The Forrest City times., 1896-05-01
LANDS IN LITIGATION.
Suits to Recover Lands Deeded by
 Inadvertance or Mistake.
Six to Eight Thousand Acres Involved In the Litigation-The Railroads Title to the Lands shown by
 Acts of Legislation.

States attorney on behalf of the govern ment to recover certain tracts of land from the St Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway Co.,, have occasioned widespread comment and speculation, besides much uneasiness to purchasers of railroad lands who hold the com pany's deed for the same. As is usually the case in all litigation affecting the title of lands, the facts at issue are not generally understood. 1t will in measure quiet the apprehension of l many parties interested, who fear that serious complications may result from these suits and also dissipate many false rumors, to present the facts in- volved and the points at issue in the pending suits of the government against the railway company. It is first neces- sary to show how the railway company acquired a title to these lands
 Coded by the Government.
 By an act of congress, approved Feb ruary 9, 1853, it was ordered That the right of way through the public lands be and the same is hereby granted to the states of Arkansas and Missouri. for the construction of railroad from point on the Mississippi river, opposite the mouth of the Ohio, in the state of Missouri, via Little Rock. to the Texas boundary line, near Fulton, in Arkan- sas, with branches from Little Rock, in Arkansas, to the Mississippi river and to Fort Smith, in said state"
 Sec, ? That there be and is hereby granted to the states of Arkansas and Missouri. spectlvely, for the purpose of aiding in making the railroad and branches as aforesaid, within their respective limits every alternate section of land, designated by even numbers, for six | sections in width on each side of said road and branches; but in case it shall appear that the United States have when the line or route of said road IS definitely fixed by the authority aforesaid, sold any part of any section hereby granted or that the right of pre-emption has attached to the same then 1t shall be lawful for any agent or agents 60 be appointed by the governors of said states, to select subject to the approval aforesaid, from the lands of the United States most contiguous to the tier of sections above specified, so much land in alter nate sections or parts of sections as shall be equal to such lands the United States have sold or to which the right of pre-emption has attached as aforesaid, which lands being equal in quantity to one-hah of six sections in width on each side of said road, the States of Ark snsas and Missouri shall have and hold to and
  That the lands to be located shall in no case be further than Is miles from the line of the road: ana provided further, That the lands hereby granted shall be applied n the construction of said road, and shall be disposed of only as the work progresses, and shall be applied to no other purpose whatsoever; and provided fur ther That any and all lands reserved to the United States by any act of congress for the purpose of aiding in any object of internal im- provement, or in any manner for any purpose whatsoever, be and the same are hereby re- served to the United States from the operation Of this act, except so far as il may be found necessary to locate the routes of said railroad and branches through such reserved lands Sec 4. That the said lands hereby granted to the said states shall be subject to the disposal of the legislatures thereof for the purpose aforesaid and no other; and the said railroads ana branches shall be and remain public high way Tor the use of the government of the Uni ted States, free from toll or other charges upon the transportation Of any property or troops of the United States, etc
 The State Enactment
 In pursuance of this act the state had the lands surveyed and set apart for the purposes named therein, after which by act of the legislature, approved Janu- ary l9, 1855, it conveyed the lands to the railroad by an enactment entitled An act fixing the line of the Little Rock and Fort Smith branch of the Cairo and Fulton railroad and granting the lands donated by congress to the state in aid thereof, as follows:
 Section l. Be it enacted by the general as. sembly of the state of Arkansas, that the lands within this state, along the entire length of the dne of the Little Rock and Fort Smith branch of the Cairo and Fulton railroad from Ijt,Ie Rock to Fort Smith, with the right conferred by the act Of congress of selecting other lands In lieu Of such may have been sold or other wise appropriated by the United States and which said lands were granted by an act Of con- sreSs, entitled An act granting the right of way and making grant Of lands to the state of Arkansas and Missouri to aid in the copstruc- ton Of railroad from point or the Missis- sippl river, opposite the mouth of the Ohio via Little Rock, to a point on the Texas boundary near Fulton, ln Arkansas, with branches one to Fort smith and one to point on the Mi~is- sippi river" approved February g. 1858 Are hereby granted to the company of the Little Rock and Fort Smith branch of the Cairo and Fulton railroad so that they may be legally ap- piled in aid of the construction of said Aanch line of road, and that the line Of route for said branch road, surveyed by said Little Rock and Fort Smith branch railroad company of the before mentioned Cairo ard Fulton railroad rom Fort Smith via Van Buren, thence to Lit tie Rock, under ard by authority of a charter d said company, adopted on the seventh day Of September, 1853. '
 This act Is the connecting link in the :hain of title from the United States to the railroad company. There is no question as to the validity of the rail- roads patent to the grant in general, therefore the holdings as a rule are un- disturbed, leaving comparatively small fraction of the great bulk of the land grant subjec: tc settlement by suit at