The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-10-24

Shall execute an assent to the payment
OF said debts, SO that the company
should not afterwards set up claim
against the state. This latter proviso
was the nub of the whole matter. II
the company was not forced to assent
to the payment of the debts due to the
citizens, for the construction of the
road; in other words, if they were not
allowed to sWindle poor men out Of
their pay, while keeping the work for
which the money was due, they might
fall back on legal bubbles, that the
state only held the land in trust for
the company and must hand it over,
etc, and thus defeat the creditors.
And consequently on this last pro-
viso the fight was red hot, and the
friends of the settlers were on one side
and the friends of the railroad COM
pany on the other. The Journal, page
392, says:
The question being taken on the
last provisO of the amendment, and
the roll being called, there were yeas
"a, nays IA. Among the yeas were
Mr.. Donnelly Macdonald, Michal Do
ran, VIM. Meighan, Thos. S. Buckam,
Morton Wilkinson, (eXUnited States
senator, Judge Wells, Milo White (af.
terwards congressman, Gen. Berry Of
Winona county formerly attorney
generaD, Benedict, Blake, Butler, Child,
Clark, Conkey, even Drake (the rail-
road president), Hill, Gen. Hubbard,
afterwards governor, Lineau, McGov-
ern, Mealey, Bill Murray of st. Paul,
and even John S. Pillsbury of the
wheat ring, afterwards governor Of
the state.
On the other side there we're IA
votes, and
ONE OF THEN WAS THAT OF KNUTE
NELSON.
So the proviso was adopted.
But Mr.. Donnelly was not only de-
termined that the lands should be re-
served for the protection of men who
had done the work. but he wanted it
put beyond question that the land
should be sold in order to pay them;
and SO we read, on page 396 of the Sen
ate Journal, March 3rd, 1875:
resolutions:
Whereas, it is known that many poor
| men, actual settlers in the counties
! along the line Of said road. have per-
formed work in grading or clearing the
unfinished roadbed of the same, or in
! furnishing ties or doing other work
upon the same, and have not been
paid for such work, and that they have
through ignorance, neglected to file
their claims with the state auditor
within 60 days from the 21st of Febru-
ary, 1874, as provided in the act of that
date chapter " of the special laws of
| this state, for the year 1874:
And Whereas, The said railroad
company have, by reason Of their de-
| fault in the construction of said road
as required by law, lost all claim to or
interest in said unfinished portions Of
| the road and the same is now the prop
erty of the state, therefore,
| Resolved, That the bill be referred
| to committee Of one with instruc-
tions to add to it provision that
| $4,000 acres of the lands which have
! already accrued to the said company,
! or so much thereof as may be neces-
sary, shall be sold by the governor, in
accordance with the provisions of said
| act of February 81, 1874. and the pro-
| ceeds applied to the payment to said
citizens of the state, of their said
claims. under such regulations as the
governor may prescribe.
This resolution was lost: yeas II, and
nays 25; Mr.. Donnelly voted aye;
Knute Nelson dodged. He had just
made a motion to Indefinitely post
none the whole bill. He was mad, be-
cause the previous resolution had been
adopted to protect the creditors of the
railroad company, land of reserving GER
tain lands, and on the next page OF
the Journal page 397, he is shown to
be present and voting.
And then the vote came on Mr.. Nell
the bill: and it was carried, yeas 20,
nays 16. Mr.. Donnelly voted no; and
Mr.. Nelson lodged again on his own
motion. So the bill was indefinitely
postponed.
But the railroad company finally
concluded that it was better to have
the bill anyhow, even if they could not
get clear of their creditors, and so the
same day, the vote by which it was in
definitely postponed was reconsidered,
and the bill passed. And Mr.. Donnel-
ly voted yea, and Mr.. Nelson lodged
again. He was mad all through.
THE PEOPLE AGAINST THE RAILROADS
Hon Amos Coggswell, of Steele. was
prominent anti-monopolist. A bill
| (H. f. No. 2S0) being up, "for the ap'
pointment of railroad commissioner