Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-02-20
The Land Grant Forfeiture Bills.

THE TEXAS PACIFIC BILL PASSES THE SENATE
"A TILT BETWEEN MESSRS. MORGAN AND
BECK-STATUS OF OTHER FORFEITURE BILLS,
The Texas Pacific land grant forfeiture bill
was passed in the Senate yesterday by vote OF
56 to 2, Senators Blair and Bowen voting no.
after Mr.. Morgan's amendment to refer the
question of forfeiture to the courts had been
rejected. During the debate Mr.. Morgan, who
had insisted upon referring the question to the
courts, took exception to q remark of Mr. Reel,
to the effect that he thought when the Thur.
man act was passed the government was takins
some control of the land grant railroads, but he
was mistaken, and every proposition coming
from the House to assert government author.
1ty was met by some Senators with counte r
proposition. MIR. Morgan retorted that he had
been acting somewhat with the opposite side in
these matters, but he would not allow his
democracy to be impeached. He was a demo.
crat before the Senator from Kentucky became
a citizen of this country. Mr.. Beck replied i'm
the same spirit and said the fling at his nativ.
ity was unworthy the Senator and unworthy a
reply. He said he did not regard Mr.. Morgan
as so important parsonage after all.
The House has already passed bills forfeiting
over 5000, 900 Of acres of land, with an aver
age value, at the lowest estimate, of ten to If
teen dollars per acre. But owing to the tardi-
ness ofthe Senate only one of these bills-the
Oregon Central-has become a law. The House
started IN at the beginning of the 4Sth Congress
with determination to forfeit all the unearned
lancs held by the railroad corporations. The
public lands committee, with Mr.. Cobb for chair
man, worked hard, and reported bills to the
House FORGETTING over a hundred million acres.
Their consideration was pressed upon the House
by Mr.. Cobb and Mr.. Payson, and bills were
passed last session declaring forfeited seven
small southern grants, amounting in all to about
5000 600 acres; the Texas Pacific, Is, ,OOO 600
acres; the Oregon Central, 1000, 600 acres; the
California Oregon, 5000, 900 acres, and the At
lantic and Pacific, 35 600, 900 acres. The other
forfeiture bills, which forfeit about 5OOOO 600
acres, are on the House calendar.
The Senate has acted very slowly upon these
bills. They passed the Oregon Central with an
amendment giving the railroad the lands CO
terminOuS with their work at the end of the
time. the entire work should have been COM
pleted. This the House agreed to do after some
prOtestatiOn, and the forfeiture reduced to two
million acres became q law. The only other
bills the Senate has passed are the Atlantic &
PacidS, WHICH they SO amended that it took
from the bill its whole character, referring the
matter to the Court of Claims for settlement,
which amendment the House would not agree
to, and bill cannot become q law unless the
Senate recedes from its position; and the Texas
Pacific bill yesterday.
Among the bills reported upon by the House
public lands committee, but not yet acted up
on by the House, is the Northern Pacific,
amounting to 35, ,O0O, 600 acres. All the bills
not receiving final action will die on the 4th
of March, but they will be introduced into the
next House, and, being in such complete form,
they can then be acted upon without much
merely formal way.
The Texas Pacific land forfeiture bill as passed
by the Senate yesterday meets with the appro-
val of the House committee, and as soon as the
bill comes over to the House Mr.. Payson will
move to concur in the Senate amendments and
the bill will be sent to the President for his sig
nature.