The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-03-20

those parts of the railroad companies
 named in the bill. which were competed
 and in operation prior to the 18th day Of
 September, 1890, the date of the act passed
 by Congress known as the "forfeiture act. retaining and reinvesting In the
 Federal Government title to all the lands
 embraced in the original grant beyond the
 limit of railway construction, but ex-
 pressly confirming title in the railroads,
 or their vendees, to such alternate sec
 tons as were contiguous to those portionss
 of the roads which were completed and
 in operation at the time of the passage
 of said forfeiture act" Both of these
 railroad companies had, prior to Septem-
 Der ?, 1890. sold to various persons all, or
 nearly all, of the lands granted to them
 by said act of Congress; so that for the
 purpose of properly considering the pro-
 visions of the pending measure we may safely assume that the railroads as cor-
 porauons have been eliminated, and the
 problem now presented for solution is a question of law and equity between the
 vendees of the railroads on the one hand
 and bona flde settlers on the other hand,
 who were encouraged to locate their
 homesteads on these ree-rved lands un-
 der a mistaken construs . q of said for feiture act" This is the issue between the parties.
 clean cut and we'll defined.
 Thls brief statement of the law and the facts is deemed necessary to proper
 understanding of the merits of the pend- ing bill.
 The measure we are now considering grows out of 0 difference of interpreta- tion which was put upon this forfeiture act' of Congress by the Interior Depart ment and the courts, both State and Fed eral. The Interior Department threw the door wide open and erroneously allowed about 1S,000 acres of these reserved rail- | road lands, commonly designated as
 earned lands" to be subjected to home- stead entries. substantially an equal quan- tity belonging to each of these railroads or their vendees. and situated for the | most part in the second. third and sev- enth districts of the State.
 These settlements were made in good faith, the settlers themselves paying the customary fees and charges incident to such entries and making final proof as | required by the statute, and thereupon patents bearing the red seal of the Gov | ernment. in many instances. were regu- | larly issued to them. These confiding | men and women who had acted in good
 faith upon the invitation of the Commis-
 sioner of the General Land Office at 1 Washington. and were encouraged in this | alluring manner to buy their homes, be-
 lieving that each held the best possible | title from the greatest Government in | the world, did not hesitate to make val | uable and permanent Improvements on | the lands which they had thus entered. l These homes thus acquired are the sum | Ol UH0iF edEInly pbSSeSSlOnS | -their doniciles. their castles-humble | shelters for their wives and children; do- | nestle hearthstones around which clus-
 ter the sweetest and tenderest memories
 of life.
 | Having located on what was advertised | 10 be unappropriated and unreserved DOT | tions of the public domain, these sons | of toll" all unconscious of the black | cloud of disaster slowly gathering in the skies. and which subsequently burst in | flry their Innrntpntad heads went | to work felling forests, building houses,
 cultivating fields, laboring to better their fortunes and to bring back the "olden
 and golden" prosperity which ought to pure air of rustic life. and under the | stimulus of rural industry. But misfor- | tune, unexpected and therefore unprovid-
 ed for. overlook and overwhelmed these peaceful and contented, these honest and | unsuspecting settlers. The trouble came | about in this way:
 The vendees of the railroad companies.
 having secured perfect title to these | same lands by said Forfeiture act" were
 not content, of course. to give up their property without a struggle. To have
 surrendered their just claims under the | circumstances would have been contrary | fingers upon a mans pocketbook you gem | orally touch his patriotism. With clash | ing interests came tarring opinions, and l as result these purchasers from the
 railroad companies instituted certain ac- | tions of ejectment in both State and Fed | eral courts and prosecuted these suits to | successful termination. They were vlc- l torious, and as consequence some of
 these homesteaders, my constituents. l have already been eyicted from their
 homes. while the sheriff holds in hand | writs of possession in other cases, ready | to oust these worthy and unoffending clt- | izens in the event this meritorious bill | fails to be enacted into law during the 1 nf ar itsit | gress,
 l These legal writs or mandates are sus- pended temporarily-held in abeyance, l awaiting the outcome of this legislation. They are hanging like the sword of Da- mocles" over defenseless heads of these settlers. whose entire fortunes are de- pendent upon the fate of this bill. After | much labor and difficulty on my part l have succeeded in inducing the vendees of the Mobile and Girard Railroad lands | (who live in my districO to consent-re- | luctantly to consent-to let these home steaders alone; not to disturb them, but to take other lands of the same character and quality-the same acreage, but not the qaality-subject to homestead entry l and being situate within the limits of the State of Alabama, in lieu of and as
 a substitute for the land so purchased, coupler, and improved by these settlers l am advised that the vendees of the Tennessee and Coosa Railroad Company are likewise willing to do the same thing
 This is manifestly a liberal proposition
 on their part. Of course. it is not com pulsory, but, prompted by a feeling of jus tIce and fairness, I feel sure that if this bill becomes law an amlcable and eduit- able adjustment will be made speedily of
 this perplexing condition of affairs which now confronts so many of the unfortunate
 constituents of my colleagues (Messrs
 Clayton and BurnetO and myself who
 are themselves in no sense to blame who
 are innocent of any wrongdoing, and who
 constitute the best citizenship of our
 State.
 As to the lands of the Tennessee and
 Coosa Railroad Company. which this bill
 as amended is also intended to cover, the
 Supreme Court of the United States in
 case reported in 176 United States Re-
 ports, page PAP. held that these lands
 which were coterminous with that part
 of the road completed at the date of the
 passage of the act, were not forfeited:
 that by the original act of June 3, 1s56
 the title to these lands passed in prae-
 senti; that the conditions expressed in
 them were conditions subsequent and not
 precedent, and that forfeiture could
 only be worked by direct legislative ac-
 tio1 or Judicial proceeding
 AS to the lands of the Mobile and Gi-
 rard Railroad Company embraced fin the
 bill the Supreme Court of Alabama in
 the case of the Van Kirk Land and Con
 struction Company vs. Green, following
 the decision of the United States su-
 preme Court. supra. held the fact that
 sald railroad company was not com
 pleted within the time prescribed in thA
 grant did not of itself operate to fnrfeit
 the title to said lands nor to deprive if of
 the right to dispose of the same: that hv
 the provisions of the forfeiture act of 1S9O lands included within the provisions of
 the original grant and opposite to that