ARE RAILROADS PUBLIC ENEMIES? 585 



to be put to the peril of the Government's refusal to ratify the gift, or 

 to the expense of bribing legislators. But if Mr. Hudson had received 

 a gift of lands (and even " an empire " is not — some who have at- 

 tempted it say — too great for the task) in exchange for the construc- 

 tion of a transcontinental railway, from the General Government, I 

 think, on reflection, he would consider himself harshly treated if, on 

 constructing the same, the Government should withhold ratification of 

 its gift. And if Mr. Hudson, w r hy not a railway company ? 



But what is a land-grant, or " gift of an empire," since Mr. Hudson 

 prefers that term ? To begin with, it is a devotion or dedication of a 

 certain portion of the public domain to railway purposes. Instead of 

 purchasing it at two or three dollars an acre, the railroad company 

 purchased it by building a railroad ; not where and when they pleased, 

 but between certain points, perhaps even through mountain-ranges, no 

 matter how great the difficulties or how costly the construction, tunnels 

 or viaducts, banks or bridges ; not at their leisure, but in good faith 

 as nearly within a specified time as human industry and allowance for 

 the uncertainty of human events, financial and physical, would permit. 

 Surely, this is no " gift " or " grab," to begin with. But, on building 

 this railroad, does the land thus " given " become the property of the 

 company ? Not yet. There are other details ; the land must be sur- 

 veyed by Government surveyors, and the company must pay the cost 

 of the survey in cash before it can take possession. Even Govern- 

 ment surveyors do not work for nothing, and land in its native wild- 

 ness, where human foot hath scarcely trod, is not apt to recoup much 

 of engineering expenses. Nor is this all. If there happens to be 

 upon the " empire " of land (which is granted by the square mile, and 

 without reference to any map, or former record of grant, by general 

 description in terms of quantity only) any acre or plot already occu- 

 pied by an individual, Indian tribe, or other company, does the Gov- 

 ernment guarantee its own " grant of empire " given to this company 

 as a consideration for the labor, services, and material it has exhausted 

 in building a transcontinental railway ? Strange as it may seem, the 

 Government not only does nothing of the sort, but in its own general 

 land-office sits as arbitrator between this earlier proprietor or these 

 earlier proprietors and its own grantee, upon its own grant ; and ap- 

 peals to the rule (first laid down by Lord Ellenborough) that, whereas 

 a private grant is to be construed strictly against the grantor, a public 

 grant, from a state to a subject, is to be construed strictly against the 

 grantee !" This matter (in which the Government's grantee is made 

 that unusual character, a defendant with the burden of proof) is tried 

 before the grantor Government, is heard by the commissioner whose 

 decision is to be affirmed or reversed on another hearing before another 

 employe of the grantor, the Secretary of the Interior. Or should the 

 contesting proprietor or alleged proprietors elect to begin his or their 

 action for trespass in the local State or Territorial court, it can be car- 



