The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-10-24
add to line 43 Of the printed bill as fol-

add to line 43 Of the printed bill as fol-
lows:
Provided, that whenever any land
grant railroad company is foreclosed
upon, as provided in this act, and tie
property of the same passes into the
hands of purchasers hereunder, that
all the lands of the said company, so
sold, shall thereafter be subject to
taxation, and shall be assessed and
in this state now is, by the officers
whose duty it is to assess and list such
real property.
Provided, however, that this pro-
vision shall not apply to the lands be-
longing to those portions OF any road
which, at the date of such foreclosure
proceedings are unbuilt, but that the
same shall remain free from taxation,
as il no such foreclosure proceedings
had been had; provided that the said
lands shall be continue to be owned
and possessed by the same corporation
that owns and operates the said rail
road company, to which they were or
iginally granted.
Mr. Donnclly moved that this
amendment to S. Il. 1Sl be ordered
printed, which motion prevailed"
The meaning of this was that as
long as railroad corporation really
owned the land, then the agreements
with them, in their charters, that
their lands should be free from taxa
ton, should hold good: butt the prop
erty Of the company was foreclosed
upon and sold then the lands became
subject to taxation. And the second
l,a h arfv
afterwards resorted to by the Sioux
City railroad company, and provided
that the lands held by the original
company should not escape taxation
unless the company operated the rail-
| road, to build which the lands were
given.
Two days afterwards, Feb. %. 1876,
page 342) Mr.. James Smith, Jr., in the
absence of Mr.. Donnelly, had the bill,
S. f. ISL, taken up, and without wait
ing to have it engrosSed, and without
any vote on Mr.. Donnelly's amend
ment. which was smothered and never
heard Of again, the "printcd bill be.
ing taken as the engrossed bill, crushed
the bill through by vote of 26 yeas
and nays none. Mr.. Nelson did not
vote, although he had voted on the
last roll call. But Mr.. Donnelly de-
serves credit for raising the question
and Mr.. Nelson should have helped
him, and demanded in his absence. a
vote on his very important amend
| mcnt.
THE RED RIVER LAND GRANT.
On March ,, 1879 H. +. 800, came up
in the senate. This was bill to en-
able the st. Paul and Pacific Railroad
Company to give up its line from Mel
rose to Glyndon, and build in lieu
thereof a road north of Glyndon, ur
the Red RiverValley. 1t is by virtue of
this bill that the ST. Paul and Pacific
Railroad, or the Great Northern as it
is now. claims the homes of thousands
of settlers in the Red River Valley,
and has compelled them to pay eXtor-
tionate prices for the same, or be driv-
en- off and sacrifice their improve
ments. And this wrong has been car
| ried through, in spite OF a strong fight
made by Mr.. Donnelly. to protect the
settlers, by means of a lot of decisions
of the courts, in every one of which
the law was twisted and perverted
shamefully. to protect the railroads
and impoverish the people. The su
preme court of the United States has
actually gone so far as todeclare that a
settler can not bring suit to defend
his title to these lands, but only the
state or railroad company can have a
hearing in a court of the United
States.
When this bill came up in 1876 Mr.
Donnellv mode fight against it but
Knute Nelson (see page 4CS of Journal
moved to suspend the rules to put ii
through Here is the Journal record
MIR. Nelson X. moved that the rules
/ ii T h.
the second time and placed on file fol
nays s." Among the yeas was knute
Nelson: among the nays was Ignatius
Donnellv. And the same day the bill
passed, (see D. 42S), by vote of % yea.
and II nays. Knute Nelson voted yea
Mr.. Donnelly voted nay.
Mr.. Nelson all through those foul
years voted for every bill demanded b,
the railroads. He was the eSDecia
champion Of the St. Paul and Pacific
Railroad Company, now the Grea
Northern, of which Mr.. James j. Hill
is PRESIDENT The foregoing record
shows that he not only voted for thu
railroad companies, but he made thu
motions in many instances, to secur,
them what they asked,
TIE DOUBLE TAXATION OF MORT
| GAGGED LANDS.
Another grievance that the farme
complained of bitterly, and for which
they could obtain no relief, the Repub
lican legislatures turning a deaf ca
to them for 20 years past, has been thu
double taxation of mortgaged land.
For instance, A. b., a farmer, own
farm worth $1,000 and there is ;
mortgage on it held by c. D. for 81 500
Now it is clear that A. b. has but $50
in that farm: in fact, if he cannot pa,
off the 81 so he has no interest what
ever Under our laws G. D. usual,
pays no interest at all on his $1,000 i;
that farm, while A. B. pays the take
on the whole $1,000, while he owns Blu
$500 This is favoritism to the ricl
man at the expense OF the poor man
Seventeen years ago Hon. Ignatiu
Donnelly, as a member of the stat
senate, tried to remedy this evil. Her
is the record, taken from page $50 Q
the Senate Journal, March 2, 1875:
"Mr. Donnelly moved to refer S.
No. 324 to a special committee of one
and to insert the following amend
ment:
"Amend section Of chapter /, law
of 1874: Whenever it appears that tn
amount of money secured by any NOR
gage conveyance upon any real estat
has been assessed, and that take
7 thereon have been paid by the owne
r or owners of said mortgage, redut
7 tion shall be made by the county au(
itor in the tax due upon such re;
} estate by the owner of the same, equ;