The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1904-03-04

the character of the land, subject to
contradiction by oral testimony. In
a very able opinion on the subject
former secretary Ct the interior W.
(. Villas, one Of the ablest lawyers
in the United States. held that the
agreement between the state and the
interior department was in fact only
an agreement TO make the field notes
only basis of selection and to admit
them merely as prima facie evidence
aud explicitly held that the secretary
out any authority whatever TO enter
into an agreement to make the field
notes of survey conclusive evidence.
This view was also taken by Sec
rotary Lamar, who was afterwards
Justice of the United States supreme
court for many years.
1.-The principal point made by the
petition is that in the last ten or
fifteen years many thousand acres
marked on the plats of survey rs
swamp have been and are generally
high and day lands. DR..
Woollen. of the land department,
some years ago made an Investigation
"a to the amount of Swamp land in
Northern Minnesota and reported to
the land department that many thou
sands of acres of high and dry land
were returned rs swamp land.
The state can lose nothing by the
law either way Us it stands, because
all the state can ask is land which is
granted it. a matter of fact, most
of the so-called swamp lands in North
ern Minnesota have been granted to
the railroads. Under the old rule the
railroads goBbled up everything not
contested, whether actually swamp or
high land. As soon as tue people
found a large portion of the survey
was fraudulent, they began TO contest
the section line returns. II was 10
the interests Of the railroads and
other grantees OF the state 10 secure
the new rule, which practically pro-
hibits anyone from contesting or con-
tradicting the fraudulent survey,
lone of the worst features of the
new rules is that it not only applies
TO the land already surveyed, but also
applies to the land hereafter TO be
surveyed It fellows. therefore. that
If the field notes OF survey cannot be
contradicted under any circumstances
whatever. all the railroads or grantees
of the state will have to do viii be to
Tx the deputy surveyors SO they can
hereafter return everything, timber,
mineral lands and all, as swamp.
Incompetent, irresponsible surveyors
are often employed by the govern
ment in this work because they Of
fer their work cheaper. An eXamina-
tion of some OF the plats on file in the
land Office shows that four-fifths of
the land, at least, has been returned
as swamp. This is preposterous.
One would think from this that The
whole state was barren swamp, in
stead of one OF the richest farming
sections in the entire country.
I'VE wish noinjustice TO the state
or railroads. All the petitioners ask
is that the grant made by the gov
.r,,,,o,,. ON . y,,n MN lands cAnul6 lac
confined to lands the greater part OF
which is actually swamp.
Under the present rule thousands
and thousands of acres of rich, high
and dry land must ines itably be shut
out from settlement and held fol
speculative purposes, principally by
railroad interests. This rule, instead
of simplifying the adjustment OF
swamp land grants, must lead tC
long and vexatious litigation, for the
reason that men now applying fol
these lands have been advised that
the rule will not stand the test of the
courts.
| Another feature OF the new rule Ii
that an exception was made in favor
1 of men who had settled on the lane
before the new rule went into effect
but excluding men desiring to pur
chase those tracts for their timber
OF course. no man Of common sense
would pay $3.50 an acre for swamp o.
overfiowed land. and those entering
Hands for timber do so because mer
charitable timber only grows on higi
land. ("