St. Paul daily globe., 1895-07-04
WANT LAND GRANT
THE NORTHERN PAGIFIC, FER,
GUS & BLACK HILLS COM
PANY E
AFTER A FORFEITED GRANT
OF SWAMP LANDssTAKES FRoy
THE NINNEAPoLIs sS ST.
CLOUD. '''@
AN OPINION rs ASKED sFog
By State Auditor Dunn From the
Attorney 'GeneraIAThe Latter
Will Hear.Argument

Attorney General ChildsN will be
kept busy for few days after he
dlsposes of the Steenerson case. Be
SIDES having the hearing in regard
to the Duluth & Iron, Range Rail-
road ,company's. swaaap-Iandz grant.
on his list, he has been asked by
State Auditor Dunn for an opinion i'm
the matter of a request that has
been received by the land depart
ment, from the Northern Pacific, Fer
gus & Black Hills Railroad COM
pany, for grantGof some swamp
lands that reverted to the state on
account of the passage of a law
by the legislature last winter The
law referred to was house file No.
81, which provides as follows:
Section l. That whereas. by a pro-
viso contained in section four "a of
chapter three 60 Of the Special Laws of
swamp lands to aid the Minneapolis &c
st. Cloud Railroad company in building
branches to connect with the Lake
Superior & Mississippi railroad and the
Winona & st. Peter railroad, or any
other railroad in Southern Minnesota"
approved Feb. eleventh Q1th), eighteen
hundred and sixty-flve, it was declared
that if said company shall not within
five (5) years construct and equip for
business with cars running thereon at
least ten QO miles of said road OF
either of its branches, and the residue
within seven CO years from the pas
sage of this act, then, and in that case,
all the lands hereby granted, pertain
ing to the unbuilt portions of said road,
or either of its branches, shall be for
feited to the state. .., --...-..-
Sec. 2. That the lands appertaining
to the branch of the Minneapolis ts
st. Cloud railroad from st. Cloud to
connect with the Winona & ST Peter
railroad, or any other railroad running
in Southern Minnesota from east TO
west, and tcl strike the Minnesota river
at st. Peter or some point between st.
Peter and the mouth of Redwood river,
by reason of any grant made by any
law or this state, and not heretofore
earned under the terms of said grant
or law, are hereby declared forfeited
and lost to said Minneapolis & st.
Cloud railroad. et ....
Sec. 3. That all acts and parts of
acts enacted by the legislature of this
state conveying or transferring or at
tempting to convey or transfer to any
railroad the lands, or any portion Of
the lands, described in section two (2-
of this act, are hereby repealed.
AS the Minneapolis & ST Cloud Rail-
road company has no further claim to
these swamp lands, and as by a consti-
tutional amendment made in 1881 no
further grants of land can be made
by the state to railroad companies. any
grants that they receive in this way oa
lands that have been forfeited by
other companies-the Northern Pacific;
Fergus Falls & Black Hills Railroad
company has asked the. state for a
grant of these swamp lands. ,
Frederick NJ. Dudley, the general
land attorney for the Northern Pacific
land department, has asked Attorney
General Childs to give the case a
hearing before submitting his opinion
to the state auditor Mr. Childs has
promised to do so, and had expected
to dispose of it early this week, but on
account Of Mr.. Dudleys absence from
town the matter had to be postponed.
Mr.. Chandler, of Chicago, the attor-
ney for the Duluth & Iron Range Rail-
road company, will in the city on
Monday next, and the attorney general
will then hear the arguments in that
case.