Northern Pac Co v. Rockne

• Decision Date: 07 December 1885
• Parties: NORTHERN PAC. R. CO. v. ROCKNE, County Treasurer, etc. Filed
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

6 S.Ct. 201

115 U.S. 600

29 L.Ed. 477

NORTHERN PAC. R. CO. v. ROCKNE, County Treasurer, etc.

Filed December 7, 1885.

[Statement of Case from pages 600-603 intentionally omitted] W. P. Clough, for appellant, Northern Pac. R. Co.

M. S. Wilkinson, for appellee, Iver L. Rockne, County Treasurer, etc.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 603-606 intentionally omitted]

MILLER, C. J.

This is an appeal from a decree of the supreme court of the territory of Dakota. A suit was brought by the appellant in the district court of Traill county for the purpose of enjoining the authorities of that county from enforcing the collection of taxes assessed on lands of the company, on the ground that, by law and the acts of congress to be hereafter considered, they were not subject to taxation. The district court made a finding of the facts in the case, on which it declared the law to be for the defendant, and dismissed the bill. On appeal to the supreme court of the territory, the case was twice argued, and, though the membership of that court was changed by the substitution of two new judges for two retiring judges between the two hearings, the court was, in each instance, equally divided, and the judgment it rendered of affirmance had but the assent of two judges out of the six who had heard it argued.

The railroad company claims that the lands in question are not taxable under the decisions of this court in the cases of Railway Co. v. Prescott, 16 Wall. 603, and Railway Co. v. McShane, 22 Wall. 444. In those cases taxes levied on lands granted by congress to aid in building the roads were held to be void by reason of the fact that neither the companies, nor any one for them, had paid to the United States the costs of surveying those lands by the government. The taxes in the first case had been levied by authorities of the state, under the laws of Kansas, and in the second by like authorities of the state of Nebraska. These lands had originally been granted to the Union Pacific Railroad Company and other companies, to aid in building a road from the Iowa state line to the Pacific ocean, by an act of congress approved July 1, 1862. The company to which the grant was made for the branch of the road in Kansas was already in existence, and the company which received the grant to build the main road, namely, the Union Pacific Railroad Company, was chartered by this act, and the corporators immediately organized under it. In the year 1864 (July 2d) congress, by an amendatory act, made additional grants to the companies, and made several changes in the charter or original act, one of which, found in section 21, reads as follows: 'That before any land granted by this act shall be conveyed to the said company or party entitled thereto, * * * there shall first be paid into the treasury of the United States the cost of surveying, selecting, and conveying the same, by said company or party in interest, as the titles shall be required by said company.' 13 St. 365.

In the case of Railway Co. v. Prescott, which was a writ of error to the supreme court of Kansas, this court held these lands could not be assessed and sold for taxes under state laws until this cost of surveying them was paid to the United States, because the government retained the legal title to the same to compel this payment. The case was decided in 1872. In 1874 the case of Railway Co. v. McShane came before us, involving the same question, and because it also involved some other points decided in Railway Co. v. Prescott, which the court reconsidered and overruled, it necessarily received full consideration, the result of which was to reaffirm the proposition that, until the United States was reimbursed for the expenses of the survey of those lands, they were not subject to state taxation.

By an act approved also July 2, 1864, (13 St. 365,) congress passed a law chartering the Northern Pacific Railroad Com- pany to construct a road from Lake Superior to Puget's sound, on the Pacific coast, by the northern route, and made a munificent grant of the public lands to aid in this construction. The terms of the grant and its conditions were much the same as the original grant of 1862 to the Union Pacific Company and its branches. It contained the following provisions: 'Sec. 20. And be it further enacted, 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.' And in 1870, when making the appropriation for the survey of these lands within the limit of the grant to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, congress added this proviso: 'That before any land granted to said company by the United States shall be conveyed to any party entitled thereto under any of the acts incorporating or relating to said company, there shall first be paid into the treasury of the United States the cost of surveying, selecting, and conveying the same by the company or party in interest.' 16...