New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-02-06
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC.
1rs ppocPEss AND IT'S LAND GRANT.

| To ne EdftOr OF the Trtohhe
SIR: The relations of the Northern faclic haiiroau
TO the Government and the stains OF its land grant
omen questions which attract considerable atten-
ton aud are of great Importance 10 the peoPie
of the new Northwest. An effort is being made to
declare Il portion of the grant forfeited by reason
OF the failure of the company to com
olete the road within the time specified
Inv the acts of Congress which chartered II ana
subsequently extended the period for It's constrnc
ton. The subject brisiles with curious and rather
complex points oflaw and equity. involving Supreme
Court decisions The rulings of the Interior Depart
meut the opinions of former Attorney-Ueneral,
and the action of the company in vigorously push
ing IFS line forward from both ends during tho past
two years in the belief that its grant is still alive
and cafnof he taken away without express leglsa-
ton by Congress. If at all.
According to the theory Of some of the advocates
of the pending bill 10 declare the lands forfeited
which have not already been earned by the COM
pauv the time for the completion of TIE road rX-
pircd in 1877: others. interpreting the law in ac-
corlance with an opinion of Attorney General
Deyens. say that the tine did not expire until July
4 1879 There is wide difference Cf
view as to the eject OF tie time limit in
the law On one side il is held that the company
ceased to earn lands by the further construction OF
its road that precise date. whether II be deter
rlined 20 be III 1877 or 1879, and that the subSe-
ouent patents issued to 1t are illegal On the other
side the claim is made that the entire grant was alb
solute and that inasn.uch rs there is forfeiture
clause in any Of the acts concerning the foal TIE
company can only he deprived Of airy portion
of the lands granted bv he positive Intervention 0l
ConsrcsS Even if there should he snch nerven-
ton there would he questions of vested rights ana
breach of contract 10 be carried up to III" Supreme
Court
The msfortunes of the Northern Pacific Company,
growing ont of the panic Of 1873 and The failure of
JAY Cooke, and its success in retrieving itself
after years Of hard effort economy and oagacious
business management, are very generally known {"
the public. Bankruptcy was aye:tel by the CONVEX
so, of the bonds into preferred stock, which made
the creditors of The rond and opened
the way Ia new loans for the prosecution of the
work The hard times passed away Immigration
nourad into the Northwest; the bare plains of Ia
kota were found to be the most productive wheat
lands IN the country and the road, built always IN
advance of settlement, was pushed on 10 the Mis-
souri, River forming the backbone of
rich agricultural region soon 20 develop INTO
a great state. About one years ago the company
was strengthened 10y the entrance If Mr. Henry
Willard backed by powerful organization of cap
ital Since Their the work of construction has been
prosecuted with marvellous rapidly. Trains now
run to Miles City ncw iown on the Yellowstone
River nearly 500 miles west of 81. Paul, and the
grading has advanced nearly 100 miles be
yond that point. Tho who G Of Northern Dakota
and large portion of Montana are thrown
open to settlement On the Pacific Slope the com
pany has now continuous line from Tacoma on
Puget Sound {. Pend IL Orcile Lake in Northern
Idaho with the exception of about twenty miles
between Portland and KAlama. Oh m" Columbia
River. where connection is made by steamboat. The
accession OF NJ Willard 70 the presidency OF the
co nlpany brought about practical union with the
Oregon Railway and Steam Navigation Company.
and gave the Northern Pacific the nsr Of the iine OF
that company running from Portland over 900
miles up the Columbia Valley TO Waiula junction.
Thus the Northern Pacific is already practically
co1uulctcd on tie Pacific SLOPE, and 20 open its
entire lire between ST. faul and Duluth on the
east aBI Portland and the Pug; Sound ports or
the VEST ha~ only e. finish rho Rocky Mountain
Division Of about $50 miles On that division "a
great deal of work is being done tins winter.
Within two years the whole road Nl be in opera
ton from md 10 end.
II any hostile action is taken Ey ngress in rcla-
tirn 10 the cornpany'- land grant il Wi. nave Ia hr
taken At the present sesson for before the end of the
present year nearly 81 the grant except small
portion in the m"uatans Of little yaluo will have
Department will have been conveyed to the COM
panv. IL the charter Of the road. has been said
before there is no forfeiture clause. IL is provided,
however that IL the company make any breach of
the conditions of the charter and allow the same to
contnuc for upward of one year then in such ease,
at any time hereafter, the United States,
by its Congress, may do ali and any
acts end things which may be necdfnl
and necessary TO insure a speedy completion
of the road" In this clause lies the companys
strong point The failure to complete the line by
July t. 1879. is acknowledged to be hTe ch of the
conditions of the charter. But what follows? Not
"A forfeiture Of the grant, but snch acton As
Congress may see fit to take to insure the COM
plcticn of the road. Now it is plain argues the
company that no action Mt al Is
CURED. for the road is beng pushed
forward as fast as possible. Congress could do
nothing to hasten its progress. The lands are abso
luelv appropriated to the completion of the
road. and. according to the charter act cannot be
diverted 10 any other purpose. As that end is now
being secured as speedily the most rapid methods
of railway construction viii admit, there Is no occa-
sion for Congress 10 interfere with the workings
of the existing statutes governing the road.
The legal theory that the and grant IL the North
cru Pacific was an absolute grant a. present. Is
sustained hy two Supreme Court DECISIONS on
grants made in similar language. one rs old as
1sl7 the "ihcr as recent a. 1872 H. the latter the
Cont saws: "'1lrre Ice and is hereby granted are
words of absolute donation, and import grant IN
prGSept This Court has held that they can have
no nt her meaning. aud " land department, on this
Interpretation of them has uniformly administered
every pT"ylous similar granG' Thus l. follows
that the whole grant belongs to the Germany. and
that the ou5 power Congress has over II Is 10 use
the lands 10 .rcrTr the completion of tho road IN
the company shoud prove Ia he unable to hnlsh
it--a cont -cncy which - plainly not gong L"
arise.
rhe Northern Pacific has already acquired
the lands covered Icy the gran along ODD
miles OF its hnc. l. the years 1873 and 1874
President Grant approved $50 miles OF the road
IN 1850 President Nay"s approved 100 miles; aud
as l.ta AS November and DECEMBER last President