The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1886-10-21

passage besides Crisp and Richard
son the participants we're PaysOn,
Holman, Reagan, Mills, Laird, Oates
and Weaver, Of Nebraska. See pages
{, 49e and 8 500 Cong. Rec. last session.
The bill passed last June IS now a law
entitled @An act 70 provide for taxa
ton ofrailroad grant lands and for other
purposes, being public law No. 49,, Ist.
session 18th Congress. am led 70 be-
leve and indeed the idea was suggest
ed to me by q senator while in Wash
ingtOn that Anderson did not know
that It had become q law. The meas
ure seems to be guarded 80 as not 70
give the railroads any more lands than
they are editled 10 BY the strict terms
of the grant, and the right Of govern
ment 10 Withdrew the railroad privi-
leges is reserved. 1t does not bear the
slightest resemblance to the bill intro
dueed By Anderson and seems in many
respects to be a practical measure. I
am strengthened in ny conviction that
Anderson did not know Of its passage,
because find repeatedly in the cam
paign documents circulated by him and
his friends various references about
the defeat Of all such bills; charging
the defeat TO the senate. In an editO-
rial IN Geo. w. Martins paper, pub
lished some time after this bill became
q law find an article entitled Taxing
railroad lands" in which is claimed
for Anderson that he had caused in the
counties Of Davis, Riley, Dickinson,
Mcpherson, Russell, Morris, Saline, OF
tawa, Ellsworth, Lincoln, Marion and
Wabaunsee, 219, 747 acres to be put on
the tax roll in 1884. The absurdity Of
this is very apparent In the very same
article be says: The lands were kept
OF the tax-rolls by the railroad com
pany refusing 10 pay the government
fee, and thus securing patents. Their
object was to save the fee and beat the
people out Of the taxes, until such time
as they could make a sale. Congress-
man Anderson waged a war for five
years to compel the roads to take out
patents. Mr.. Anderson secured the
passage Of a bill compelling the road
10 pay their fees and complete their IL
tie, but all such measures failed in the
Senate" / read from an article in
Martins paper written some time
after the bill / refer to had become a
law. It is by such bald, mendacious
that the honest settlers OF
this district are deceived. In the same
article Martin says: that Mr.. Ander-
son "inaugurated a side issue which
speedily brought them to terms, and
that was a fight for the adjustment Of
Land Grants In this wonderful side
issue Mr.. Anderson seems to have lost
sight of his grand movement to tax rail
road lands. He gets another speech
printed in the Record. Has the most
impractical bill introduced into the
House, which If II could have been put
into such shape that it would have been
possible to pass 1t, was a bill to produce
endless litigation, and which at the
best merely authorized the Secretary
to reopen land grant cases and go over
them again. He denounced the Sena-
tors for striking out all bis bill but the
enacting clause, although that was the
only portion Of it fit TO remain. While
he and his man Gov. Crawford were
busy charging the Senators with de-
feating this wonderful ''side issue" it
appears that the sensible men Of both
Houses went to work and passed q bill
to tax railroad lands, and to coufrm
tax titles to holders who would pay the
small fee. When Mr.. Anderson and
his friends learn that such a bin has
really become a law, it is difficult to
what they viii have to say
about his colleagues Is it not high
time that there was an end Of all such
deception and buffOonery.
In this canvass the people have
heard from Mr.. Anderson about the
q Reagan bin" The Reagan bill is to re-
gulate commerce, to adjust freights
and fares, sc. Ithad some good things
in It, and some Objectionable things t.
a western man. The men in eastern
Ohio. Pennsylvania and West Virginia
found that q car load Of cattle could be
tWhen sent by whOlesaie-1OO
cars OF mOre) from Kansas City as
cheaper even cheaper than they could
have theirs shipped from their state,
They wishsd TO check this competition
Of western cattle. by securing a law to
make all freights pay 50 much a mile
irrespective Of amounts, In other
words to shut out western wheat aud
beef from the eastern markets. Same
OF the features Of Mr.. Reagan's bill are
good. II Is Of course a measure re-
quiring a great deal Of wisdom and
care regarding Western interests. Il
came up with its important amend
ments on July 8lst last.
The votes are recorded on pages
8248, s247, S2l9 and $3.50. Mr.. An
derson that sterling champion Of laws
to regulate railroads, being recorded
as not voting, was absent no doubt on
some "side issue"
There was one other important Land
Bill before the house this year. II
was the bill to prevent alien Land