Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1883-03-23
Late Eastern News.
Congress and the Land Grants.

source If deep disgust to officials OF
tn, land bureaus at the lnterlor De
partnrrit. The Commissioner of ;he
Grnelal Land Office SAID to-day that
Congress had. by its neglect, shifted
the bur len t. the Interior Depart
m.n', atho lgh the lie, ar;ment
could do nothing TO III Svel the
popular demand for "a forfeiture OF
unearnel raj o i Ian Is, the Supreme
Court having decided mat Congress
alone had the power to lestOie these
Ian Is to the public domain. The
question he said Was becoming more
complicated every day, and the de-
partrnent could do nothing. Con
%ress, he thought, should have be-
gun with the grants about which
there could have been no dispute,
where the company to which they
were glantcd had made 10 attempt
to build their lines. Then they
should have taken up the cases of
COMPANIES which had only con
strncied il portion of their lines and
declined to complete them, and fol
lowing, they should have come to
the more complicated rases of COM
panies whose lines had not been com
pleted within the specified time, but
which were pushing the work along
with the intention of completing it.
III this way he thought something
might have been achieved. The De-
partment of the Interior, he said, had
done its share of work, aud had sent
to Congress all information asked fol
III reference to these land grants,
and that Congress had failed to settle
the question was not because it was
lacking information.
work on the Northern Pacific.
Sr. PAUL, March 15.-H. Clark
the head contracting agent who con-
structed SO much Northern Pacific
road, has arrived at st. Paul from a
trip direct from Portland, Or, over
the Northern Pacific transcontinental.
To the inquiry, when will the missing
link of the Northern Pacific disap-
pear, lie answered in the first part of
August probably, before that month
closes certainly. He said the gap at
present is $50 miles. Track laying is
progressing from each end. On the
western division two miles per day is
going down, on the eastern end mile
and half. AS soon as the work is O.
little more advanced greater strides
Oh each end will be made. The
switch back around Bozeman tunnel
will be ready when the road is, and
the tunnel itself will be open from
end to end in November. 1t seems
to be assured that December 31st
will witness the possibility of through
cars from St. Paul to Portland, Or.
and Seattle, W. Il. Clark said fer
vently, I'm through with Chinese,
heaven be praised" He has now
about two thousand men at work
laying track. building bridges and
snrfacing. They left the country
over which they worked Sahara like
IN appearance, aperfect desert, with
out settlement. and scarcely shanty.
Where Scandinaviahs had worked.
on the contrary, little hamlets sprang
into existence and the marks of
human habitations we're plenty.
The Scandinavian wanted Job, and
when he got it, worked like Trojan.
while johnny Cinnamon worked for
Johnny ChiIriruan ana the ever pre-
sent hope of II speedy return with
lots of Mclean dolce" to the land
OF his birth. Clark said Dagos did
well enough but the Scandilavians
were tie best of all foreigners. Gen.
A. Anderson, chief engineer of the
Northern Pacific, who is with CLARK
on this journey, ailirms all that is
said by the latter rs to the time of
and says settlements are
springing up like mushrooms. He
is confident that the bulk of the East
Indian trade will come via the North
ern Pacific when it is completed.
AT present ships from the East In
dies travelling on what is called the
great circle, reach Pacific coast about
III the latitude of Puget Sound and
have to go 600 miles south to mar
ket. Only 40 miles of the Northern
Pacific line on the Columbia river to
Puget Sound remains to be built.
and this link will be in when the main
line is completed.
Immense immigration scheme.
New York, March 15.-The Her.
dld says: Besides agents employed
by Prince Bismarck in London TO
negotiate for the purchase of 10. 900
900 acres of land in Mexico, it has
been learned that the prime minister
has also very active representative
engaged III the same business. So
many Germans are annually emil
grating to the new world that the
German government desires to pur-
chase land for the purpose of settling
a colony Ill order to keep Germany's
as mucn as possible under
the supervision of the government
and controlled by German laws.
Negotiations are pending for another
lot, 5000, 900 acres, some of which
is located on the coast of the Gulf of
Mexico. DIR. Bedleck will sail for
Europe on the Arizona Tuesday next
in order to further consummate his
plans. a syndicate of English CAPT.
talists are interested in the scheme.
Iowa Apples Killed.
Dies MONIES, March 2O.-Reports
from this section of the country saw
the apple orchards were killed by
the severe weather. One farmer ex-
poets loss of 500 trees, II years old.
Estimates of the loss in the apple
crop of this country alone will be
: 900 900 bushels. Small fruits were
also damaged
Sprague for Governor.
PROVIDENCE, March 20.-The Dem.
ocratic State Convention this morn