State. For this purpose he immediately repaired to Washington, and not obtaining a satisfactory decision from the Secretary of the Interior, appealed to the President, who referred the subject to the Attorney General, whose opinion was adverse to the State, and thereupon recourse was had to the Judiciary. A suit, in the name of E. C. Littlefield, Esq., against the Dubuque & Pacific Railroad Company, was instituted in the District Court of the United States, and judgment obtained in favor of the plaintiff for a tract of land embraced in this grant near Fort Dodge, derived from the State. An appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States was immediately taken, has already been submitted to that tribunal upon printed arguments, with assurances from the Court of an early decision, which the State confidently expects will be a favorable one, as it is impossible to conceive how the Govern ment is to avoid the legal effect of her repeated admissions, that our title extended to the source of the river. Too much praise cannot be awarded to Judge Mason for the able and indefatigable manner in which he has addressed himself to the object of his commission. The settlement made at its last session by the Legislature with the Des Moines Navigation & Railroad Company, has been duly carried out according to the terms expressed, a part of the details of which will be found in the Report of the Commissioner, E. Manning, Esq. It will be remembered that the River improvement was abandoned, except the completion of four dams, the state and condition of of which will be found in the reports of the present Commissioner, Wm. C. Drake, and the Chief Engineer, S. Dwight Eaton, Esq., to which your attention is respectfully called.

If these four dams should be completed, they will still be the source of constant annoyance and expense to the State, and it is clear to my mind that it would be the part of wisdom to do at once what in the end will have to be done, and that is, to transfer these dams, with all their privileges, to any responsible party or parties (if such can be found) who would undertake to complete and keep the same in repair. The dams, completed, might be disposed of to the highest responsible bidder, &c.

Justice to a large number of individuals, demands that I should bring to your attention another subject connected with this grant. The agents employed by the State to select the 500,000 acre grant, among others, selected 12,913.51 acres of land, chiefly in Webster

county, belonging to the river grant, which selection, with others, was approved February 20th, 1851.

Col. Benton, at that time the State Superintendent, with his usual caution and prudence, before ordering these lands into market, addressed a letter of enquiry to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, whether any of the selections in question conflicted with the Des Moines River grant. This was in March, 1853. Receiving a negative answer on the 6th of June, of the same year, he ordered the lands into market. In January thereafter, he received another letter from the Commissioner, to the effect that the approval of the selections of these 12,813 acres had been revoked, and confirmed to the State under the Des Moines River grant.

In the meantime, the School Fund Commissioner of Webster county, under the order of sale, disposed of some 4,859 acres of this land, by sale to actual settlers, who have improved and still occupy the same. Since then the State, under her contract for the improvement of the Des Moines River, has conveyed by deed these same lands to the Des Moines River Company, who now hold the legal title. In this condition of things what is to become of these settlers? It is true, perhaps, under the occupying claimant law, they may get the value of their improvement. But is this the measure of justice that should be meted out to them? They were purchasers in good faith, and although their misfortunes are the result of the laches of Federal officers, rather than that of the State, yet simple justice demands, under the circumstances, that the State should at best do all it could to have these lands confirmed to them. This can now only be done by negotiation.

I would respectfully suggest, where any of these parties are unwilling to take a reasonable compensation for their improvements, and surrender the land, that if they will pay to the Des Moines Navigation & Railroad Company, the price for which the State sells other school lands, that then the State will make up the residue of the purchase money to said Company, either in cash or land; provided the purchase can be made of said Company on just and reasonable terms.

A special agent might be commissioned to effect the negotiation on this basis, properly restricted in his powers.

At all events, the whole subject is submitted to your better wis

dom, earnestly expressing the hope that it will not be overlooked. SWAMP LANDS.-The grant of these lands for purposes named in the act, has been the source of much trouble to the State, and vexation to the people of the counties who were intended to be made by an act of the Legislature, the recipients of the same. After large quantities of these lands had been selected agreeably to the rules prescribed by the proper department, and approved by the Commissioner of the General Land Office as such, they were permitted to be entered or located with land warrants at the Government Land Offices, upon a bare representation that they were dry lands. A remonstrance from the State against so unjust a proceeding, resulted in the passage of an act by Congress confirming to the State the swamp land selections as they had been made.

Before this, however, Congress had, by an act passed for that purpose, recognized and confirmed the title of purchasers, and locators of such tracts as had been selected as swamp or over flowed lands, but made provision, at the same time, that upon due proof by the authorized agent of the State, before the Commissioner of the General Land Office, that any of the lands purchased were swamp lands within the true intent and meaning of the act aforesaid, the purchase money shall be paid over to the State, and when the lands have been located by warrant or scrip, the State should be authorized to locate a quantity of like amount, &c.

The General Assembly at its last session, made an appropriation of $2,000, to defray the expense of selecting the swamp and overflowed lands in twelve counties then unorganized, and the sending of an agent to Washington to settle the preliminaries of the proot required under the act of Congress alluded to, as well as some other open questions in relation to the manner of listing and patenting these lands to the State. The Hon. James Thorington was commissioned for this purpose, and an adjustment was effected, under which the General Government has, up to this date, certified or listed to the State 507,811.30 acres. The report of the State Register will show in what counties the lands are situated. The lists have been examined, corrected and approved, and patents requested to be issued to the State for the same, which is now in process of being done. 61,812.43 acres of the above amount, embraced within the Fort Des Moines and the old Iowa City Land

District, have recently been patented to the State, and which I have caused to be patented to the counties in which they are situated. It is believed the above lands will all soon be certified by patents to the State, and they belong to that class of swamp lands about which there is no controversy, the title being, as I have before stated, confirmed to the State by an act of Congress dated March 3rd, 1857. But in addition to these lands, there has been listed to the State 124,332.76 acres falling within the Ft. Des Moines and Chariton Land Districts, which had been wrongfully permitted to be entered by cash or with military land warrants, the title whereof has been confirmed to the several purchasers and locators, but idemnity for which is to be given to the State, provided it shall be proved in the method prescribed, that they were swamp and overflowed lands within the meaning and intent of the act granting the same at the date thereof, or at the time of their selection. Forms of the proof, with the requisite instructions, have been forwarded to the Judges of those counties where these lands are situated, that the work of establishing the swampy character of the same may be commenced.

The General Land Office, at Washington, is unwilling to adjust this grant with any other party than the State authorities, which devolves upon the Executive, greater duties than it is possible for him to perform with his other official labors. The examination and correction as they are forwarded, which is only done by land districts, the division of these lists into counties, and transmitting to such counties, those which are to be patented, and those which have been entered by cash, and those which have been located with land warrants in separate lists, that the requisite proof may be taken in regard to their character-and supplying the counties or other agents with all needful information they may require concerning the manner of conducting the proof-examining and correcting these proofs when taken, before they are transmitted to Washington for approval, will require more labor than one individual can bestow, should he give his entire time. Hence I felt it my duty to employ J. B. Stewart, Esq., of Des Moines, a special agent to assist in these labors. But I am now satisfied, that although the Register of the State Land Office and his deputy have already as heavy duties as they can well perform; this swamp land business should be transacted in his office under the general supervision of the Governor, and that the Register should be au

thorized to employ one or more competent persons as the necessities of the case may require, whose time and labor should be given exclusively to this branch of the public service and whatever amount the State should be required to pay the agent or agents thus employed could and ought to be refunded to the treas ury out of the moneys obtained from the General Government for Swamp Lands sold. This would hasten the final close and settlement of this troublesome business, which is very much desired by the counties interested, and the commencement of which thus fairly made, has cost the Executive Department of the State unremitting labor and attention.

There is however another obstacle to the early completion of this service, which I should not omit to mention. The four land grant railroads in this State claim the right to impeach the Swamp Land selections so far as they complied with their grant, notwithstanding near three years ago, these selections whether their real character were swamp or dry, were by a special act of Congress confirmed to the State. This right upon application was conceded to these companies by the Commissioner of the General Land office with the consent of the Secretary of the Interior, without giving the State a hearing upon the question. Hence the Swamp Land selections found upon odd sections, falling within the description and limits of the railroad, (being fifteen miles on either side of each line) have not been with other swamp land, certified to the State. On being informed of these facts I proceeded to Washington and made an urgent personal appeal to the Secretary of the Interior for a reversal of this decision, for reasons which were named, but he declined to do so, yet expressed a willingness to require the railroad companies to designate at once the tracts claimed to be dry and to submit proof that should at least be equivalent to the evidence furnished that they have swamp lands, otherwise they should be certified to the State, and to this effect did he so instruct the Commissioner. Still I have heard of no such designationsthe lands still remain uncertified to the State. I have been unable to learn from the Commissioner what course he designs to pursue in reference to the instruction of the Secretary of the Interior. And the question recurs where is this matter to end? If the contest goes on it must necessarily be protracted and expensive to the people of the counties, whilst it will prove in the end detrimental to the railroad companies themselves. It is obviously their inter