RAILROAD LAND GRANTS. 95 



Company has now only a nominal existence. It was consoli- 

 dated in June, 1881, with the Texas Pacific, the President of 

 which is Mr. Jay Gould. 



" 2. An agreement signed by the President of the New Or- 

 leans, Baton Rouge, and Vicksburg to use its third of the new 

 land grant bonds thus acquired in taking up the outstanding 

 stock and bonds of the defunct corporation. 



" A protest against the transfer was made by several members 

 of Congress and other holders of the old corruption bonds. 

 Attorney General Brewster was asked to prepare an opinion. 



" That the opinion exists, and is dead against the rights of 

 the people to the ownership of the forfeited land grant, is 

 known to several who have seen and read the paper. Yet, al- 

 though it is a public document, and a document of exceeding 

 interest, it is carefully kept from the eyes of the public. The 

 other papers in the case are also guarded with zealous care 

 from the public eye. Judge Payson, of Illinois, read the opin- 

 ion, and immediately wrote to the Secretary of the Interior 

 asking to be heard before action was taken. Judge Payson's 

 protest is all that now stands in the way of the speedy consum- 

 mation of the great land grabbing scheme. Secretary Teller 

 has only to accept Commissioner Hassard's report and to for- 

 ward it to President Arthur for his formal approval, and to 

 direct the Land Commissioner to issue patents for the land. 

 That is all that remains to be done. Then the old corruption 

 account of 1871 is settled at the nation's expense, a clear gift 

 of about $2,000,000 is made by the nation to certain men, and 

 the forfeited rights of a defunct corporation to 1,492,000 acres 

 of the public domain are floated over miles of space and years 

 of time to another and entirely different road, built on the other 

 side of the Mississippi river, and not finished until years after 

 the original grant was forfeited." 



These operations have undoubtedly aided in the 

 construction of some roads valuable to the nation. 

 But let us briefly look at the cost of these roads to 

 the nation ; we may thus discover to whom they 



