The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1882-08-25
IS. B." Rebuked.
MANKATO, Aug. 81, 1882.


Quoting rs. BIS" own language to Il
distinguished political granger of this
county ut the recent Farmers Alliance
Convention, such stuff may delude the
"hignorant" and "hilliterate," but with
the "hintelligent" and "henlightencd"
class 1t is decidedly too thin.
Since Mr.. Wakefield ceased his con-
nection with the jackson Land Office, he
has been twice honOred by election to
the honorable position of Lieutenant
Governor of the State, and right in the
localities composing his Old land dis
trict has he received his largest MAORI
ties. So 1t is rather late, after receiv-
ing such handsome endorsements of his
integrity while in IN official position,
to expect people will now believe every
idle story or Islander that the "higno-
rant" and "hilliterate' may put forth.
But there is one charge in said letter
which we will notice, even though by
SO doing we give little notoriety to
IS. b. which he so evidently covets.
There is at least an insinuation in SAID
letter that Mr.. Wakefield, us land
officer, allowed settlers to file on od6
sections of land within railroad limits,
when he knew he had no right so to do,
causing the settlers much needless ex-
pense, Us said lands evidently were
awarded to the railroad company. as.
Is. knows said insinuatinns are false I:
but there may be some who do not. The
facts in the Case arc as follows: The In
terror Department, up to about July,
1871, always held that the odd sections
within railroad limits belonged to the
various railroads. First, when said odd
sections, ut the date OF the withdrawal
for the benefit of that particular road
had never been filed upon. Second,
when any of The remaining odd sections
had been filed upon prior to date of said
withdrawal, but subsequent thereto.
were actually abandoned by the settlers
filing thereon. The practical result of
these rulings was that all the odd sec
tons were beyond the reach of the set
tier. But in the year 1871, Columbus
Dclano, Secretary of the Interior, in
the celebrated case of Boyd vs.. The
Burlington Railroad, held that the va &.
rious IMMIGRANTS as against the railroads
must be construed strictly, and if any
odd section of land within the railroad
limits was covered by presumption
filings or homestead entries ut the date
OF the withdrawal for the benefit of any
particular road, it would not, in case of
subsequent abandonment by the set
tier thereon, revert to the railroad com.
pany, but would revert to the Govern
ment, and thencefOrth would be subject
to homestead or presumption entries.
Shortly after said decision the Com.
missioner of the General Land Office
sent instructions to the Local Land
Officers of jackson, Mimi, of which
Mr.. Wakefield was one, that under said
decision settlers were authorized to file
upon and homestead this second class
OF odd section land, which instructions
are still on file in said Local Land
Office. In addition to all this, numer-
Gus settlers in Martin and other coun-
ties wrote direct to the General Land
Office at Washington, asking lnforma.
ton as to whether particular tracts of
these odd sections-naming them
came within the decision in said Boyd
case, and received an affirmative reply,
which, in so many words, instructed
said applicants to show SAID letters to
the Local Land Officers as their author
ity to enter said class of land under
said instructions. The Local Land
Officers had no option in the matter
but to obey the instructions of their SUI
perior officers, and did allow applicants
to file on said class Of land. The In
terror Department approved of the
action of the local officers IN the mat
ter, and said entries were allowed to
stand for some years, when suddenly,
whatever the motive, the Secretary of
the Interior materially modified his
Boyd decision, and then held that if
railroad companies could show that, al
though at the date of their Withdrawal
there were uncanceled filings on odd
sections, yet at that date if the same
had been actually abandoned by the
settler filing thereon, then the same
would revert to the railroad company,
and not to the Government. Again,
Instructions were sent by the Interior
Department to the Local Land Officers,
which are still on file, of this new de-
parture, Instructing the Local Land
Officers to allow the railroads to contest
said entries, and practically forbidding
settlers to file thereon. What pressure
the various railroad companies brought
upon the Interior Department to obtain
such an outrageous decision we do not
mention. 1t certainly was an unfortu-
nate decision, and productive of much
hardship to honest settlers who, relying
upon the Boyd decision, had settled on
this class of abandoned land and made
valuable Improvements thereon. Either
the Boyd decision never should have
been made, or should have been
adhered to until the United States. Su-
preme court had reversed it. But in
any event, Mr.. Wakefield had no more
to do with either of said decisions of
the Interior Department than that class
of honest grangers who think no one
honest but themselves.
The whole trouble in this whole mat
ter of odd section lands rests in the in
consistent, stupid and vacillating de-
cisions Of the Interior Department.
The censure properly should be admin
istered to said Department at Washing
ton, and not upon those who had no
authority in the matter but to carry
out the authority of their superiors in
office. Happily for this people we now
have chance to elect to the high office
of Congressman one who is thorough
conversant, from practical experience,
with the wants and the necessities and