The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-10-03
SAGE'S SIDE OF IT
Is TOLD NY JOHN M. GILMAN, FOR
MANY YEARS HIS At
TORNEY.
He CLEARS TWO GOVERNORS
OF ANY CULPABILITY I'm CONNEC-
TION WITH H. & I'D.
GRANTS.
MERRIAM Is NOT PERTURBED.
Lind's Latest Sensation Does Not
Worry the Ex-Governor i'm the y
Least.
He CLEARS TWO GOVERNOR
MERRIAM Is NOT PERTuRBED


for criticism Of the action Of Gov. Mer-
Ram or of Gov. Clough for deciding the
lands Of the Hastings & Dakota rail-
way company to Russell Sage" said
John M. Gilman yesterday, to re-
porter for the Gil o b e. John Lind's
attempt to make political capital out of
the matter by alleging that the lands
were improperly decided to Sage will
fail. because his allegations are not
borne out by the facts.
1t should be borne In mind" said
Mr.. Gilman, who was the attorney for
Russell Sage in the long years of liti-
cation attending the transfer of the
lands, that the state never had any
ownership or control of the lands In
question. The lands were earned by
the Hastings & Dakota company
under the terms of the original grant.
The company was given certain
length of time to wind up it's affairs.
The Manitoba company had made u
claim for the same lands and the mat
ter got into the courts. 1t became
necessary, to protect the rights Of the
stockholders, to appoint a trustee to
care for the lands of the company after
the litigation with the Manitoba COM
pany should be ended. Russell Sage
was appointed as such trustee.
Remember, these lands did not be-
long to the state. They were the prop
erty of the general government and
were given the railroad company as a
reward for accomplishing a specific act.
The lands were certified to the state
to be in turn decided by the state to
the railroad company In order solely
that the chain Of title might be COM
plete. The state had no rights in the
lands and no other duty to perform
save to deed them to the railroad COM
pany through its executive.
when the litigation with the Man
itoba company was ended with a de-
cision in favor of the Hastings &
Dakota company, the lands that had
been earned by the company, but which
had been held up by the department
at Washington pending the settlement
of the controversy with the Manitoba
company, were certified to the state
for the purpose Of deciding the same to
Russell Sage. This Gov. Merriam did
with the advice Of Attorney General
Clapp. Gov. Merriam did only his duty
and his action was sustained by the de-
partment of the interior.
I'm 1888 an agent of the company Sc
lected the lands as provided by the de-
partment Then came the litigation
with the Manitoba company. When
that suit was decided in favor Of Mr..
Sage, to make sure that all forms Of
the law were complied with, another
agent was appointed, this time by Gov.
Merriam, to select the lands for Mr.
Sage as trustee Of the Hastings &
Dakota company. George E. Skinner
was appointed as this agent. He Sc
lected the same lands that had been
chosen by the first agent in 1888. His
action was legal and was sustained by
the secretary of the interior. The de-
partment had previously held that
action by the state forbidding the
transfer of the lands to Sage was with
out effect. Gov. Merriam in signing
the deed that gave the land to Sage
performed his duty. His act was be-
yond criticism.
When Nelson was governor other
lands were certified to the state for
transfer to Sage. Nelson was running
for United States senator and wouldn't
have anything to do with the matter
except to revoke the appointment of
Skinner. He couldn't well do other
wise as he had the advice of the pres
emit attorney general, whose decision
was the reverse of the decision of the
secretary Of the interior.
We now come down to Gov. Coughs
time. He was appealed to to deed Ger
tain lands, certified to the Hastings
and Dakota company by the depart
ment OF the interior, with no other.
duty to perform than to deed them TO
the trustee of the Hastings & Da-
kota company. We knew that the bill
forbidding the governor to deed these
lands to the railroad company was
pending in the legislature 1t is true
we expedited measures as much as pos
sible and finally persuaded Gov. Clougn
to sign the deed before the bill became
a law. After he had signed the bill
he refused to deed to us other lands
which are still being held up because
or his refusal, but which are the right
full property of Russell Sage.
John Lind has been the author of ali
this contention. When we appear be-
fore the judiciary committee Of the
senate he was present to combat Sage's
claim. But the only contention he
made at that time was that the Hast
ings & Dakota company had no right
to appoint trustee; that If the af-
fairs of the company were to be wound
up it should pass into the hands Of u
receiver But the department of the
interior did not recognize any Of the
points made by the state It held
absolutely that the lands were the
property of Russell Sage as trustee and
that the state had no right to interfere
In any manner with his acquiring DOS
session Of his rights.
Lind and his followers cannot make
political capital out of this, for the
reason that everything that Lind con-
tended for has been overruled by the
department Of the interior The SUI
preme court of this state has passed
upon the vital point at issue and de-
MED the state the right to interfere
with the transfer of the lands"
Ex-Gov. Merriam was asked to reply
to the charges made in Mr. Lind's
speech, but said that without looking
up the documents relating to the trans
fer OF the lands and otherwise refresh
ing memory, he could not give an INTEL
ligent explanation of the transaction.
That he signed the deed asked for by
Sage's attorneys he admitted and said
it was probably done with the advice
of the attorney general. His connec-
ton with the matter was in a measure
perfunctory, for he had signed the deed
believing that the secretary of the in
terror and the attorney general Of the
state knew they were advising a proper
measure when the deed was presented
to him for his signature. cit Is idle to
answer the charge said Mr.. Merriam,
"for no one believes that I would vol
UNFAIRLY and willfuIIy sign away lands