| Show Justice to Kansas Settlers iLEA YENWO TII Sept 30ne of the most important railroad land cases ever decided in the United States was decided today by Judge Brewer of the United States Circuit Court It was an equity case in the name of the AttorneyGeneral of the United States against the Kansas City Leaven worth S Southern Kansas Railway Company Com-pany The bill was filed January 13 1883 and alleged that the railroad company unlawfully I un-lawfully held 2000000 acres of land having obtained patents to lands to which it was not entitled These lands are in Allen bounty and are improved farms worth several sev-eral millions of dollars and the title to many other lands are directly involved The railroad company claimed the lands under a transfer from the Missouri Kansas Texas Railway Company and that company by a transfer from the Atchison Topeka d Santa Fe and also by an independent grant to itself It seems that the grant to the Atchison At-chison Topoka Santa Fe Company required re-quired that company to build a branch down I the Neosho Valley The grant was made onI March 3 1863 The Atchison Topeka J Santa Fe Company instead of building the branch transferred its right to do so to the Missouri Kansas Texas Railway Company After Congress made a grant dated July 4th 1866 to the Missouri Kansas and Texas Railway for the line down Neosho valley The company built such a I j I line but not as a branch of the Atchison j Topeka Santa Fe Company as required by I the grant to that company Judge Brewer held that the Atchison Topeka Santa Fe Company could not transfer its right in the I branch road and that even if it could the branch had not been built but an entirely I i I independent line belonging to a different I system The Missouri Kansas Texas Pa i cific Company had attempted to get both grants while only building one road and Judge Brewer held that the second grant superseded the first and the patents issued under the first grant to the Atchison Topeka I Santa Fe Company were void He fur ther held that the company c > nld not claim lands under the act of 18CO because it had I made no selection under that act The decision I de-cision is regarded as a great victory for the J settlers on the lands and there is great rejoicing re-joicing |
