St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-10-06
DonneUU Replies to Major Straits Letter.
Especial Correspondence of the Globe


1t being fair day at Belle Plaine large
crowd gathered on the main street and Mr..
Donnelly spoke to them. He said:
see by this mornings Pioneer Press that
Major Strait has, after a month and half of
silence, replied to the charges 1 made against
his official record in my speech at Glencoe. He
practically comedies the truth of every material
allegation in that speech.
i charged that he voted, on the Gath of July,
1882, in the house, against resolution declaring
the land grant all that portion of the
Northern Pacific railroad not constructed
within the time fixed by law, forfeited,
and restoring the same to the public
dominion, Major Strait says:
Was it a vote upon whether the lands should
be forfeited or not? No, sir! 1t simply
whether the ruling of the speaker to the effect
that the resolution Of Mr.. Knott could not, un-
der the rules, be received at that time, Mr.. Cas-
well having objected) should be sustained.
This, and nothing more.
But If the ruling of the speaker was sustained
no vote could be had on the passage OF the
resolution; vote on the appeal was therefore
vote on the resolution. The house so regarded
it, and the vote stood, yeas, 81; nays, 70.
Neither of his colleagues, Washburn or Dunnen,
voted. But Major Strait thought more of the
feelings of that weak and bitter partisan, Keifer,
than he did of the rights Of the people. Is this
any excuse for turning over thirty million acres
of public land to a corporation that had no legal
claim to It? The feelings of Keifer against the
rights of millions! The company was six years
in default. Who ever heard of q legislative
actment to give back to a farmer his farm six
years after he had lost it, on q
mortgage sale? And why should a corporation,
an artificial person, have more rights than real
personl But the Major says he did vote to for
felt small piece OF their land grant from Wallula
junction to Portland, Oregon, because they did
not build the road on that line, but adopted
other line. He
'sCompounds for sins he is inclined to
By damning those he has no mind to-
The company, of course, could not pretend to
claim lands where IL never built road or intend
ed To build one, and the Major willing to for
felt whet the campany did not ask for. But any
thing they did ask he was willing to give them.
But, says the Major, Mr.. Donnelly voted origi-
nally for the large land grant Of the Northern
Pacific railroad. Certainly. Twenty years ago
all men of all parties in the west favored
land grants. Stephen A. Douglas invented the
system and the Republicans perfected it. But
mankind learns something in twenty years. We
have found the evils OF land grants, and all the
national parties Of this country, including the
Republican, have declared against them; and we
have seen Jim Hill build more miles of railroad
in Dakota without acre Of land grant, than
the whole unbuilt portion Of the Northern Pacific
amounted to. To vote a railroad company 30,-
100000 acres of land, to which they had
no legal claim, as free gift, in the face OF the
pledge of the Republican national platform, is q
very different thing from voting for a land grant
twenty years ago, in obedience to universal
public sentiment Applause.
Major Strait then considers the
back bone land grant. and he clouds
it all over with letters and documents, but these
facts remain undisputed and indisputable:
/. The company had not built its road in the
time fixed by law, and had therefore forfeited
It's lands and the unbuilt portion.
2. Major Strait voted against restoring these
forfeited lands TO the public domain, for the use
of settlers, and gave them to the company to sell
to settlers. Applause.
Major Strait then says: Equally conclusive
evidence of his dishonesty Of purpose is the fact
that he failed TO mention or sllude to the fact
that in the committee and the house 1 favored
and voted for all the other forfeiting acts that
passed the house,
And he enumerates list of bills Of forfeiture
for which he claims to have voted. 1 have not
the Congressional Record with me and cannot
therefore test the accuracy OF his statement, or
ascertsin whether there was any opposition
to these bills from any quar-
ter. But have at my resi-
dence the last issue of NcPherson's politi-
cal manual (for 1ss4j, high Republican author
ity, for Mcpherson was the clerk of the Republi-
can national house of representatives for years,
and he gives long list Of votes on these land
grant forfeiture bills, with the yeas and nays in
each case, and an not one instance does Major
| Strait appear voting to forfeit any railroad
company's unesrned land grant, while, as 1 have
shown, he voted against the most important
/ ones.
charged that Major Strait voted to kill Rea-
gan's bill TO prevent railroad poolings and dis
/ ordinations. What is Straits answer. He ad-
mits the charge, but gives as his excuse the fol-
/ lowing: 1T proposed 10 suspend the rules OF
/ the house and make the bill referred to the
special order for consideration six months there
after, and its passage would have been an insult
TO every member of the committee on CON-
/ merce.''
/ He voted against forfeiting the
/ Northern Pacific land-grsnt out Of
/ respect 10 the feelings of the speaker of the
house, and be voted TO continue railroad poolings
and determinations out OF respect for the feel
/ ings Of the committee on commerce. Laughter
and applause surely man Of such delicate
sensfbiiities i ont OF place the representative
OF q plain, rough. western constituency. BE
! would rather the railroads would plunder Us for
| ever than thst single member OF the committe.
| on commerce should have his feelings hurt b.
taking the bill out Of the hands Of the committed
after they persistently refused for years repor
! Il back 10 the house.
The major continues: .BEt there were othei
and more substantial reasons for refusing to pas
sneh q resoIurion, the principal one Of which wa
that there were then before the same conmitte
| several other bills Of the same character, son