Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-02-01


learned tonight that all Republican
members of the ways and means
committee went to see the
president the other day to induce him to
appoint Mr.. Speer United States district
attorney at Atlanta. They said the Office
was due Speer from services which have
been rendered by him to the Republican
party. The president said he would make
the appointment. Attorney General
Brewster does not like Speer, nor does he
want Bigby, now district attorney, turned
out to put Speer in. He is making Wig
orous kick. The president will, however,
very likely appoint Speer.
THE PoLYGAMY BILL.
| Judge Jere Black made an argument
before the house committee on judiciar y
against the bill to further suppress big
| amy and give to the territory of
Utah better government. He raised the
question of the constitutional power Of
| congress to legislate in relation to mar
riages IN the territories, and believed in
local self!government upon the subject
He held that the Edmunds' bill is uncon-
stitutional, and doubted whether Mr.. Ed
munds knew too much about constitutional
law to draw bill of that kind. 1t is i'm
probable that the bill will be acted upon
by this congress-.
WHIPPING THE DEVIL ROUND THE STUMP.
1t appears by the report made by Mr..
Butterworth, from the house committee on
Pacific railroads, that the Kansas Pacific
railroad was entitled under the grant of
land made to it to 100000 acres, 4,0O0,
600 of which a1e situated in the state of
Kansas. In order that the company
might receive its subsidy the bill provided
that the road could be built in links of
twenty consecutive miles each, and upon
the completion of each link it should be
inspected by three commissioners, and
that upon the approval of their certificate
by the president, the. adjacent lands and
bonds for twenty miles of road shall be
delivered to the company. The commit
tee find that this provision is mandatory
upan both parties. The act clearly pro-
vided that the company should pay for
the cost of surveying the land granted ia
them, and this fund was to be expended in
surveying the remainder of the land along
the road, and was to be expended
under the direction of the commissioner
of the general land Office. To
avoid the costs of this surveying
the company refused to accept the land,
as they would complete twenty miles of
the road, but lost no time in accepting the
bonds. The report says: "The plea made
by the company, through its attorney, is
that the clause sas the titles shall be re-
quired by the company gives it an abso-
lutte option as to the time when it shall pay
these costs and accept patent to the land.
This construction we cannot accept. Sec
tion 81 of 1864 in no wise changes the act
Of 1862. Had not the clause 'as the titles
shall be required by the company ap
peared in the section, the company
would have been debarred from receiving
patent to any of the land until
the whole road had been accepted by the
president, because the law would then have
read ''that before any land granted.by the
act shall be conveyed the company shall
first pay the cost OF Surveying and convey
ing the same," that is, 'the land granted
by the act," the whole of it. And the
clause ''as the title shall be required"
was inserted to enable the company to re-
ceive patent to the adjacent land upon
completing twenty mile section of road"
If the construction contended for by the
company be>correct, it may never pay the
costs of survey, ,and may never take patent
to the lands. AS a legal question the com
mittee are clearly of the.
opinion that these costs are due
and payable by the acceptance of twenty
mile section of road, that all the costs we're
payable Oct. %, 1872, when the road was
finally accepted. Viewing the law as a
contract the company was bound to pay
these costs at the dates thus indicated, and
in failing to do so they fail to fulfill one
of the essential terms of the contract, and
should be dealt with as delinquent to the
extent of such failure. The first section of
the road was accepted in 1865 and the last
section in 1872. The company paid costs
of survey as sections of road were accepted
up to July, 1866, since which time it has
only done so at its own convenience. Up
to Jan. 1, 1882, it had taken patent to but
1887 acres in Kansas, and had not paid
the costs of survey and conveyance on
3,116,22 acres. The cost of surveying the
unpatented lands in Kansas was $61, ,545.49
and the cost of selecting $38,310, making
a total of $99,535.49, apart from the cost
of conveyance, which has been due the
government since 1875. The committee
see no reason either in law or equity why
the company should not be compelled to
pay the 100000 which they have owed the
government for at least seven years. The
committee also recommended that the
Kansas Pacific, the Sioux City & Pacific,
or the central branch of the Union Pacific,
be brought within the prosecutions of the
Thurman act, creating sinking funds with
which to meet the United States bonds on
maturity.
BONDED SPIRITS.
The managers of the bonded spirits bill
are discouraged by the action of the ways
and means committee. Notwithstanding