Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1885-12-06

nilre OF one map, not of txo nst=: n
sense o. the Law contemplated one liz
OF location, not two lines of lon@tiop
narDons Of statutory construction for
oaoe an Interpretation which vouIt
make one section Of tbs Law n7lIif-
anotnef, and the reason and policy o
tae law did NOT permit a denial Of tn
rights OF ssttiemsnt and appropriation
saved and secured by the operatiy
Clauses Of TIE granting act. Ba, thos
rights have been denied in the practic
ana d-cislous of this offiee and depart
mens for nearly twenty wears. Man
have been flsd and officially accepte,
purportinR to be maps Of general route
which we're mere ordinary MAPS OF
which fapciful lines were ruled for IN.
only purpose of obtaining a Ei:hdrava
of lands, and not for the purpose of in
oicating the ! ne Of any actual road
Withdrawals have been made upon snct
nnauthoriiatiye maps of pretended
route; then the alleged roate has beer
materially changed and new with
drawhls made Oh the changed lines
add these have again been altered and
other Withdrawals ordered ou the al
tered lines; then definite location y
has been asserted en- still dIfferen,
iine. and finally the line of coustrue.
tion has varied from all tue other lines
Problem stic.l lines, on paper. have in
this manner been run over nearly all
portions of Washington Territ ~, and
widely divergent lines made the basis
of different Withdrawals IN Minnesata,
Dakota, Aostans and Idaho. Lands
onos withdrawn have been regarded by
of1eisi favor as always withdrawu ~
TAR az anv part OF the old xithdraval-
were within the lines Of nev ones, and
such extern porlzed Withdrawals on ex
psrimsnt4l lines have been treated as
statutory reservations, aid made ef
fectIve to defeat settlement rights.
Railroad granting acts make no pro
vision for Withdrawals of lands WITHIN
ordinary indemnify limits. such With
draSals or reservations of land for fu
ture Indemnity selection are not only
UNAUTHORIZED by 81 4tute, as ind i,, bat
contrary, as believe. to the spirit, in
and purpose of the Law.
This class of Withdrawals has made
railroad construction dependent uoon
the will and convenience OF the com
psnies, for. the lands beiae reserved to
through delay. The object of the
grants early construction of roads and
their completio. within reasonable
thus been defeated. Roads
are unfinished today for which grants
were made twenty years ago and longer,
and where the time for completion ex-
pired from five to fifteen years since,
and forfeitures have been incurred, bat
lands within their indemnity limits still
rem ain Withdrawn. New Withdrawals
even have been made over wide belts of
country after the grants had expired by
of law, and in cases where
there was doubt whether any right had
been acquired by. or vested in, tae cor
porstions during the lifetime Of the
grants.
THE sKTTLERs ROBBED.
The uses made OF these Withdrawals
have been to compel settlers to purchase
T abroad waivers or relinquishments OF
Nnds 10 which the companies had not
and might never have any color of legal
right 10 appropriate the prodacts of
coal and other vain 4ble lands 10 com
mate townsites and monopolizs water
and to devastate forests of
their timber. Vast tracts of the choicest
of the public domain have
.hus been exploited for the speculative
purpose of railroad companies and their
interior combinations.
Grants were made for certain nam-
ber OF sections on each side of the roads.
and alternate sections we're raised in
price. When the granted lands were
by fixed location the power to
a. al. - ~
Yet changes have been permitted. or
have been made without Off ,ial oajsc-
ton, that threw granted lands and re-
served sections far beyond ths limits
prescribed by law, and in some cases
portions of roads have been construct ed
at distances outside the limits Of the
grant. The legal effect Of such changes
upon the status Of grants does not seem
30 have prevented the patenting Of
lands In tins same msnner as II no al
teration of routes had been msde. The
question whether the grants were not
or reduced to the extent of
material changes of line has been left
TO be considered after the title Of the
Uuited States has been conveyed by pat
en-, or an assumed title derived by GER
,ihcation.
AN EMPIRE OWEN AWAY.
Eighty one grants have been usde
for railroads, eight for wagon roads and
sixteen for canals, involving an estima-
ted area Of l55. .0C0, ,0Co acres. Patents
and certificates have been issued
10 55.000,000 acres. In
large proportion Of the earlier and some
Of the later grants, except to the Psci6e
roads, the amounts patented or certified
appear to have reached. and in some
o sses to have exceeded, the full estitsa-
ted volume Of the grants. Although
these grants have been running for
long terms of years, beginning with the
year ls5u. and lands conveyed under
them and settlement claims sdiudeed
against settlers throughout the with
drawn indemnity limits. foued that IN
no instance except, perhaps, under the
v nv earliest grsuts, had an ascertain
msns ever been made by this office of
tue amount Of indemnity land TO which
any railroad company WAS entitled un-
der It's grant, and that no authoritative
determination had been made of vari
ous questions, arising in differ Mt cases,
a finsl decision upon which would Affect
the yolume OF lands to be oouv-yed IN
b tn granted and indemnity limits. or
sffism or deay In some cases the right
OF the eompsn to any lands-
Indemnity Is allowed fer certain losses
occarr,ng within granted limits. Saeh
10 see mast be specifically ascertaiued
before the right TO s-lecf indemnity 10
acquired. Prior 10 1877 computes hiine
lists of indemnity selections we're not
reaaired 90 lay q basis tor their claims
by spec,fying alleged losses, bat their
lists we're accepted and approved aud
lands patented or certified without
knoslesse whether any losses existed
fer vhirh she particular Indemnity
might Iaxfuiiy be selected or whether
scsaai iosses had not previously been
isdemnilied. After indemnity seseo-
tinns had been made in this manner for
long terms Of years by the different
compsniss a rule was adopted requiring
A .peciscaiiou of claimed lssses 90 40
eompsny failure selections, but there
vas no requirement for the identitica
tioa OF lsssss tia, had been satisfied hy
,he indemnity already received This
emission allowed the presentation OF
dapl,cAte claims for losses that had IN
fsct been compensated through the pre-
y,ous general seleetisns-
IL vouid sssm thai the simplest oosi'
ness sssacity and the most moderate
eompsef en- sion Of ofisisl duty should
haye REQUIRED accurate knoviedee thai
-.,,,,,.a csm usnies we're entitled 30 re-