No. 9.

JOINT RESOLUTION relative to court house and post office in the city of Oshkosh.

Resolved by the assembly, the senate concurring, That the senators in congress from this state be directed, and the representatives requested to use all proper endeavors to procure from congress an appropriation for the erection of a suitable building in the city of Oshkosh for the accommodation of the United States court held in that city, and the use of the post office department.

Resolved, That the secretary of state send certified copies of the foregoing resolution to each of our senators and representatives in congress.

Approved March 11, 1784.

No. 10.

JOINT RESOLUTION, relating to the improvement of the Mississippi river and its tributaries.

WHEREAS, The improvement of the Mississippi river and its tributaries will go far toward solving the vexed question of transportation, affording to the people of different sections of our country the opportunity for interchange of their products at less cost, and to the producers of the West especially, a choice of markets and a better price for the fruits of their industry, and

WHEREAS, These measures are in the highest degree national in character and of peculiar importance to the people of the Mississippi valley, therefore, be it

Resolved, by the senate, the assembly concurring, that our Senators from this state be instructed, and our representatives in congress requested to urge in the congress of the United States, the opening of the mouth of the Mississippi river, so that a clear channel of sufficient depth for the largest vessels of commerce, may at all times be maintained; the immediate completion of works in progress at the Des Moines and Rock Island rapids; the removal of obstructions from the channel of the Mississippi river according to the recommendations of the United States engineer in charge, so that a channel of not less than ten feet in depth may at all times be maintained before the mouth of the Missouri, and the improvement of the chief tributaries of the Mississippi, and of the upper portions of that river, so that the main channel may become accessible as a highway for commerce to the people of all the states of the Mississippi valley, and the appropriations of such sums as may be necessary to carry forward, without delay, this great work of national importance. And be it further

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted by the governor to our senators and representatives in congress, and to the presiding officers of the United States senate and house of representatives.

Approved March 12, 1874.

No. 11.

JOINT RESOLUTION directing the secretary of state not to publish bill number four hundred and sixty-six, Assembly, regulating tariff on railroads, until April 28, 1874.

Resolved by the senate the assembly concurring, That the secretary of state be and hereby is instructed not to publish or cause to be published, until April 28, 1874, Assembly bill number four hun. dred and sixty-six, an act passed during the present session of the legislature regulating the tariff for the transportation of passengers and freights on railroads in this state.

Approved March 12, 1874.

No. 12.

JOINT RESOLUTION directing the commissioners of school and univer. sity lands to ascertain if the state of Wisconsin is entitled to any patents for lands from the United States.

Resolved, by the senate, the assembly concurring, That the commissioners of school and university lands are hereby authorized and directed to take such action as they shall deem necessary for the purpose of ascertaining whether the state of Wisconsin is now entitled to patents of any lands from the United States, and if so to endeavor to obtain the same: provided, that no expense to the state shall be incurred in carrying out the provisions of this resolution.

Approved March 14, 1874.

No. 13.

JOINT RESOLUTION of condolence on the death of Hon. Charles Sumner.

Resolved by the senate, the assembly concurring, That the legislature of Wisconsin has just heard with deep regret, of the death of Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, a man who always acted true to his convictions; who was true and faithful to the principles of a republican form of governmen; a statesman and scholar, whose oss the United States have reason to deplore.

Resolved, That the governor transmit a copy of the foregoing resolution to the president of the United States senate and to the governor of Massachusetts.

Approved March 12, 1874.

No. 14.

JOINT RESOLUTION relating to the action of the governor of Wiscon sin in the Central Wisconsin land grant.

WHEREAS, On the 20th day of February, 1874, His Excellency, Governor Taylor, transmitted to the assembly a message inform ing the legislature that he had issued and delivered to the Wisconsin Central Railroad Company, certificates of construction of sections two, three, four and five, of twenty miles each, upon the first one hundred miles of the land grant line of read northwest of Stevens Point; and,

WHEREAS, His Excellency, the governor, did not regard it to be his duty under the law, nor did he assume to decide whether the said company was or was not entitled to lands upon said certificates, and certified to a fact only, to wit, that the company had constructed and completed the several sections of road above named and set forth in said certificates; and, WHEREAS, His Excellency, the governor, did certify and set forth in said certificates, one other and further fact, to wit, that the said Wisconsin Central Railroad Company has built no portion of any railroad whatever between Portage City and Stevens Point; therefore,

Resolved by the senate, the assembly concurring, That the secretary of the interior be and he is hereby requested to withhold patents to all lands pertaining to any sections of said road, as to the completion of which any certificates may hereafter be issued by the governor, until said railroad company shall give satisfactory security to said interior department for the building of said road from Stevens Point to Portage City, on the present or some other line, which the legislature may hereafter designate.

Resolved, That if said secretary be of the opinion that the remaining lands uncertified to by the governor be inadequate secur ity for the building of said road between said Stevens Point and Portage City, then he is hereby requested to withhold any and all patents upon any certificates heretofore issued by said governor until the state can be heard upon the subject.

Resolved, That the governor be, and he is requested, to trans mit to the secretary of the interior, and to each of our representatives and senators in congress, a copy of the foregoing preamble and resolution, and that the said representatives and senators are requested to exert their influence to secure the object of said reso lution.

Approved March 12, 1874.

T

MEMORIALS.

No. 1.

MEMORIAL to congress for an extension of time to construct the Wisconsin Central Railroad.

To the honorable, the senate and house of representatives of the United States, in congress assembled:

The memorial of the legislature of the state of Wisconsin respectfully represents to your honorable bodies:

WHEREAS, It is represented by the Wisconsin Central Railroad Company, that by act of congress, approved May 5, 1864, certain lands were granted to aid in the construction of a railroad from Portage City, Fond du Lac, Berlin or Doty's Island, as the legislature of Wisconsin might designate, in a north westerly direction to Bayfield, and thence to Superior, on Lake Superior, and by the provisions of chapter 314 and chapter 362 of the private and local laws of the legislature of the state of Wisconsin for the year 1866, the Winnebago and Superior and Portage and Superior Railroad Companies were organized with authority to construct a railroad from Portage City via Ripon, Berlin and Stevens Point to Bayfield and Superior, on Lake Superior; also to construct a railroad from Doty's Island via Stevens Point to Bayfield, and thence to Superior, on Lake Superior, and the lands so as aforesaid granted to the state of Wisconsin, were conferred upon said railroad companies by the several provisions of the said acts of incorporation and upon the terms of the said act of congress herein before referred to, with some variations from said act of congress, in respect to the initial point and direction of said land grant railroad, which said chauge of initial point and direction was afterwards, on the 21st day of June, 1866, fully ratified and approved by joint resolution of congress of the United States, and the assent of the United States was thereby given to the disposition of the said lands granted to the state of Wisconsin, as the same had been theretofore disposed of by the said several acts of the legislature of said state herein before referred to; and that neither of the said railroad companies for nearly three years after their incorporation did any

thing under their said charters and said grant, other than to perfect their organization and to accept the trusts conferred upon them by their said acts of incorporation; and by the provisions of both said acts incorporating the said Winnebago and Superior and Portage and Superior Railroad Companies, the said companies were authorized to consolidate their charters and chartered rights; and also, by a like further authority embodied in chapter 257 of the private and local laws of 1869, passed by the legislature of the state of Wisconsin, the said railroad companies were authorized to consolidate and were thereby consolidated under the name of the Portage, Winnebago and Superior Railroad Company; and did thereafter, on the 14th day of June, 1869, commence the sarvey and location of its line of road at Portage City, and prosecuted the same to completion to Superior City in or about the month of September of the same year, and in the following October had its maps of said survey and location duly certified by the secretary of state of the state of Wisconsin, and soon thereafter had the same filed in the office of the secretary of the interior, at Washington; and in the following month of November the said lands were ordered to be, and the same were then withdrawn from the market. Between the time of the approval of said act of congress, May 5, 1864, and the withdrawal from the market of said lands, considerable tracts of the most valuable part thereof bad been purchased of the government and selected by the Fox and Wisconsin River Improvement Company.

And it is further represented by said company, that by the provisions of chapter 27 of private and local laws of 1871, passed by the legislature of said state, the name of said Portage, Winnebago and Superior Railroad Company, was changed to that of the "Wisconsin Central Railroad Company."

And it is further represented by said company, that this company, during the year 1870, expended nearly one hundred thousand dellars in location and preparation of its line of road ready for the work of construction, which was commenced in May, 1871, and it has finished, equipped, and is now operating two hundred miles of its road, and has entered and worked upon the entire route to Ashland, and laid track from both ends.

And it is further represented by said company, that extraordinary obstacles, not to be foreseen and great national calamities beyond its control have alone prevented the work from being finished from Portage City and Menasha to Ashland.

And it is further represented by said company, that the natural obstructions to be overcome are great. From Wisconsin river the road is an avenue of heavy clearing, bordered by an almost unbroken line of trees. The labor of clearing and grubbing is enormous; heavy cuts have to be made, large streams and deep ravines have to be crossed, and many bridges, some of wood and some of iron, have already been built. One of these bridges made of wrought iron, built by this company in the heart of the

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