St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-11-08
AT LAST.
Arguments i'm the University.NOrth.
ern Pacific Suit Concluded.

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AT LAST.
Arguments i'm the University-North-
ern Pacific Suit Concluded.
The hearing of the arguments in the ac-
ton brought by the regents of the state
university, to enjoin the building of the
St. Paul & Northern Pacific short line in
the vicinity of the college campus, was be-
gun before full bench in the district court
yesterday morning. at II O'Clock.
j. B. Gilfillan opened for the regents.
The two points of his argument were, first,
that the lots in block Is are already appro-
priated to public use, and cannot. there
fore, be condemned; second that the opera
fiOn of the defendants railroad along the
proposed line will create nuisance on the
plaintiffs land. Under the first head he
proceeded to examine into the ownership of
the lots, claiming that they were bought
for the university in the name of j. S.
Pillsbury, who admitted the trust.
The resolution of the board of regents
authorized the executive committee to dis
pose of property, but there is nothing to
show that these lots were referred to, and
the presumption must be that the resou-
ton referred to property which the regents
had right to sell. The charge made by
Mr.. Secombe, counsel for the railroad, that
the minutes of the boards proceedings had
been tempered with, was unwarranted, as
the erasure is easily explained.
Mr.. SecOmbe here put in: when that
explanation Is made I'l withdraw the
charge"
Mr. Gilfllan stopped speaking, and Sec
rotary Kiehle was put upon the stand to eX-
l.. .aro n ft.rf,
utes had, by mistake, written ''amended''
for corrected" but the error was after.
wards discovered and corrected, hence the
erasure.
Mr.. Gilfllan next read the act of the leg
islature authorizing the purchase of this
property for this purpose, and to have dis
posed of any of this property, he said
would have been violation of the trust by
the regents. There is no evidence of any
such violation. In support of his argument
the counsel cited numerous authorities to
show that university lands could not be
condemned for railroad purposes. His plea
occupied the morning session.
IN THE AFTERNOON
j. D. Springer opened for the defendant
railway company, making an elaborate ar
gument which fairly bristled with citations
of authorities. and. in closing. caustcally
said that the board of regents was using the
state in a real estate speculation to coerce
the railroad company into paying not only
the pound of flesh but a drop Of blood-an
attempt to prostitute the majesty of the
sovereign state of Minnesota to such base
ness, should call for rebuke and denuncia-
ton.
J. B. Atwater next read his brief for the
defendants. He said that prior to the COM
mencement of the action the defendant i'll
stituted the proceedings authorized by law
and the court adjudicated that the public
interests required the prosecution of the de
PENDANTS enterprise. This is denied by
the plaintiffs, who claim that they did not
have notice of these condemnation proceed
ngs. and are therefore not bound by them.
But the regents had no right to notice, as
being simply the agents of the state. and
no record title showed the property to be-
long to J. A. Pillsbury. There has been an
absolute failure, also. to show a dedication
of these lots to university purposes. A
claim is made that it was intended to place
farm buildings thereon, but these buildings
have already been located on the expert
mental farm. Evidently the intention was
to build these houses to be rented to persons
connected with the university.
AS regards the question of nuisance.
there is no precedent that the state has any
more rights in the use of its property than
private individual. 1t appears doubtful
from the evidence as to whether any injury
or annoyance can result from the trains
passing over the road. and it has been
shown that means can be taken to greatly
decrease any disturbance if it occurs.
d. A. Secombe next consumed a half
hour in behalf of his railroad company.
His argument was not especially interesting
until his close, when he gave one or two
characteristic shots at the regents and OPP
posing counsel. He referred pleasantly to
J. B. Gillian as bird who had befouled
its own nest" The regents. he said, occu-
pied the position of having in violation of
their trust taken funds and purchased lands.
Now they claim that by this very violation
of their sacred trust they should be exempt
under section z. Mr.. Secombe also got in
an allusion to Judge Lochren's attitude in
the case, which he intimated had not been
entirely impartial in his decision from
which an appeal was taken to the supreme
court.
Judge J. NJ. Shaw followed and spoke for
half an hour, his argument being elabora-
tions upon points covered by his associates.
E. NJ. Wilson closed for the defendants.
claiming that by reason of the former adju-
dications in the proceedings all issues are
barred except the question of nuisance.
The proceedings show that John S. Pills
bury was notified properly, and that no.
tice was served upon the secretary of state,
as provided in law in the case of taking
university lands. 1t is in evidence that j.
S. Pillsbury was not only the holder of le-
gal title, but appeared as the owner by
record and there is no proof that the uni
versity was in possession of any of the lots.
The adjudication by the court as to whether
public interests required the prosecution Of
the enterprise included the question of title
and the question of right to condemn sue
lands even if the state or university ha
any title thereto. So far as the application
for an injunction on the ground of
ownership is concerned the complainant
is not entitled to relief in equity
because it had full remedy in the special
proceedings. Since the commencement of
this action the supreme court of the state
has decided the appeal from the cendemna-
ton proceedings. fully sustaining the point
that such special proceedings are readiudi-
Gated as to all matters that might have been
adjudicated And after holding that the
lots in Regents addition must be considered
80 a, 10