The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-08-01
MILLIONS ARE INVOLVED,
Important Litigation New Before
the San Francisco Court Of
Appeals
All tho Transcontinental Railroad
Companies Arc Interested In
tho Question.
Dudley, Of the Northern Pacific, Gives tn.
Status Of thu Mineral LAnd
Matter.

+. N. Dudley. Of st. Paul. general land
attorney Of the Northern Pacific railroad
Was in San Francisco last Wednesday. Mr..
Dudley 10 engaged on . very important
case, which involves all the mineral lands
OF the Northern Pacific road. and inadvsr-
tsntly the title Of no less thsn 4b.0O0.O0(
acrss OF land, on which are thriving citiel
like Spokane, and where there are o de-
vsloped mining districts like those Of the
Pend d'Oreills, Boulder creek, Libby creek.
the Kootenai district and part Of the Col.
vile country.
Many millions OF dollars are involved.
The case in question il shat Of the North
srn Pacific against Wright in the United
States circuit court Of appeals. II is n OF
two famous cases that have been pending
for tome time in northwestern courts. The
points in the case are 10 wide reaching that
they are OF importance not only to mine
owners, but to all property holders who de-
rive title from the said road. More than
this. the principles involved, with the re-
sultinR decision whatever it may be, will
affect the titles of all the mineral lands in
oluded in the grants of all the t%ransconti-
mental railroads. The Central Pacific, the
Southern Pacific. tho Atchison- Topeka OF
whatever roads that may have received
grants from the government will be "a
much affected as the Northern Pacific. It
IL, therefore, a question of great interest.
One OF tho particular points involved is
in regard to when the knowledge Of these
lands being mineral became apparent.
Congress. by its act Of July 2, 1854, granted
to the Northern Pacific railroad lands or
and within forty miles of the line of definite
location Of the road in the territory and
| within twenty miles in the states, except
ing tho evsn-numbered sections and the
lands that wsrs non-mineral.
AT that time very little of those landl
were known to contain minerals. but in thu
twenty-eight years that have passed since
then mineral has been found everywhere
Enterprising miners have pushed out ovs1
the trails and along the line Of ths road anG
have found mineral which has caused grea'
camps to spring M which are producing
annually hundreds of thousands of dollars
worth of ore. Ths time il ripe. therefore
for definite decision in regard to who pos.
sesses the land. Not long since it was car
department., and he decided that by tn
terms of the grant no mineral lands were t,
be included in it. No direct legal issue wa
made by the roa with the government I'M
til after Secretary Mobiles final decision.
Mr.. Dudley, the attorney, holds tina
either the railroad acquired an estate in fe'
simple in the lands covered by the act o
conditions of the act, or it did not. II j
did its titles are good. If not they are bad
He says an estats in fee simple is an abso
lutte ownership. 1t 10 the highest estate j,
lands known to the law. All the points il
question we're argued at length before tn
court.
Mr.. Dudley was asked what the railroa,
company would do in case it were to secur
all the mining property. and if there woult
not be a great protest from the people
''Oh. of course there would be a great Ok
element and a how of indignation at frs
from the owners of mining propertie
within the lines of the & ant. blu after al
what could we do? We couldn't get in AMI
take the mincs. There are not troop
enough to protect rs even if We wanted to
but We don't want to do anything Of thi
kind.
'"The railroad recognizes the fact tina
these mine owners and prospectors hav
We hold, however, is that the government
ought either to paw us for the property o
give az lieu lands of fair agricultural valu'
in exchange, acre for acre.
I'm case congress should decline. to d,
either OF these, however, the road woult
probably impose = slight royalty of from
Is TO 40 cents a ton on ore obtained from
mines undiscovered at the time Of our com,
plianoe with the grant,"
But suppose it should 60 against your
"Then the railroad company would b
clearly exempt from all taxes on its Ian,
grant. A title to land that 10 subject to
right of exploration fos mineral (whiol
might be used az an excuse for my sort o
trespass) and if mineral be found subjec
to forfeiture to the finder, ia p, actically n,
title at all and the supreme court ha'
either got to give us our land or remit gu
taxes.'