The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-10-01
CLOUGH's SIDE OF 1T.
Republicans Reply to the Circular
of Gen. Pope.


The Appleton Tribune of today, will
publish the following editorial, which,
as it has been forwarded to the var
icus Republican papers Of the state,
may be assumed to be practically an
| official statement of Gov. Coughs side
of the matter under controversy. The
editorial says. speaking of the late
| Pope circular:
This SANDER is directly chargeable to Lind
because it is being published by his general
agents politically. who have undertaken to
make him governor.
passage of the Hastings & Dakota forfeiture
| bill, introduced by Senator Young in the
legislature of 1895, and the date of the sign
| Ing of the same by the governor, that he
fraudulently decided away to the railroad
| company all lands covered by the forfeiture
and thus made the bill nullity.
Mr.. Young, the author Of the bill. has
! given us information about the matter with
winch many of the people of this vicinity are
already familiar, but which other communi-
| ties may not know. The grant to the state,
| for the benefit of the Hastings & Dakota
| company, was made In 1866, consisting of an
| original and an indemnity belt of ten miles
on each side of the road. The company
| failed to operate its line after construction
! but sold it out to the Chicago, Milwaukee &
| st: Paul company, and for that reason, in
| 1887 Its charter was declared forfeited by
| the supreme court. Within the time allowed
| by law thereafter for disposing of its prop
| erty, the company sold and assigned all it's
rights in the land grant, both as to the lands
already decided and those to be acquired to
Russell Sage, Of New York, its vice presi-
| dent.
This assignment was claimed by Mr.
Young and other competent attorneys to be
| Illegal as to all the lands in the indemnity
grant not therefore legally selected by the
company: these lands comprised about 60 900
acres in Swift and adjoining counties. It
was upon this theory of the law that Senator
Young and Representative Jacobson secured
the passage through the legislature at its
last session of a bill FORGETTING so far as the
, state could 90 SO, all the rights granted to
the state in the original congressional act Of
1866, and directing the governor, on behalf
| OF the state, to execute REIMBURSEMENT Of
all these unsettled indemnity lands to the
general government, so that they might be
acquired by settlers. But before that bill
was introduced, Hoke Smith, the Democratic
secretary of the interior, had, in the fall Of
1894, certified to the state, for the benefit of
Russell Sage, as such assignee of the Hast
| ings & Dakota Railroad company small
/, quantity of the land embraced in this in
demnity grant, being in all about 5000 acres,
leaving still uncertiied of said lands about
| $4,000 acres. Under the original United
States law, when the grant was made 1t was
state, whenever any of said lands were so
Terrified to the state by the general govern
ment to deed the same to the railroad COM
pany. Under the law. which the governor
when he took the oath of office swore to
obey, this tract of 5000 acres should have
been decided to the company in December
1894 or January, 1895. the signing Of such a
| deed being an act OF the governor. over which
| he exercised no discretion whatever but
| which was compulsory duty imposed by
law.
1.-The land, in fact, was not decided prompt
". as both Gov. Nelson and Gov. Clough
! declared. that, unless the signing Of the deed
was obligatory, they would not execute It.,
| each declaring his unmeasured sympathy with
| the settlers, and expressing the hope that
they might get the land instead of the COM
pany. The fact that this 900 acre tract was
! awaiting the governors signature was well
known to the author of the bill before the
! legislature met. Finally, on April IS, 1895.
after consulting Attorney General Childs and
ex-Attorney General Clapp as to his duty,
obliged to sign the deed of the 900 acres.
/ Gov. Clough signed the same, and he has
also promptly and cheerfully executed the
REIMBURSEMENT to the general government of
| the remaining IS 900 acres under the legis-
lative BILL Lind,s committee now, with In
famous malice and desire in their hearts
| to besmirch an honest man for political ef-
feet, inform the people of the state by a
private circular that In this transaction Gov.
Clough stealthily and fraudulently decided
to the railway company all the lands covered
by the bill, after the act passed the legis-
lature and before he signed it.
Both Gov. Cloueh and Gov Nelson ac-
lively aided the passage of this BILL in the
hope that it would be effectual to secure
these dsputed lands to the settlers thereon
But as Lind and his friends have tried to
gam political advantage out of this false
! charge, we can't refrain from reminding them
that the forfeiture bill and Gov Clough's re-
linquishment Hereunder, passed and executed
as they were. in good faith, were both
brought to naught bv the ruling of the Demo
cratic secretary of the interior, Hoke Smith.
In the fall of 1895 he officially rejected the re-
lnouishment, and insisted that he would. in
/ the face of 1t, still bestow all this land on
the railway company. Gov Clough did ali
he could to secure the land to the settlers.
while Hoke Smith, the Democratic secretary.
not only overruied the official acts of the
governor, but also overrued a decision fay-
/ orable to the settlers made by the last Re-
! publican commissioner Of the general land
/ office. Gentlemen. your miserable SANDER
| Is fearful boomerang; If you had been wise
! you would have let 1t alone.
we still have hopes that, with Repub-
| lican administration at Washington and q
! wiser secretary Of the interior, Gov Clough' s
| REIMBURSEMENT will vet be accepted. and the
settlers get the lands"