| Show REVERSE DECISION ON LANDS WILLIAMS wili will IAMS lams AND YOUNG attorneys for the union pacific railroad company received a telegram today to day from L burnham esq of Oma oms haLand commissioner for the company i stating that tho the supreme court of the united had this morning morin 91 reversed the decision of secretary schurz schutz in regard to railroad lands I 1 this is most a important ruling and should be generally known and understood it ft will be remembered that last summer united states land lland Commis commissioner eloner williamson rendered a decision in the case of nelson neison dudymott vs the kansas pacific railroad company to the tho effect that all railroad lands which had not been disposed of by the companies to which they were granted by the time specified in the acts of congress in IV relation thereto were open to preemption pre emption by settlers under the land laws at per acre which amount when paid be retained by the re ce celver iver lver and placed to the credit of tile the companies claiming the land thia decision was sustained and endorsed by the secretary of the interior july 23 1878 and was based upon a strict construction of the last clause of section 3 of the act of congress approved july 1 1862 entitled an act to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the missouri river to the pacific ocean which clause is in the following words and all such lands so granted by this thia section which shall not be s old or disposed bf of by said company within three years after the enire road shall have been completed shall bo be abject subject to settlement and preemption pre emption like other lands at a price not exceeding one dollar and twenty five centa cents per acre to tb be paid to baid eaid com company rady paDy the railroad companies claimed that the lands in InI question had been disposed of by mert mortgage gage as security i for bonds but the land commissioner lioner and secretary of the interior hold the view that the land must be actually sold to alboha a onya onna ride fide purchaser to nil 1111 the requirement of the law in relation to it and that therefore the tha mortgages would not coer coyer the ground instructions were thereupon issued to the registers and receivers to accept declaratory of preemption pre emption from settlers on these lands with rules and regulations governing such cases in an official circular a copy of which was published in this paper and which c h contained the following list of railroads whose grants were subject to the act of july 1 with the dates of completion three years after which their claim expired ired on unsold lands union pacific railroad completed july 15 1869 kansas pacific rail bail way completed october 19 1872 1 denver denter pacific railway ballway completed may 2 1872 sioux city and pacific railroad completed march 2 central pacific ed july 15 1869 1669 western pacific railroad Bail road completed january 21 1870 the railroad companies and particularly ticul arly the union pacific announced theli their intention to contest this decision in the courts and so warned all persons who attempted to 0 o obtain pos bession of their land under its regulations we took th the 5 same view of the matter as the commissioner and the secretary who were each very positive of th the e correct correctness riess liess ol 01 their decision we considered that a mortgage to secure payment of bonds was not a bona fide sale or disposition of the property as contemplated in the law and endorsed the following argument by secretary schurz schutz it has been from the earI earl earliest iest lest history of this government one of the most important and beneficent principles governing its land policy not to favor the creation of large estates but to put the public lands at such rates and in such quantities within the easiest los Ios possible sibie sible reach of the poor and homeless that the latter might acquire homes for themselves and their families and anu thereby promote a healthy development t of the agricultural resources of the country this principle has bai evidently been bean kept in view by the lawmaking law making power when aiding the donst construction ruction of national highways by extensive grants efland of land and in accordance I 1 with A it it was wisely provided in this grant that unless the lands granted were eold cold by the companies within a reasonable time they should be opened to actual settlement under the auspices of the government of the united states and under the provisions of the preemption pre emption lawso that the they might be acquired and settled upon by persons of limited means while the proceeds of such sales are to be turned over ever to the companies 11 but an appeal to the supreme coutt has legally settled the question in the contrary according to the telegram received that judicial body has decided that the land grant mortgage was a disposal of the lands in question and that therefore they were not open to preemption pre emption the great railroad companies are triumphant the public bro pro defeated the soulless corporations still grasp the broad acres of the public domain and can laugh at the meaning and intent of the law enacted to restrict them and gi poor settler a chance to acquire a home the U P company now announces its intention to prosecute to the full extent all squatters who do not move at once from their lands 1 6 matter matten what may be thought of bf the justice or logic of the decision it proceeds from the court of last resort and is final the poor squatter squatters must coif he has followed the elie rulings of the land commissioner and secretary odthe of the interior of course arrangements will bd ba made for the return of any moneys that may have been paid into land lane offices offles for railroad lands but this will be poor satisfaction to those who have commenced to build a home and have made improvements upon the soil boll they expected to call their own their only course now is ito to make as good terms as possible with the railroad companies the singular decision of the supreme court should be circulated as widely as pos elble sible |
