Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-07-13
1000 acres in all shall have been so selected

800, 900 acres in all shall have been SO selected
and set apart"
The evident purpose of this section was to
retain in the State the title and control of the
lands thereby reserved TO be disposed of in the
manner and for che purposes therein stated,
until the objects of the reservation should be
fully accomplished, and that then, and not
before, the company building and completing
either of said lines of road should be entitled
to receive from the governor conveyance of
that portion of the residue" thereof pertain
ing to the line of road thus completed which
should remain undisposed OF by the State at
that time.
The specific claims intended to be beited by
the provisions of the act are identified as those
which were filed with the State auditor, under the
act of February %, 1874, and their nature
and character are shown not only by that act,
in which it is stated by whom and on what
account they were incurred, but by that
clause of the section under consideration, which
says that they were incurred for work and
material furnished in the construction of both
said extension lines of railroad" That no
distinction was intended to be made in respect
to the adjustment or payment of the claims or
the funds out of which they were to be paid, is
apparent from the provisions regulating the
adjustment of the claims, the sale of the re-
served lands, and the distribution of the net
proceeds among the claimants. Only the
amount owing and unpaid upon. each
claim is required to be found
and specified in the completed
statement of claims, without any finding or
statement as to how much of it accrued in the
construction of either line of road. After this
compiled statement" is made and filed, the
selections are to be made and the sales proceed
ed with from time to time. As the granted
lands pertaining to said lines of road are pat
ented or certified to the State, and upon each
| sale of any Of the reserved lands, the net pro-
Deeds realized therefrom are to be distributed
ratably among all the claimants, according to
the several amounts found to be owing them
by said compiled statement. AS under the
congressional grant, the State was entitled to
have the granted lands pertaining to each ten
mile section of road patented or certified upon
the completion of every such section, 1t Is
obvious that in the enactment of this section
nine of the act now under consideration, the
| legislature must have fully contemplated the
| contingency that has since happened, that in
carrying out its provisions all the lands which
were reserved from the grant given by Con-
gress in aid of the Braiuerd and Watab line of
road might, by reason of the prior completion
of that line, be required to DE sold and applied
towards the satisfaction of said claims before
any of the lands pertaining to the other line
would be reached, and that in such event the
| first named reservation might be subjected to
more than proportionate share of the burden
| of satisfying such claims. But the appellant
company has no legal right to complain of this
apparent hardship for the reason that it volun-
tariy availed itself of the provisions of the act
and It's benefits with full knowledge of all the
burdens the happening of such o contingency
| might entail. In respect to the amounts
which were awarded to the several claimants
| by the commission which was created for that
purpose by the act the determine
tions of the officers comprising the
! commission are final and conclusive.
| 1t is not shown by any allegation that
| they have in any manner exceeded the autho-
rity delegated to them, and the act makes no
provision for reviewing or correcting any errors
of Judgment they may have committed.
| The suggestion that the questions submitted
| for their determination involve the exercise Of
| judicial power, such as cannot under the CON-
| stitution be conferred upon members of the
executive department., is without any founda-
| ton whatever in fact. In providing for the
sale of the lands in question, and the distribu-
| ton of the net proceeds among the claimants,
| the State was simply dealing with its own
| property under the restraint of no contract
obligations to either the claimants or the ap-
pellant company. As to themit could dispose
| of the proceeds in any manner and upon any
principle it saw fit. 1t was within the sole dis
erection of the legislature to adopt any
other mode of disposition and distribution than
that contemplated by this act. 1t
might arbitrarily have designated in the act each
| claimant, and the particular amount which be
| should be entitled to receive out of the bounty
| from the State and no one would have any
| legal right to complain. Instead of this it has
seen fit to submit the matter Of the adjustment
of such claims under certain prescribed reguia-
| lions to officers of its own selection and in
whose Judgment 1t has confidence, and it has
declared that their determination in the matter
| shall form the basis upon which the bounty of
| the State shall be appOrtions1 among the
claimants, and if it is satisfactory to the State
no one else can complain, az it effects the per-
sonal orsproperty rights of nobody. In view of
these considerations the court is of the opinion
that upon the allegation of the complaint
the appellant company has not shown
| itself entitled to any relief against
| the commission of the acts which
| it is charged the governor is about to commit
even though that offense be and has been in
| this case properly subjected to the iurisdic-
| ton of the court. Nor can an accounting be
required of the respondents herein in respect
to their claims, fur if the views already ex-
pressed are correct it is clear that upon the
| facts stated in the complaint no sufficient
ground for an accounting exists.
The order restraining the demurrer is af-
| frmed. CORNELL, j.
concur in the decision on the merits, but
am not prepared to agree that because the ac-
| ton will not lie against the governor it may
not be retained as against the other defendants.
GIFILLAN, G. j.