way through the public lands to the extent of one hundred feet on each side of the railroad, the right to use materials from adjacent lands belonging to the United States, the right to take all grounds or lands, in addition to the one hundred feet on each side of the road, that may be necessary for station, shop, turn-table, switching, or other purposes, exemption of the right of way from taxation in the Territories, and for every mile of said railroad constructed in the Territories forty sections, 25,600 acres, of the public lands, and for every mile in the States twenty sections, 12,800 acres, of the same. (See sections 2 and 3 of the act.) The conditions attached to these grants are given in section 8 of the act, as follows, namely: Work on the road was to be commenced within two years from the date of approval of the act, July 27, 1866—that is, before July 27, 1868; after the second year not less than fifty miles of road per year was to be completed, and the main line was to be completed by July 4, 1878; and if the company suffered any breach of these conditions to continue over one year, section 9 of the act provides that the United States may at any time thereafter "do any and all acts and things which may be needful and necessary to insure a speedy completion of the said road." The terms of this act were accepted by the company November 22, 1866, and acceptance filed in the Department of the Interior November 27, 1866. Maps of the general route having been filed, public lands embraced within the limits of the grant were withdrawn from sale and the right of the company attached thereto, as follows, namely: San Miguel, Cal Los Angeles County west line, California.. Los Angeles County west line, California.. A point in township 7 north, range 7-east, A point in township 7 north, range 7 east, San Bernardino Mission, San Bernardino The construction of this railroad was commenced July 4, 1868; and the first map of definite location was filed in the General Land Office December 10, 1870, "from Springfield, Mo., to Neosho, Mo." The last map for main line was filed August 15, 1872. Construction.-Affidavits of the chief engineer of the company, on file in the General Land Office give, dates of completion of sections as follows: First 25 miles west from Springfield, September 27, 1870. Fifth 25 miles west from Isleta, N. Mex., March 25, 1881. This road has been constructed west from Springfield, Mo., as far as the Arkansas River in Indian Territory, and from Isleta, N. Mex., to the Colorado River, but as yet is not a matter of record in the Department, and dates cannot be given further. The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Company having suffered a default in the payment of interest on their outstanding bonds, the mortgage given to secure the same was foreclosed by a decree of the circuit court of the United States for the eastern district of Missouri, and the entire property, including the land grant in Missouri, was sold, by virtue of said decree, on September 7, 1876, to William F. Buckley, and by him conveyed, November 2, 1876, to the Saint Louis and San Francisco Railway Company, which company became and is now the owner of the property and franchise in Missouri which had belonged to the South Pacific and Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Companies, and also of about 655,000 acres of South Pacific lands and 306,000 acres of Atlantic and Pacific lands. West of the western boundary of the State of Missouri the road and appurtenances in the Indian Territory and in New Mexico are still owned by the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Company. The road from Albuquerque, N. Mex., west is known as the "western division." The length of road and extent of land grant for the whole line included in the charter act may be stated approximately as follows, namely: The company's estimate of the above is 2,472.98 miles of road and 49,244,803 acres of land. The estimate of the General Land Office is 2,544.65 miles of road and 50,067,600 acres of land. San Francisco 655 12, 800 Van Buren 5 12, 800 2,500 The United States having no public lands in the State of Texas, and the lands in the Indian Territory having been "otherwise appropriated" at the date of the grant, there must be deducted from the above total 20,480,000 acres, which leaves 31,360,000 acres actually granted, from which are likewise to be deducted the following, namely: 1. Lands in Missouri previously disposed of. Acres. 645, 184 5,760,000 3. Lands in Arizona, "mineral," and otherwise, disposed of, estimated at one-half of the grant 2. Lands in New Mexico, "mineral," and otherwise, disposed of, estimated at one-half of the grant 5,120,000 4. Lands in California of the same character, estimated at one-third of the grant.... 5. Lands in Arkansas otherwise disposed of. 2,794,666 32,000 Total deductions, additional 14,351,850 After all these deductions are made, the quantity of land remaining for the use of the railroad company would be but 17,008,150 acres, and of this quantity the Saint Louis and San Francisco Railway Company received, in 1876, about 300,000 acres, and there had been disposed of by the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Company, prior to 1876, about 200,000 acres, the proceeds of which were applied to the construction of the road in Missouri; so that in round numbers about 16,500,000 acres of land are only available for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Company, to aid in the construction of its railroad of more than 2,000 miles. Of this amount 526,991.72 acres had been certified or patented up to June 30, 1883, as follows: Year ending June 30, 1871 Total... 491, 912.79 3, 131.71 3,669.01 941.13 3, 648.78 642.94 23,037.36 526, 991. 12 On October 25, 1870, this company was consolidated with the South Pacific Railroad Company (originally the Southwest Branch of the Pacific Railroad of Missouri), which was organized under provision of an act of the general assembly of Missouri, March 7, 1868. The South Pacific received a grant of lands under an act of Congress approved July 10, 1852 (10 Stat., 8). The Pacific Railroad of Missouri and all its leased lines were leased to the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Company July 1, 1872, for a term of 999 years. A tripartite agreement between this company and the Saint Louis and San Francisco, and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fé Companies, January 31, 1850, provided for the immediate construction of that portion of the road from the Rio Grande River to the Pacific Ocean, or the western division. "The work of construction was commenced at Albuquerque, N. Mex., in May, 1880; track-laying was begun in July of the same year, and with the exception of six months' delay in the first half of 1882, caused by the impossibility of getting material across Cañon Diablo, it was continued without interruption," and in October of the present year the line of the Southern Pacific Railroad was met at "The Needles," and a through line established to Los Angeles and San Francisco. THE NORTHERN OR FORTY-SEVENTH PARALLEL ROUTE. (Lake Superior to Puget Sound and Portland Oreg., about 2,000 miles.) Wallula to Portland, Oreg. (Oregon Railway and Navigation Company). 214 41 Kalama to New Tacoma, Wash 106 New Tacoma to Carbonado, Wash. (under construction to Palouse Junc.).. 34 2,206 Total Branch roads: Tacoma to Seattle, Wash., under construction-completed.. Little Falls, Minn, to Morris, Dak Superior, Wis., to Northern Pacific Junction Total 25 60 51 43 117 88 88 24. 496 The Northern Pacific Railroad Company was chartered by an act of Congress approved July 2, 1864, entitled "An act granting lands to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from Lake Superior to Puget Sound, on the Pacific coast, by the northern route." (13 Stat., 365.) Section 1 designates the routes as follows, namely: "Beginning at a point on Lake Superior, in the State of Minnesota or Wisconsin; thence westerly by the most eligible railroad route, as shall be determined by said company, within the territory of the United States, on a line north of the forty-fifth degree of latitude to some point on Puget Sound, with a branch, via the valley of the Columbia River, to a point at or near Portland, in the State of Oregon, leaving the main trunk line at the most suitable place, not more than 300 miles from its western terminus." Section 2 grants to the company the right of way through the public. lands to the extent of "two hundred feet in width on each side of said railroad, including all necessary ground for station buildings, workshops, depots, machine shops, switches, side tracks, turn-tables, and water stations." Section 3 grants to the company "every alternate section of public land, not mineral, designated by odd numbers, to the amount of twenty alternate sections per mile, on each side of said railroad line, as said company may adopt, through the Territories of the United States, and ten alternate sections of land per mile on each side of said railroad whenever it passes through any State, and whenever on the line thereof the United States have full title, not reserved, sold, granted, or otherwise appropriated, and free from pre-emption or other claims or rights, at the time the line of said railroad is definitely fixed, and a plat thereof filed in the office of the Commissioner of the General Land Office." Section 6 enacts "that the President of the United States shall cause the lands to be surveyed for forty miles in width on both sides of the entire line of said road, after the general route shall be fixed, and as fast as may be required by the construction of said railroad; and the odd sections of land hereby granted shall not be liable to sale or entry or pre-emption before or after they are surveyed, except by said company, as provided in this act; but the provisions of the act of September, 1841, granting pre-emption rights, and the acts amendatory thereof, and of the act entitled An act to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain,' approved May 20, 1862, shall be, and the same are hereby, extended to all other lands on the line of said road when surveyed, excepting those hereby granted to said company. And the reserved alternate section shall not be sold by the Government at a price less than $2.50 per acre when offered for sale." Sections 8 and 9 give the conditions attached to the grant as follows, namely: "That each and every grant, right, and privilege herein are so made and given to and accepted by said Northern Pacific Railroad Company, upon and subject to the following conditions, namely: That the said company shall commence the work on said road within two years from the approval of this act by the President, and shall complete not less than fifty miles per year after the second year, and shall construct, equip, furnish, and complete the whole road by the 4th day of July, A. D. 1876;" and "that the United States make the several condi tioned grants herein, and that the said Northern Pacific Railroad Company accept the same, upon the further condition that if the said com. pany make any breach of the conditions hereof, and allow the same to continue for upward of one year, then, in such case, at any time hereafter, the United States, by its Congress, may do any and all acts and things which may be needful and necessary to insure a speedy comple tion of the said road." Section 10 enacts that "no mortgage or construction bonds shall ever be issued by said company on said road, or mortgage, or lien made in any way, except by the consent of the Congress of the United States." Section 20 enacts "that the better to accomplish the object of this act, namely, to promote the public interest and welfare by the construction of said railroad and telegraph line, and keeping the same in working order, and to secure to the Government at all times, but particularly in time of war, the use and benefits of the same for postal, military, and other purposes, Congress may, at any time, having due regard for the rights of said Northern Pacific Railroad Company, add to, alter, amend, or repeal this act." The conditions of this act were accepted by the company December 17, 1864, and acceptance filed in the Department of the Interior December 30, 1864. The joint resolution approved May 7, 1866 (14 Stats., 355), extended the time, for commencing and completing the railroad, for the term of two years. The joint resolution approved July 1, 1868 (15 Stats., 255), amended section 8 of the original act so as to read as follows: "That each and every grant, right, and privilege herein, are so made and given to and accepted by said Northern Pacific Railroad Company upon and subject to the following conditions, namely: That the said company shall commence the work on said road within two years from and after the 2d day of July, 1868, and shall complete not less than one hundred miles per year after the second year thereafter, and shall construct, equip. furnish, and complete the whole road by the 4th day of July, A. D. 1877." By the joint resolution approved March 1, 1869 (15 Stats., 346), Congress gave its consent for the company "to issue its bonds, and to secure the same by mortgage upon its railroad and its telegraph line, |