good
thing to get rid of, which was being attempt
ed by establishing the Southern Minnesota
Extension company. The Martin county
railroad was reorganized under the name of
the Southwestern Minnesota railroad COM
pany, which had the same object as the for
mer. The Southwestern company now
wanted what had been forfeited and aban-
doned, first, by the Southern Minnesota
railroad company, and second, by the South
western Minnesota railway company. AS soon
as Messrs. Van Horn & Co. found the likeli-
hood of the land grant slipping from them
they filed articles of incorporation of the
Southern Minnesota Railway Extension COM
pany, expecting sympathy as the successors
of the old roads, and with the prestige of
1862 miles of completed road. The South
western company was home institution,
and asked the lands, and it would
complete the road to the State line, and for
ty-fve miles of branches over and above the
promise of the Extension company, all in
the same time promised by the latter, while
the north and south branches would afford
competing lines. The Southwestern com
pany stood ready to putup $4,000 as forfeit
in the hands of the State, if it did not COM
plete, in 1873, twenty miles west and ten
miles north and south, and was equally as
able to construct the road as any other com
pany.
Mr.. Van Horn, in representing the exten-
sion company, briefly alluded to its history.
1t was, in reality, part and parcel
or the Southern Minnesota railway
company. The extension company is to
be bonded for iron and ties to the Southern
Minneeota railway company, and the latter
would equip the extension. The receivership
and the grasshoppers had prevented the con-
struction of the line further west than Win
nebago City. Mr.. Sherman organized a
company-the Martin county railroad COM
pany-to build the road from that city TO
Paramount, which the Southern Minnesota
railway company would assist in every way
exceptby endorsing bonds or granting money,
but the company must be secured against the
proposed line getting into the hands of any
rival. Mr.. Van Horn then recited history
of his transactions vii Mr.. Shaarman
which did not reflect Astounding credit on the
latter, as some English parties had
been roped in as directors and
figureheads on the strength of promises
of large salaries as officers of the road. Mr.
Oleson, the contractor of the grading, was
one of his victims. The speaker character
lied Shearman as a big confidence operator
and then proceeded to claim that the last
speaker had always opposed the Southern
Minnesota railway company. Mr.. Dunn's
interest, and those of the gentlemen associ-
ated in the Southwestern company, centred
in Winnebago City, which, as a terminus
would be much greater than as a mere way
station. The grade of the Martin county
railroads line was then submitted, which
MIR. Van Horn claimed was impracticable il
consequence of it's steepness, and then tina
of the proposed line of the extension com
pany was compared with it.
Mr.. G. B. Kingsley, of Blue Earth City
claimed that the grade of the Extension
company exhibited by Mr.. Van Horn, Nigh
be a vamped up affair. All that the Southwest
ern company wanted was justice in the premi
ses, as it was acting in good faith and offered t.
build ten miles more than the Extension
company. It had been said the Southwestern
company had no money to 60 on with til
work, but the fact of the company offerin;
to forfeit 81 900 if the twenty miles of tn
road were not completed in sixty days, shout
assure the committee. The road could b
built between Winnebago City and Fairmon
in sixty days, and Mr.. Van Horn knew it.
After some conversation the committee ad
journed until tonight at 8 p. M. at tn
Merchants.
The same arguments were presented b
the same parties before the Senate commit
tee in the afternoon of yesterday, and til
committee adjourned until Tuesday evenin
next, without action in the premises.
A Serious Accident.
Wednesday evening at about 7 o'clock a