Omaha daily bee., 1885-02-21
WAN Wv Tuh y Wiz UNI
A Br lliant and Successful Battle
Against Corporate Land GrabDGTS,
The Senate Forced to Pass the
Texas Pacific Forfeiture Bill,
The Railroad Senators Knocked
Out by Nebraska's Senior
The Kansas Sugared Plumb De-
serts the Measure,
But H~untington's BnIct.Doux Fills
the Vacuum The Victory
SketChed,

Special telegram to the BEE.
CHICAGO, February 2O.-Tho Tribune's
Washington special says:
sit Is q great victory. 1t is more than l
ever expected to get out of the senate this
year. No amendments we're adopted, except
those of the committee. All amendments in
tended to defeat the bill were voted down. 1t
is the clearest forfeiture bill we have had this
year"
These are the e~xultant remarks of Senator
Van Wyck after the passage of the bill to for.
felt the land grant Of the Texas Pacific road
for which he has labored 30 earnestly and Of
which he had charge.
THE BILL WAS PASSED
by a q very large majority, having occupied
the attention of the senate for but one session.
The fact thai mono of the obstruction amend
ments were adopted is not less surprising than
that 80 little time was devoted to its consid-
Grafton, 1t was evident that the pur.
pose of the opponents of the bill
was to defeat the measure by talk. Morgan's
amendment, providing for reference ot the
question of forfeiture to the United States
courts, WAS undoubtedly intended directly to
ue1tAt inc Dill, anu lne eptsCHei Vi DIAL anu
Morgan were all that the most enthusiastic
railroad lawyer aud advocate could have
made. They delivered the main arguments
against the bill.
In regard to Van Wyck's reply to these,
the Chicago Times Washington CORES pond-
emit telegraphs:
Van Wy,k took the floor in support Of the
bill, and lett its opponents
WITHOUT A FOOT OF GROUND
to start on, and he made several gentlemen
very uncomfortable by reading coplous selec.
lions from that interesting batch of letters
written by Huntington while he was fighting
Tom Scott, who was at that time trying to
get congress to supplement the land grant to
Texas Il Pacific with the sub-idy."
Referring to Van Wyck's victory the Time,
also say.: "Sepator Van Wyck achieved a
victory that must have surprised him. He
got thu Texas & Pacific land grant forfeiture
bill passed with only two dissenting votes.
The senators have tried TO stave off sction on
this bill, and they nearly succeeded, but
THE %rERrENACIr OF VAN WICK
and pressure of public opinion were too much
for them, and they had to pass it. The bill
was nominally in charge of Plumb, chairman
of the public lands committee, but it it had
been left to his care it would never have got
before the senate. He has absented himself
twice when the bill was thu special order,
and 1t was his business to call the bill up, and
to-day, when it had the right of way, be
made arrapgementw with MoIg4 an, an opponent
of the bill, to call it up This would have
put the bill in charge of a gentle.
man who was unfrieudly to it, and
Van Wyck, who would not otherwise have
cut under the chairman of the committee, had
no hesitation in anticipating Morgan and
calling the bill up himself. The bill would
not have gone through the senate as it did TO-
day, but for the facs that the senators have
been pretty severely criticized for allowing it
TO be disp'aced twice when 1t was at the head
OF the SPECIAL calendar some OF tins repuo-
place 1t 10 favor Of the contract labor bill have
manifested a good d.al of nervousness ever
siucs over the record they had made. and
have been quite anxious for a chance to vote
for the bill.