St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-04-29
A CORREsPONDENT's BLUNDER.
Senator SpoOner of Wisconsin
Hauled over the Goals.


Hauled over the Goals.
Special to the Globe.
WASHINGTON, April es.-A curious IL
lustration of Mr.. James GOrden Benefits
method of running a newspaper occurred
recently in the Washington service of the
Herald. Mr.. Nordhoff, who is the RESPONSE
bic correspondent, and who receives SO, 900
year for very little but very excellent
work, has of late not exactly satisfied his
employer, and Mr.. Bennett cabled from
across the seas directing that his Philadel-
Dhia correspondent. Mr.. Charles Chambers,
be sent TO Washington to do anything
he pleased in any way he pleased,
independently of the Washington
bureau. Mr.. Chambers came here and
has been writing some very interesting
gossip for the Herald, which Mr.. NOrdhof
never sees until it is printed in the paper.
Among other things lately Mr.. Chambers
directed his pencil TO what he supposed was
mares nest, in connection with Senator
SpoOners argument in the conflicting
claims of the Sioux City Il st. Paul and
Milwaukee tE st. Paul railroads to the
land where these two roads cross. AS in
all overlapping land grant cases, the Ques-
tions involved were very complicated; but
1t seems the rights of the Milwaukee & St.
Paul road had been determined as fully as
they could be in another tribunal. Those
of the Sioux City q st. Paul involved an
other question entirely. The act
making the grant to the Sioux
City & ST. Paul road required that the
land should be given to the road in sections
of ten miles each. The road built six miles
of its last section and then leased track
from line running exactly in the same
path which it intended to pursue. Now
the Sioux City Il st. Paul road wants its
share of the lands for these six miles. Set
tlerSclaimed that they could not
HAVE THESE LANDS
because they should have built an even ten
miles in order to comply with the law. The
consequence is that the lands corresponding
with the six miles are covered with claim
shanties and the settlers are making des-
perate fight for their homes. Senator
Spooner was for many years the gen.
eral solicitor Of the Chicago, St Paul, Min
neapolis IL Omaha system, Of which the
Sioux City & st. Paul is part, and when
the case came up in the senate he had q
case pending before the supreme court. in
which he was counsel for the Sioux City tS
ST. Paul road. In the senate, however, he
took strong ground in favor of the Milwau-
NC ~ OS. duA AVdus anu llS NldlluS lO us
lands, simply because this road is owned by
constituents Of his, and upon their request
he advocated their interests in the senate
His position was a most magnanimous one
He put aside all questions Of personal and
private interest, granting that there was
any since Mr.. Spooner resigned his attor-
neyship for the st. Paul, Minneapolis and
Omaha road three years ago, and only re-
manned as counsel in the supreme court be-
cause it was question which in no wise
eonAicted with his duties as
senator. he made an ad-
mirable argument and made it so clear
that the Milwaukee 81 st. Paul should not
be put to inconvenience in securing the
lands for a road which had been built in
good faith, simply because there was a
question between settlers and another road.
The Herald writer got these two roads ex-
actly reversed. and wrote an article repre-
senling that Mr.. SpOoner, in the senate,
was advocating the interests of the corpora
tion which some years ago employed him.
Not being a lawyer, the correspondent
made sad bungle of the whole matter,
which has done Senator SpOoner consider
l,h1 f,,s,,