Source: https://www.legalcrystal.com/case/82678/morton-vs-nebraska
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 16:48:05+00:00

Document:
l. The policy of the government, since the acquisition of the Northwest Territory and the inauguration of our land system, to reserve salt springs from sale has been uniform. This policy has been applied to the "Louisiana Territory," acquired by us from France in 1803, and probably would apply to the Territory of Nebraska, on general principles. Whether or not, it does apply under the Act of July 22, 1854, "to establish the offices of surveyor general of New Mexico, Kansas, and Nebraska." It applies at least so far as to render void an entry where the salines at the time had been noted on the field books, were palpable to the eye, and were not first discovered after entry.
2. Patents for land which have been previously reserved from sale are void.
3. Where an act of Congress speaks of "vested rights," protecting them, it means rights lawfully vested. Hence it does not protect a location made on public land reserved from sale.
Morton sued certain tenants of the state of Nebraska in ejectment to recover three hundred and twenty acres of salt land -- salines -- in the said state, a state formed, as every reader of these volumes is aware, out of that vast region formerly known as the Territory of Louisiana and purchased in 1803 by us from France. The land in question was palpably saline, so encrusted with salt as to resemble snow-covered lakes. The salines in question were noted on the field books, but these notes were not transferred to the register's general plats. The state intervened in the suit, and by its own request was made a defendant.
the lands being saline lands were not subject to such entry.
The question thus was whether, in Nebraska, saline lands were open to private entry; or more strictly, whether they were so under circumstances such as those above stated.
It was not denied by the plaintiff that the practice of the federal government, as exhibited by many acts of Congress (which being referred to in the opinion of the Court, need not here, by the reporter, be particularized), from an early date had been to exclude this sort of land, with certain other sorts, from public sale, generally. It had done so confessedly from the Northwestern Territory and from the Territory of Orleans, the now State of Louisiana. But the defendants conceived -- and such was their position -- that under the statutes regulating the matter in Nebraska, this was not so.
The matter was to be settled by certain acts of Congress, standing perhaps by themselves, or if their language was not clearly enough applicable to the District of Nebraska, by such acts, read by the light of the policy of the government and its numerous enactments on the main subject.
"And with the exception also of the salt springs and lead mines, and lands contiguous thereto."
"An act to establish the offices of surveyor general of New Mexico, Kansas, and Nebraska, to grant donations to actual settlers therein, and for other purposes."
This was an act of thirteen sections, and, as its title shows, relating to three different territories.
The first three sections related, without any question, exclusively to the Territory of New Mexico.
The first of them authorized the appointment of a surveyor general for that territory, with the usual powers and obligations of such officers.
The second made a donation of a quarter-section of land to all white males residing in it, who had declared an intention, prior to January 1, 1853, to become citizens; and also (on condition of actual settlement &c.;) to every white male citizen above twenty-one years of age who should remove or have removed there between January 1, 1853, and January 1, 1858.
The third authorized a patent for such land to issue.
" None of the provisions of this act shall extend to mineral or school lands, salines, military or other reservations, or lands settled on or occupied for purposes of trade and commerce, and not for agriculture."
"That sections 16 and 36 in each township, shall be, and the same are hereby reserved for the purpose of being applied to schools in the said territory, "
that is to say, the Territory of New Mexico, and the sixth reserves a quantity of land equal to two townships, for a university there.
The fourth section, therefore, as the reader will have noted, is interposited between sections which relate exclusively to the Territory of New Mexico, though it, itself, does not in terms so exclusively relate. The fifth section also, as he will have noted, makes a reservation for schools -- a matter which the fourth section in some way apparently had also legislated upon.
"That no lands on which are situated any known salines or mines shall be liable to entry under and by virtue of the provisions of this act."
Section eight authorizes the surveyor general to ascertain the origin, nature, character, and extent of all claims to lands under the laws, usages, and customs of Spain and Mexico, and lands covered thereby are to be reserved from sale.
Section nine gives the Secretary of the Interior power to "issue all needful rules and regulations for fully carrying into effect the several provisions of this act. "
The eleventh section directs surveys in the said territories.
"all the lands to which the Indian title has been or shall be extinguished within said Territories of Kansas and Nebraska to the operations of the Preemption Act of 4th September, 1841;"
"And the President is hereby authorized to cause the surveyed lands to be exposed to sale, from time to time, in the same manner and upon the same terms as the other public lands of the United States. "
notwithstanding its general language, bear on the Territory of Nebraska, was one question raised by the plaintiff in the case, who denied that it did or could. He asserted that it meant "none of the foregoing provisions," &c.; -- that is to say, the provisions in section two about the donation of land.
The state, on the other hand, insisting that it did apply to the other two territories mentioned in subsequent sections of the act, asserted also that whether it did or did not was unimportant, since by the twelfth section the lands in Nebraska were subjected to the provisions of the Preemption Act of 1841, which exempted "all known salines," within which class, as it happened, those in question came.
1st. An act of the 3d of March, 1857, [ Footnote 4 ] "to establish three additional land districts in the Territory of Nebraska."
"That the President is hereby authorized to cause the public lands in said districts to -- with the exception of such as may have been or may be reserved for other purposes -- be exposed to sale in the same manner as other public lands of the United States."
"SECTION 11. That all salt springs within said state, not exceeding twelve in number, with six sections of land adjoining, or as contiguous as may be to each, shall be granted to said state for its use, the said land to be selected by the governor thereof,"
into the Union), its governor made a selection of twelve salt springs, the ones now in question being of the number.
" Provided that no salt spring or lands, the right whereof is now vested in any individual or individuals, shall by this act be granted to said state."
It may here be remarked that the plaintiffs had obtained certificates of entry for the lands in controversy, and patents for them had been issued. The patents were transmitted from the General Land Office at Washington to the local office in Nebraska. Before their delivery, however, the Commissioner of the General Land Office, ascertaining that the lands patented were saline lands and not agricultural, recalled the patents and cancelled the location.
The court below gave judgment for the state. From that judgment the other side brought the case here.
The policy of the government since the acquisition of the Northwest Territory and the inauguration of our land system, to reserve salt springs from sale has been uniform. The Act of 18th May, 1796, [ Footnote 6 ] the first to authorize a sale of the domain ceded by Virginia, is the basis of our present rectangular system of surveys. That act required every surveyor to note in his field book the true situation of all mines, salt licks, and salt springs, and reserves for the future disposal of the United States a well known salt spring on the Scioto River and every other salt spring which should be discovered.
"That the several salt springs within said territory, with as many contiguous sections to each as shall be deemed necessary by the President, shall be reserved for the further disposal of the United States."
Missouri, the manner of selling the public lands is not changed, nor is a sale of salines in any instance authorized. On the contrary, they incorporate the same reservations and exceptions which are contained in the Act of March 3, 1811. In all of them, the Act of 18 May, 1796, is the rule of conduct for all surveyors general and their deputies, as the Act of 10 May, 1800, is the rule for all registers, requiring them to exclude from sale all salt springs, with the sections containing them.
In this state of the law of saline reservations, the Act of 22 July, 1854, was passed. It is by no means certain that the Act of March 3, 1811, did not work the reservation of every saline in the Louisiana Purchase, but without discussing this point, it is enough to say that the Act of 1854 leaves no doubt of the intention of Congress to extend to the territory embraced by the States of Kansas and Nebraska the same system that had been applied to the rest of the Louisiana Purchase. There was certainly no reason why a long-established policy, which had permeated the land system of the country, should be abandoned. On the contrary, there was every inducement to continue for the benefit of the states thereafter to be organized the policy which had prevailed since the first settlement of the Northwestern Territory. In the admission of Ohio and other states, Congress had made liberal grants of land, including the salt springs. This it was enabled to do by reserving these springs from sale. Without this reservation, it is plain to be seen there would have been no springs to give away, for every valuable saline deposit would have been purchased as soon as it was offered for sale. An intention to abandon a policy which had secured to the states admitted before 1854 donations of great value cannot be imputed to Congress unless the law on the subject admits of no other construction.
offered at public sale, and so made subject to private sale by entry. By it, surveyors general for New Mexico and for Kansas and Nebraska were appointed, with the usual powers and duties of such officers. And although there are provisions relating to New Mexico applicable to that territory alone, yet the leading purpose of this act was to bring into market as soon as practicable the lands of the United States in all of these territories. In New Mexico this could not be done as soon as in Kansas or Nebraska on account of the policy adopted of donations to actual settlers, who should remove there before the 1st of January, 1858, and because of the necessity of segregating the Spanish and Mexican claims from the mass of the public domain. For this reason, doubtless, local land offices were not created in New Mexico, but they were in Kansas and Nebraska, and registers and receivers appointed, with the powers and duties of similar officers in other land offices of the United States. And the President was authorized to cause the lands, when surveyed, to be exposed to sale, from time to time, in the same manner, and upon the same terms and conditions, as the other public lands of the United States. If there were no other provisions in the law than we have enumerated, we should hesitate to say, in view of the limitation on sales prescribed by law wherever public lands had been offered for sale, that they did not of themselves work a reservation of the land in controversy. In conducting the public sales, the register always reserved salines, as it was his duty to do, when marked on the plats, and this was never omitted except by the neglect of the surveyors general or their deputies. But the fourth section of the act removes all doubt upon that subject. That section declares that none of the provisions of this act shall extend to mineral or school lands, salines, military, or other reservations or lands settled on or occupied for purposes of trade and commerce.
section would read "none of the (foregoing) provisions shall extend to salines or mineral lands." There is no authority to make this importation and in this way subtract from the general words of the section. The language of the section is imperative, and leaves no room for construction. Besides, why should an intention be imputed to Congress to exclude actual settlers from saline lands but leave them open to private entry by speculators. The legislation upon the subject of public lands has always favored the actual settlers, but the construction contended for would discriminate against them and in favor of a class of persons whose interests Congress has never been swift to promote.
Apart from this, however, the purpose which Congress had in view is to be found in the unbroken line of policy in reference to saline reservations, from 1796 to the date of this act. To perpetuate this policy and apply it equally to all the lands of the three territories was the controlling consideration for the incorporation of the section, and although the words of the section are loose and general, their meaning is plain enough when taken in connection with the previous legislation on the subject of salines. It cannot be supposed without an express declaration to that effect that Congress intended to permit the sale of salines in territories soon to be organized into states, and thus subvert a long-established policy by which it had been governed in similar cases. If anything were needed to show that the fourth section did reserve salines from sales, it can be found in the Act of 3d of March, 1857, [ Footnote 14 ] rearranging the land districts in Nebraska. This act excepts from sale such lands "as may have been reserved." This is a declaration that lands had been reserved, and obviously it is a legislative construction of the fourth section of the Act of 1854, for nowhere else, except by implication, had there been reservations of any sort in the Territory of Nebraska.
intended to reserve salines. The purpose of reserving them was to preserve them for the use of the future states, and no state had been organized without a grant of salt springs. In some of the states, the grant was of all within their boundaries, but on the admission of Missouri and since, the number was limited to twelve. This number, with a certain quantity of contiguous lands, were granted to Nebraska on her admission. In doing this, Congress must have assumed that the springs had been reserved from sale, for if this had not been done, the presumption is there would have been nothing for the grant to operate upon. It may be true that lands only fit for agriculture will remain a long time unentered, but this would never be the case with lands whose surface was covered over with salt. It would be an idle thing to make a grant of such lands if there had been a previous right of entry conceded to individuals. This was in the mind of Congress, and induced the reservation in the Act of 1854 by means of which Nebraska could be placed on an equal footing with other states in like situation.
" Provided that no salt spring or lands, the right whereof is now vested in any individual or individuals, or which hereafter shall be confirmed or adjudged to any individual or individuals, shall by this act be granted to said state."
and Congress adopted the appropriate means for ascertaining and confirming them. They were numerous and of various grades, and covered town sites and every species of lands. In Missouri, as the records of this Court show, they were quite extensive, and when she was admitted into the Union, many of these titles were perfect, and still a large number imperfect. In this condition of things, Congress thought proper in granting the salt springs to the state to say that no salt springs the right whereof now is or shall be confirmed or adjudged to any individual shall pass under the grant to the state. Whether this legislation was necessary to save salt springs claimed under the French treaty it is not important to determine, but manifestly it had this purpose in view, and nothing more. It could not refer to salt springs not thus claimed, because all entry upon them was unlawful on account of previous reservation. It speaks of confirmations which had been made and those which were awaiting governmental action, and in this condition were all the titles the United States were bound to protect.
entry. If Congress had intended to ratify invalid entries like these, they would have used the language of ratification. Instead of doing this, the language actually employed negatives any idea that Congress intended to give validity to any unauthorized location on the public lands.
The Preemption Act of the 4th of September, 1841, [ Footnote 19 ] declares that "no lands on which are situated any known salines or mines shall be liable to entry," differing in this respect from the acts of 1796 and 1854, which reserve every "salt spring" and "salines." The salines in this case were not hidden, as mines often are, but were so encrusted with salt that they resembled "snow-covered lakes," and were consequently not subject to preemption. Can it be supposed that a privilege denied to preemptors in Nebraska was conceded in the Act of 1864 to persons less meritorious?
It appears by the record that on the survey of the Nebraska country, the salines in question were noted on the field books, but these notes were not transmitted to the registers' general plats, and it is argued that the failure to do this gave a right of entry. But not so, for the words of the statute are general and reserve from sale or location all salines, whether marked on the plats or not.
What effect the statute might have on salines hidden in the earth, not known to the surveyor or the locator but discovered after entry, may become a question in another case. It does not arise in this. Here, the salines were not only noted on the field books, but were palpable to the eye. Besides this, the locators of the warrants, before they made their entries, were told of the character of the lands. Indeed, it is quite clear that the lands were entered solely on account of the rich deposits of salt which they were supposed to contain.
2 Stat. at Large 665 § 10.
5 Stat. at Large 456.
11 Stat. at Large 186.
1 Stat. at Large 464.
2 Stat. at Large 277.
Ib. 548; 3 id. 489.
10 Stat. at Large 308.
3 Stat. at Large 547, § 6.
5 id. 58; 12 id. 126.
Soulard v. United States, 4 Pet. 511.
Polk v. Wendell, 9 Cranch 99; Minter v. Crommelin, 18 How. 88; Reichart v. Felps, 6 Wall. 160.

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