The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-15
AS READ TO THE HOUSE BY THE
FRAMER OF THE REsOLU-
TION.
WORK FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL.
Who Was Raped by Mr.. jacobson
Before the Resolution Was
Adopted.

Of lands on the Mesabe iron
range which take in the famous
Mountain Iron mine, probably
the richest bit of iron property in the
world and that which formed the
nucleus Of the holdings of the we'll
known Lake Superior Consolidated
mines.
In the house when the speaker called
the session to order were a number of
senators, State Auditor Dunn and
Land Clerk George Finn Of his office.
the last two being present to coach
their friends in case the matter took
an unexpected turn, and the gallery
and vacant corners were filled with
interested spectators. When the reso-
luton, which has been printed in the
G e, had been read, Mr.. DonneIlv
took the floor, and armed with copious
memoranda outlined the entire case,
frequently interspersing explanatory
details. He pointed out that while the
auditor placed the value Of the prop.
erty in question at $12, 900, 900. Leonidas
Merritt, formerly a member of the
mousse from Duluth, and an expert in
mining matters. gave the value as
being not less than $40, 000, 00O Not
less than $4,000 worth of ore was in
sight at the present time, and the mine
possessed untold riches vet unexnlored
Mr.. Donnelly called his hearers at
tent1on to the fact that his view was
| not a partisan position, and that no
partisan question was being considered.
He had not, he said, done anything to
receive partisan advantage. He ex-
planned the Importance of the matter.
by saying that the value of the lands,
II recovered. would go to the state
school fund, the very basis of republic
anlsm In the state. He passed on to
the merits of the case. holding first
that the state auditor had no right to
rel1nquish lands once acquired, and
next showing that by the decision of
the interior department, the land in
question had been acquired by the
state the moment the correct list was
filed in the land office The memoir
| andum which Mr.. Donnelly read IS
as follows
The act of congress of Feb. IS, 1857 granted
sections 10 and SO in every township of public
lands in Minnesota to said state and where
either OF said sections, or any part thereof
has been sold otherwise been disposed of
the lands equivalent thereto are granted
The act of congress of March 3. 1857 au-
thoriZes the proper authorities Of the state
to select other lands in lieu of lands in sec
tons 10 and g. which may have been settled
upon, disposed Of or reserved by the United
States, before the public survey.
On Feb. 5, 1884, there was made out in the
public land office and forwarded to the Du-
luth land office by w. w. Braden the state
auditor and ex-offcio land commissioner in
accordance with the acts of congress above
cited, what was known as indemnity school
land selection list No g. which list embraced
4,14798 acres of deficiencies in sections 16
and IS in different townships, and in lieu Of
which 1t selected 4, Is acres of other lands
from the vacant public lands of the state of
Minnesota. The indemnity lands so settled
included the following tracts there followed
detailed description Of the site of the Noun
tain iron mine).
On Feb. 8, 1884 ]. R. Cary, the then register
OF the United States district land Office at
Duluth, wrote Mr.. Braden as follows: Your
favor Of the Sth inst. received today with in
demnity school lanld list No. 8 incloSed there
in We find said list correct. and will today
forward it to the commissioner of the general
land Office This list No. was made up in
exact accordance with the rules then pre-
scribed by the general land office, otherwise
Mr.. Carey. the register of the Duluth land
Office would not have certified to it's correct
ness, and said list was in every way valid
selection made for the state of Minnesota, by
the proper officers of the state The tracts Of
land above described and so selected were
vacant public lands unoccupied and not dis
posed Of by the government, and had been
surveyed by the United States government
Lists Nos. 1 to 8, filed prior to list No. 8, in
1883 and 1884, and lists No. 10 and H. filed SUBJ
sequent to list No. g. and no question was
raised to their correctness and validity.
Lists and 5, filed in the ST. Cloud land office,
were in the same form list No. 9. and were
accepted and approved by the general land Of
flee and the secretary Of the interior.
Now to the interest acquired by and
in Of Minnesota NV vii Of
the aforesaid selection in and to the before
described lands The school land grant to the
state is present grant and the secretary of
the interior das decided that: 'When the Ian
guage (of act) imports a present grant
1t is well settled that the title passes by the
act and attaches to the grant, and such title
becomes complete and perfect when precision
and identity are given to the particular tract
by selection or location of the land"
The secretary of the interior in the same
decision, quotes the case of Horick VS.
Hughes Missouri case, where the court
decided as follows: No patent was necessary
for the substituted lots any more than for
undisposed Of The things to be done in
order to vest title in the state were certain
acts of the registers and receiver The essen
tial thing was the selection of the land. Q5
Wall, 1891
Again later decision of the secretary Of
the interior declares in most emphatic terms
that when selection has been exercised, the
title of the tract selected passes to the state.
This is in a California case involving a
school land indemnity selection. The sec
rotary of the interior says in the syllabus:
The state is entitled to make selections in lieu
Of school land covered by settlement claims
at date of survey. When the right Of seec-
ton has been exercised the title to the tract
selected passes to the state etc
And again in this decision the secretary Of
the interior says: The state Having exercised
this right by making selection Of the land in
controversy, her title to said tract was when
completed etc. These decisions and auth
critics go to show that the title to these
Mountain Iron mine lands by virtue of the
selection correctly made in and by the list
in the state. and all that renamed for the
commissioners Of the general land office to
do was to perfect the title by certifying the
list to the state.
During the summer of 1887 there was so
much excitement over supposed discoveries
of valuable iron ore on the Mesabi range.
and prospeetors and spectators made every
effort to secure control OF as much of the
supposedly valuable iron lands as possible
and one John Murphy, in the year 1887, at
tempted to file a homestead entry on the sw4
OF sell and SIC of swA of 33-59-1S. and one
Joshua Helmer made application to enter lots
and and swA Of neA Of Sec 4-5S-1S as
homestead. The tracts which we're thus
sought to be entered included all the land
known as the Mountain Iron mine. Both Muir
ply and Helmer claimed that the states Sc
lection Of this land invalid because not
in the form prescribed by the general land Of
fee. 1t seems that in 1887 the general land
Office had promulgated new rules for the
form OF indemnity selection tracts. The two
applications of Murphy and Helmer were re-
tected by the register and receiver OF the Du-
luth land Office because OF the states claim on
said land, and the applicants then appealed to
the general land office at Washington, d. C.
The attention of State Auditor Braden ap-
pears to have been drawn to these applica-
lions and on Jan. IL. 1888 he appears to have
addressed a letter to the commissioner of the
general land Office asking II 1t would be
advisable for the state of Minnesota to re-.
linquish all selections heretofore made that