The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1891-05-21
The Chronicle is the Only Paper in
The DalIes that Receives the Associated
Press Dispatches.
THF d. M. r. cos. LAND.

short time ago we published the
opinion of III. n. Copp the well-known
land attorney at Washington, on the
present status of the Dalles Military
Road companys lands. Mr.. Copp holds
that these lands are now properly subject
to entry in the United States land offices
because they come under the action of
the late forfeiture bill. 1t is well known
that the U. S. land office refuses to
lands, but Mr.. Copp advises applicants
whose filings have been rejected to take
an appeal to the general land office and
offers to take charge of all such appeals.
While it is freely admitted that there
are few better authorities than Mr.. Copp
on all questions relating to public lands,
we think in this instance he is entirely
mistaken in supposing that the lands
referred to have been restored to the
public domain by the act that forfeited
the lands withdrawn for the Northern
Pacific Railway. The fact is, the North
ern Pacific never had anything to do
with the Dalles Military Road lands.
AhCoC idbOCA WClO ScJJlc-
ment before those OF the Northern Pa
cific. The grant to the Dalles Military
Road company was made in February
1867, and the withdrawal was ordered,
as will appear by a certified letter in
another column, in December 1869.
The grant to the Northern Pacific was
made in--and the withdrawal was
made in 1870. The Dalles Military Road
company's land could never, therefore
have been affected by the bill foffeiting
the grant to the Northern Pacific A
forfeiture act is not the measure
for restoring to the public domain
lands already patented and the Dalles
Military Road company have a patent
for nearly all their lands. Hence Sena-
tor Dolph's bill to have the question of
title settled by the United States courts
1t ought to be well known that this
question was argued more than year
ago before. Judge Sabin. in the United
States district court at Portland when
the court rendered decision very de-
cidedly in favor of the company's reten-
tion of the land. The case was then
taken on appeal. as the Dolph bill con-
templated, before the U. S. supreme
court at Washington where it was argued
and submitted on the 9th of March last
by Judge j. X. Kelley and there is
scarcely room for shadow of doubt that
that court will decide that the company
has legal title to the lands. The writer
has been familiar with these facts for
long time and it no new thing for him
to advise people, Nho desire any of the
lands in question to abandon all hope of
ever getting them through the U. s.
government. We have never had a
doubt in the world that the company
would get the lands and we believe the
Dolph bill was framed to leave the ques-
tion of title to the courts where it
properly belongs because it was believed
the lands could never be legally recover
ed from the company. Besides all this
the Dolph bill provided that in the event
of the courts deciding against the COM
pany all bona fde purchasers of the
lands, to the extent of $40 acres should
have their title to the lands confirmed
by the action of the United States
government. 1t is very evident there
fore that any attempt to secure these
lands through the United States Land
Office or to follow the advice of Mr..
Copp is a useless waste of time and
money.