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Show "the railroad from time to time took up the land and secured patents, vesting vest-ing absolute title, proof a?aluft any attack except the- allegation of fraud. Mining men claim that In many cases cas-es the railroad has secured paten' on valuable mineral land by declaring that It w.s agricultural Jand, and la this way the mining development of the region along tho railroad has been retarded. The present ninfter, with which the. attorney general's report deals, embraces em-braces twenty-four suits in faulty that have been In court for throe or four years, on nnd off. Hearings have been held hero and In Camn City before Judges nd refereeR, with special examiners ex-aminers and hosts of expert witnesses on both tides. The attorney general's report covering cov-ering this mailer follows: Twenty-four suits in equity have been brought and are pending In tho district of Nevada against the Central Cen-tral Pacific Railway company an I others, fo rtbe purpose of snnullug patents Issued to the railway company com-pany under the acts of Puly 1, 1 SC2, and July 2, 1S54. The gravity of these Kults lies In tho allegation that tho patents conveyed land which was chiefly valuable for miueral, and known to be such at the time thoy were Issued. The acreago Involved Is very large, and tho litigation Is regarded regard-ed as having an Important bearing up- on tho developments or the mining Industry In-dustry Jn the state. A number of cases are at Issue, and In some of them the government has already completed the taking of Its testimony. The deportment de-portment Is prepared to proceed vigorously, vigor-ously, if called upon, but the present indications are favorable to a general compromise which will result In tho restoration to the public domain of practically all of those portions of the areas Involved which may fairly 'io regarded as mineral land. co , MINERAL LAIS HELD FIFTY YEARS There is a prevalent notion that the government suits against the Central Piiclfic railway company to cancel patents pat-ents to valuable mineral lands in Olln-house. Olln-house. Ramsey nnd other parts of No vada will b compromised to the advantage ad-vantage of the rniulng men of the ate This ls given ..rce by the pub-1. pub-1. cation of the annual report of the attorney at-torney general of the United States. The report on this point does not furnish definite Information respecting respect-ing the progiess of the suits, but it Joes state that prcseut indications aie f.ivorable for a compromise, says the Reno Journal. Tho news, even in its present form, will be rocardej with gret yatisfac-t.on yatisfac-t.on by the roiuing men and prospectors prospect-ors of the state, and it is doubtful if anything el?o of equal importance has hitppened In the mining world since tin- state was organized. Tho property under dispute is land aloiig the rl?ht of way of the Centr.il Pacific railroad in Nevada, ilic railroad rail-road was given a grunt of twenty miles wide on each side of the tracks In alternative sections, and the grant made a princely dom.iin It was provided pro-vided that the land selected by the railroad should bo non-mine ml" land and more fitted for agriculture than for mining. In the years that p;ih.-1 |