The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1884-02-06

y aI from lis 1855 10 1870 Mississippi was 8
.s,a,,as5 - 4 condition of Terrltoriai
= s.SIace and deprived of her Statehood.
tfsr relations TO the Federal Govern
- - we're restored in 1870, and from
.bst time to the present she has con- : !
tinued to appeal to Congress to renew
the grant. -.;.h ha,sbesi- i
.;ons which has been read as a pagk q
ne remarks of my colleague Mr.. van
Eston1 let it be understood that my
Soto does not ask this body to depart
Frorn sn established usage, nor to eTe sIsr
: new nrecedent for her beneht Inc
axaunles are numerous in which slnl-
lar Indulgence TO that which ask LOT
M;ssissippi has been granted to otneI
states. let me cite a few of these IN
stances for have them here IN aouii.
dance. In 1852, Congress passed an act
fundamental to an aet\ granting tne
r;Gbt of yav 10 the State OF missouri
sgd q norton of the public lands to ana
n the construction of certain railroads
IN said State" which was approved June
( 1852 / ask the honorable gentleman
from the St tie of Missouri to listeh 70
the act:
BE it enacted b. the Senate and House
Of Representatives of the United states u
| America in Congress assembled ihat t'.s
time required by the act to when tills =
supplemental for the compleuoh " "a, -
1T thara;p described from the city OF
saint Iouis to such point on the western
honndary of said State as may be oeslS-
nots5 by the authority of said State, as
| 1-alI as the time o. reversion to the Cnateo
States of the lands thereby granted 10 the
! C+ota of Missouri for the use OF sald road'
i barebv extended for ten years from the
10th day of June, 1862; Provided Ina.
! in case said company fail to complete sato
| road within the time thus EXTENDED the
| said lands shall then revert to the Chlteu
States.-Iester's Land Laws, volume Is
page 90.
It is instructive to look to the motives
that influenced Congress to grant the IN
diligence asked for by the State OF MIS-
souri,. They are precisely the groundr,
ON which am advocating the claims oil
Mississippi. | will read from the Con
Cressional Globe for the second session
. Of the Thirty-seventh Congress, page
243l. Mr. Phelps, of Missouri, III adVo
: cacy of the bill, said:
The grant is not extended to the railroad
4 company, but to the State of Missouri. II
e is the State that will obtain all the bene-
fits of this bill.
The effects of the financial revulsion OF
l. 1857 extended in Missouri to 1895 %
The civil war that has recently carried ce-
= vestation through the country has oeen
II most severely felt there. The flight oil It's
inhabitants, the destruction of their proper
Y ty. all prevented their being able at tins
= time to construct that road. Tins Oil
s. merely extends the time within which th'
e people of the State may receive the dement's
" intended to be conferred by Congress II
/ the land grants made to that State
n When the bill went to the Senate
II unanimously and without discussion, al
II the record shows, it passed that body.
le In the volume which ! hold in m!
u hand Testers Land Laws / find man,
q other examples, one especially, to which
J I will call the attention of the House
and particularly the attention OF honor
- able gentlemen representing the state o
!, :; Michigan:
Re it enacted, etc, That the time Unite
=. for the completion of the Marquette an
~ Ontonapon Railroad of the State of Mich
u gan be. and the same is hereby, extende
III for the term of five years beyond the tim
e 6xe1 for its completion by the act of Cor
W. gress of June 8, 1855, etc. Volume ?, P;ag
rd 1857 \
~ Again. find an act approved Marc
2 1865. entitled "An act to extend tn
- time for the completion of certain raj
d. roads to which land grants have bee
made in the States of Michigan an
| I f,t- I 4
Sc of the House Ivy reading it; the PurPo'
on and object of the law aresuihcientiy e.
ed pressed by the title.
zee Again, al act was passed March
all 1865, Extending the time for the con
ID pletion of certain land grant railroads
~, the States of Minnesota and Iowa, an
i'll for other purposes" Let the distiI
Use guished gentlemen who represent tho'
he States remember the example which
ny have cited in their own case. In tn
instance not only was the time extende
but the quantity of land original
on- granted was very largely Increase
of There are other acts of extension whit
of we're granted in favor of Michigan.
ng The following is an act of similar pu
ave port for the benefit of Wisconsin, a
AID proved September 13, 1868:
Be it enacted. etc, That the time fix,
by an act granting lands to aid in the CO
U.s. struction of certain railroads in the Sta
+ba of Wisconsin, approved May 5, 1854, f
| the completion of the railroad from Toms
II to Saint Croix River, or lake, be, and Il
H. same is hereby, extended for period
~ three years to the West Wisconsin Railro;
:: Company, a corporation established by Il
20 laws of the State of Wisconsin, etc.
ose / find an act, approved July %, 1876
lid "to revive and extend the provisions
M an act granting the right of way NJ
56, making a grant of land to the States
OF Arkansas and Missouri, to aid in Il
leo construction of a railroad from a poi
'ao upon the Mississippi opposite the mout
. me of the Ohio River, via Little Rock,
1T the Texas boundary near Fulton. in A
kansas, with branches to Fort Smith an
the Mississippi river, approved Febru
be nv 9, 1858, and for other purposes
M ~ New let the gentleman from Arkansa
~ 10 as we'll as the gentleman from Missouri
ba+ remember what has been done in Il
the interest of their own States before the
be- decide to vote against the amendment
my colleague.
ed, On page 226 of the volume above cit
ed appears an act, approved May z, 1SG
ec- extending the time for the complete
all of the Pacific Railroad, Eastern Division
leo also enc passed May 81, 1866, extendil
vas the time for the construction of the fiji
Iys- section of the Western Pacific Railroa
in Numerous other cases are containt
in in this volume, which | viii not reel
raj in detail. / have shown that it has be,
ne the invariable rule of Congress to extel
nts the time for the completion of impC
'ro- tant enterprises when it has be,
ent petitioned to do so by the States
ose whose behalf the grants we're made.
ent | ask is the application of the same rule
to the State which have the honor in pa
ion to represent, May not reasonably a
old peal to members of this House to do
the they have been or as they would be do
lib by under similar circumstances?
my Mr.. Speaker, l trust that my Sta
the will not be made vicarious sufferer +
the alleged wrong-doing of others, al
gal | protest against comp!icating her ju
The claim and involving it in the san
of fate with those of powerful money,
will corporations which are charged, wheth
led correctly or incorrectly will not unde
The take here to decide, with asserting the
by right TO grants which they have n
the eaLned. mat ASK, anu what nave
ian right to expect, is that each case will
lee considered upon its own merits. Thesan
The considerations of sound and enlighten,
nd public policy which originally Undue,
oon the bestowal of the grant to Mississip
re- still exist and plead strongly in favor
ars its continuation.
it Mr.. Oates. Mr. Speaker, sympathi
the with my friend from Mississippi + NJ
DRY Barksdale], and also with his colleagl
en- Mr.. Van Eatonl my colleague on Il
Ons committee, in their appeals to this Hou
To ndnrnt the nrnar,dnaent nrcnr.tirrr. e..