St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-03-14
THE.BRAINERD & NORTHERN.
Talk About the Validity of Its Land Grant


A gentleman who had peculiar facilities
for observing the history of land grant legis-
lation in this state was asked yesterday to
give an opinion about the recent passage OF
the bill transferring the Duluth d Winnipeg
land grant to the St. Paul. Brainerd u North
ern railroad. He said the question was a
very complicated one. The history of the
matter was this The Duluth g. Iron Range
road had the first land grant, and the time
1879. In 1873 the Duluth & Win
nipeg railroad came in and had the legisla-
ture convey this grant to it in case of forfeit
IRE, and under this act claimed it. After
wards decision of the United States
supreme court was rendered that the for
| fixture didn't work in the case of the Duluth
IL Iron Range or any other grant unless the
! forfeiture was declared by the Legislature in
the courts. In 1888 the Duluth & Iron Range
road again came in to the legislature and had
the time for the completion of lis road on
this grant extended five years from date, and
since that time it has built seventy-ive miles
of road, leaving only twenty-five miles OF
road between Two Harbors and Duluth now
uncompleted with three years time left in
which to construct, the latter claiming under
this exten sion the same rights and privileges
it had under the original grant
THE TIME FOR THE COMPLETION
of the Duluth 81 Winnipeg railroad under its
| grant act of ten years has three years yet to
run. Now, at the legislative session of 1885,
the Brainerd s. Northern railroad comes in
and obtains the grant voted the Duluth &
| Winnipeg railroad in case of the failure of
the latter to construct its road by March l,
| 1888. To add to the conflict of interests,
in 1881, constitutional amendment was
adopted by the people of the state providing
that all swamplands then belonging and here
after accruing to the state should one-half be
sold to support the common schools and one
half to support state charitable institutions.
/ The swamp land involved in the original
grant to the Duluth & Iron Range railroad in
wolves ten sections of land to each mile of
road completed and possible total area of
1000, 900 acres. If the railroad obtains this
grant it will take just so many acres out. of
the school fund property of the state. There
were some
FEATURES IN THE SPECIAL LAW
of 1878 that, with the present claim of the
Duluth & Iron Range road and the consti-
tutional amendment of 1881, made it
still an open question whether the Duluth &
Winnipeg road was entitled to any grant OF
not, and the Brainerd 81 Northern had its
entire dependence for a grant on that Of
this road and also its non-completion, in
| 1888.
The acts bearing on the question after the
original act granting swamp lands to the
Duluth 81 Iron Range Road are as follows:
The special laws of 1878 provide that the
lands granted to the Duluth & Iron Range
Railroad company, by an act approved March
9, 1875, in case Of forfeiture by said Duluth
d Iron Range Railroad company, are trans
ferred and vested in the Duluth & Winnipeg
Railroad company. to aid in the
construction of their line of road.
1t provides that the Duluth & Winnipeg COM
pany shall be entitled 10 the same number of
sections of swamp land for each mile of its
road, to be selected with reference to its line
of road in like manner, and certified upon
like conditions as specified with reference to
the said Duluth 81 Iron Range Railroad COM
pany in The act above mentioned, with the
additional time of ten years in which to make
its surveys and file its maps with the secre
tary of state and to construct and complete
its line of road.
Then in 1888 the legislature extended the
time of the Duluth & Iron Range for five
years under its original grant, when in 1881,
two years previous, the people had adopted
the following amendment TO
THE STATE CONSTITUTION.
'All swamp lands now held by the state,
or that may hereafter accrue to the state,
shall be appraised and sold in the same man
ner and by the same officers, and the mini
mum price shall be the same less one-third,
as is provided by the law for the appraise-
ment and sale of the school lands under the
provisions of title l of chapter 80 of the gen
eral statutes. The principal of all funds de-
rived from sales of swamp lands as afore-
said shall forever be preserved inviOlate and
undiminished. One-half shall be appropri-
and the remaining half to the educational
and charitable institutions Of the state in the
relative ratio of cost to support said iustitu-
tions.n
BY the terms Of the original swamp land
charter the Duluth 81 Iron Range railroad
was permitted TO select its swamp lands from
st. Louis, Lake and Cook counties, and from
no other counties in the state. But it asked
leave, which was granted by the late legisla-
ture, to go outside of that limit.
Together with the amendment to the con-
stitution and this outside grant from the
original bill for the selection of lands this
swamp land grant matter looks as though it
would eventually get entangled In the courts
of final resort