262 



DAKOTA. 



the county of Traill assessed and levied taxes 

 for that year upon lands granted to the North- 

 ern Pacific Eailroad Company for the purpose 

 of aiding in the construction of said road, said 

 lands not being a part of the road-bed or any 

 way used for railway purposes. The county 

 treasurer proceeded to advertise said lands 

 for sale for non-payment of taxes. An appli- 

 cation was made to the Territorial District 

 Court to enjoin the collection of such taxes. 

 On appeal, the Supreme Court of the Territory 

 gave judgment for the defendant. Appeal was 

 taken to the Supreme Court of the United 

 States, and the decree of the Supreme Court of 

 the Territory of Dakota was reversed, with di- 

 rections to cause a decree to be entered per- 

 petually enjoining the treasurer of Traill County 

 from any further proceeding to collect the 

 taxes, the court holding that the provisions in 

 the act of July 17, 1870 that the lands granted 

 to the Northern Pacific Eailroad Company by 

 the act of July 2, 1864, shall not be conveyed to 

 the company or any party entitled thei'eto 

 ' until there shall be first paid into the Treas- 

 ury of the United States the cost of surveying, 

 selecting, and conveying the same by the com- 

 pany to party in interest ' exempt these lands 

 from State or Territorial taxation until such 

 payment is made into the Treasury. That ' the 

 Northern Pacific Eailroad Company has ac- 

 quired no equitable interest in the lands so 

 granted to it by reason of completing its road 

 and thus earning the granted lands which are 

 subject to State or Territorial taxation before 

 such payment is made into the Treasury of the 

 United States.' The doctrine promulgated by 

 the Supreme Court in this case was set aside by 

 act of Congress approved July 10, 1886. Ac- 

 cordingly, the Territorial officers caused the 

 surveyed lands belonging to the Northern Pa- 

 cific Eailroad Company to be assessed both in 

 1887 and 1888. The company has not paid 

 the taxes, and the validity of the tax has not 

 been passed upon by the courts." 



Another question has been in dispute as to 

 the validity of a gross-earnings tax. The same 

 company, having rendered its returns of gross 

 earnings for 1886, was taxed by the Territory 

 thereon $76,000, half of which became payable 

 on or before Feb. 15, 1887, and the other half 

 on or before Aug. 15, 1887. After paying the 

 first installment, the company refused to pay 

 that which became due August 15, and, for the 

 purpose of satisfying the tax, the Territorial 

 treasurer distrained a large amount of rolling- 

 stock. The corporation brought suit to pre- 

 vent the sale, and obtained from the District 

 Court a permanent injunction restraining it. 

 The company in its complaint showed that the 

 tax upon its earnings, local within the Terri- 

 tory, would not for the year exceed $12,000, 

 and the suit was maintained on the grounds 

 that the tax upon all the earnings not local 

 within the Territory was a tax upon interstate 

 commerce and void, and the company having 

 already paid more than the whole tax on local 



earnings for the year, no more could be col- 

 lected. The case was taken to the Supreme 

 Court of the Territory, and the decision of the 

 District Court affirmed. 



Section 1925 of the Eevised Statutes of the 

 United States provides as follows: "In addi- 

 tion to the restrictions upon the legislative 

 power of the Territories contained in the pre- 

 ceding chapter, section 1925, the legislative 

 assemblies of Colorado, Dakota, and Wyoming 

 shall not pass any law impairing the rights of 

 private property or make any discrimination 

 in taxing different kinds of property, but all 

 property subject to taxation shall be taxed in 

 proportion to its value." The question then 

 arises as to whether the gross-earnings law is 

 not in conflict with this section of the Eevised 

 Statutes. This question was not raised in the 

 late suit to enforce collections under the gross- 

 earnings law. The Northern Pacific Eailroad 

 Company, during 1888, paid about $10,000 tax 

 under the gross-earnings law. As under its 

 charter the road-bed of the Northern Pacific 

 Eailroad Company and all necessary property 

 appurtenant thereto are exempt from taxation, 

 it follows, if the gross-earnings law is invalid, 

 that the company will escape all taxation. 



Division and Statehood. During the year there 

 was much agitation and discussion throughout 

 the Territory on these two subjects, in the 

 course of which the various bills pending be- 

 fore Congress were thoroughly canvassed. On 

 February 29 an address was issued to the peo- 

 ple by the Division and Statehood Committee, 

 appointed by the Huron Convention of July, 

 1887, urging the people, in making their po- 

 litical nominations, to select only pronounced 

 divisionists, and exhorting the press to main- 

 tain an earnest advocacy of the division cause. 

 Later in the year this committee called a gen- 

 eral convention, to meet at Huron on July 10 

 and 11, in the interest of division, and, follow- 

 ing this on the 12th, separate conventions of 

 the various professions and of farmers and 

 business men for the same purpose. These 

 conventions met and adopted resolutions favor- 

 ing division. The various party conventions 

 also generally adopted division resolutions, and 

 nominated candidates favorable to division. 

 The result of the general election in November 

 rendered an early admission of the Territory 

 probable, and consequently gave renewed vigor 

 to discussion of the division question. North 

 Dakota had hitherto been considered hostile 

 to the plan of admission as two States; but 

 with the approach of the actual fact of admis- 

 sion there seems to have been a weakening of 

 this sentiment. While it had hitherto been 

 scarcely possible to bring together a conven- 

 tion of divisionists in North Dakota, such a 

 meeting was held at Watertown on December 

 5. This convention resolved : 



That we favor the division of North Dakota Terri- 

 tory on the seventh standard parallel, and the imme- 

 diate admission of the northern portion into the 

 Union of States. 



