By an
act of congress, approved September 28, 1850, (9 St. at
Large, 519,) it is provided:
"That
to enable the state of Arkansas to construct the necessary
levees and drains to reclaim the swamp and over-flowed lands
therein, the whole of those swamp and over-flowed lands, made
unfit thereby for cultivation, which shall remain unsold at
the passage of this act, shall be and the same are hereby
granted to said state.
"Sec
2. That it shall be the duty of the secretary of the
interior, as soon as may be practicable after the passage of
this act, to make out an accurate list and plats of the lands
described as aforesaid, and transmit the same to the governor
of the state of Arkansas, and, at the request of said
governor, cause a patent to be issued to the state therefor
and on that patent, the fee simple of said lands shall vest
in the said state of Arkansas, subject to the disposal of the
legislature thereof: provided, however, that the proceeds of
said lands, whether from sale or by direct appropriation in
kind, shall be applied exclusively, as far as necessary, to
the purpose of reclaiming said lands by means of the levees
and drains aforesaid.
"Sec
3. That in making out a list and plats of the land aforesaid
all legal subdivisions, the greater part of which is wet and
unfit for cultivation, shall be included in said list and
plats; but when the greater part of a subdivision is not of
that character, the whole of it shall be excluded therefrom.
"Sec
4. That the provisions of this act be extended to, and their
benefits be conferred upon, each of the other states of the
union in which such swamp and overflowed lands, known and
designated as aforesaid, may be situated."
By a
subsequent act, approved March 12, 1860, (12 St. at Large,
3,) it is enacted:
"That
the provisions of the act of congress entitled 'An act to
enable the state of Arkansas and other states to reclaim the
swamp-lands within their limits,' approved September 28,
1850, be, and the same are hereby extended to the states of
Minnesota and Oregon: provided, that the grant hereby made
shall not include any lands which the government of the
United States may have reserved, sold or disposed of (in
pursuance of any law heretofore enacted) prior to the
confirmation of title to be made under the authority of the
said act.
"Sec.
2. That the selection to be made from lands already surveyed
in each of the states, including Minnesota and Oregon, under
the authority of the act aforesaid, and of the act to aid the
state of Louisiana in draining the swamp-lands therein,
approved March 2, 1849, shall be made within two years from
the adjournment of the legislature of each state, at its next
session after the date of this act; and as to all lands
hereafter to be surveyed, within two years from such
adjournment at the next session after notice by the secretary
of the interior to the governor of the state that the surveys
have been completed and confirmed."
The
Minnesota Hospital for Insane was established by Laws 1866,
c. 6, (See Gen. St. 1878, c. 35, tit. 3,) and placed in
charge of a board of trustees created by that act, the
appointment of the trustees being vested in the governor of
the state, with the advice and consent of the senate, their
term of office being fixed at six years, and the board to be
organized by the election of a president and secretary from
their own number. It is provided in the act that the board
shall have charge of all appropriations to be made for the
benefit or care of the insane of the state, and (by section
14) that "the board of trustees may take and hold, in
trust for the hospital, any lands conveyed or devised, and
any money or other personal property given or bequeathed, to
be applied for any purpose connected with the
institute."
This
action was brought in the district court for Ramsey county,
pursuant to a joint resolution of the state legislature,
approved March 11, 1873, (Laws 1873, p. 283,) against the
defendants Brown and others as trustees of the hospital, and
against the defendant C. K. Davis, as governor of the state,
to establish the title of the plaintiff to a large quantity
of swamp-lands, granted to the state by act of congress
before mentioned, and which were claimed for the hospital
under the legislation and proceedings stated in the
complaint. [*]
The
case made by plaintiff in its complaint is in substance as
follows:
On
March 6, 1863, the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Co. was
and has ever since been a corporation, and was then
authorized to construct and operate a railroad from
Stillwater, by way of St. Paul and St. Anthony, to
Breckenridge on the Sioux Wood river, and certain branches,
including a branch from St. Paul to Winona, and to acquire
hold and convey lands. By an act of the legislature approved
on that day, entitled "An act granting lands to aid the
Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad Company in the construction
of their branch railroad from Saint Paul to Winona,"
(Sp. Laws 1863, c. 4,) it is enacted as follows:
"Section
1. That for the purpose of aiding in the construction of a
branch railroad from St. Paul to Winona, along the valley of
the Mississippi river, there is hereby granted to the St.
Paul and Pacific Railroad Company all the swamp-lands
belonging to this state, lying and being within the limits of
seven miles on each side of the line of said branch road from
St. Paul to Winona, as the same shall be located and
constructed; and as soon as any twenty continuous miles of
said branch road shall be located, and as often thereafter as
any further twenty continuous miles thereof shall be located,
the said lands within the limits aforesaid shall be withheld
from market and sale; and as soon as any twenty continuous
miles of said branch road shall be completed, and as soon and
as often thereafter as any further twenty continuous miles
thereof shall be completed, the said lands within said limits
shall be certified and conveyed to the said company by the
governor of the state. And if, when and as often as twenty
continuous miles of said branch road shall have been
completed with the cars running thereon, it shall be found
that any portion of the said swamp-lands within the said
seven miles have been sold or otherwise disposed of by the
United States or this state, the amount shall be made up and
supplied to said company out of the swamp-lands belonging to
the state, to be selected by said company outside of said
limits. And if, upon the completion of any twenty continuous
miles of said road, as aforesaid, it shall be found that
within the said seven miles of said line there shall not be
an amount of swamp-lands on each side of said line, belonging
to the state, equal to at least seven full sections per mile
of said road so completed, then the said company shall have
the right to and may select from the swamp-lands belonging to
this state, outside of said sevenmile limits, other
swamp-lands in an amount equal to such deficiency, and the
said lands so selected by said company outside of said
seven-mile limits shall be certified and conveyed to said
company by the governor of the state. And the said lands
shall not be subject to taxation until the same shall have
been sold and conveyed by the said company: provided, that if
the said company shall not within three years construct and
equip for business, with the cars running thereon, at least
twenty miles of said road, and the residue thereof within
five years from the passage of this act, then and in that
case all the lands hereby granted, appertaining to the
unbuilt portion of the said branch road, shall be forfeited
to the state."
By an
act approved March 1, 1861, (Sp. Laws 1861, c. 1, § 18,)
it was provided that the Lake Superior & Mississippi
Railroad Company, on compliance with certain conditions,
should be entitled to have and to own in fee all the
swamplands for seven miles on either line of its road, and
that if it should be found that within those limits there
should not be an amount of swamp-lands belonging to the state
equal to at least seven full sections per mile, then the
company should have the right to select from the swamp-lands
belonging to the state outside of those limits, and between
the Mississippi river, Lake Superior and Rainy Lake, enough
swamp-lands to make up the deficiency.
By an
act approved March 12, 1861, (Laws 1861, c. 65,) all the
swamp-lands then owned or which thereafter might be owned by
or come into possession of the state within the then
boundaries of the county of McLeod are donated to the
agricultural college of the state.
By an
act approved March 7, 1862, (Sp. Laws 1862, c. 56,) to aid
the construction of a state road from Madelia in Watonwan
county to the western boundary of the state, 10,000 acres of
swamp-lands are appropriated, to be selected within six miles
on either side of the road as located.
By an
act approved February 16, 1865, (Sp. Laws 1865, c. 1,) for
the purpose of aiding the Southern Minnesota Railroad Company
in the construction of its railroad, all the swamp-lands in
the odd-numbered sections in the Root river land-district,
and also all the swamp-lands in the odd-numbered sections
lying north of the Root river land-district, west of range
29, and south of the Minnesota river are set apart and
granted to the railroad company.
By an
act approved February 13, 1865, entitled "An act to
appropriate swamp-lands to certain educational and charitable
institutions therein named, and for the purpose of erecting a
state prison," (Laws 1865, c. 5,) it is enacted as
follows:
"Section
1. That as soon as the title to the swamp-lands donated by
congress to the state of Minnesota...
