Still another result would be to oblige the Government of the United
States to enter the courts ostensibly to assert and protect its title to
said land, while in point of fact it would be used to enforce private
claims to the same and unsettle private ownership.
It is by no means certain that this proposed legislation, relating to a
subject peculiarly within the judicial function, and which attempts to
disturb rights and interests thoroughly intrenched in the solemn
adjudications of our courts, would be upheld. In any event, it seems to
me that it is an improper exercise of legislative power, an interference
with the determinations of a coordinate branch of the Government, an
arbitrary annulment of a public grant made more than twenty-five years
ago, an attempted destruction of vested rights, and a threatened
impairment of lawful contracts.
The advocates of this measure insist that a point in favor of the
settlers upon these lands and important in the consideration of this
bill is found in the following language of the constitution of the State
of Iowa, which was adopted in 1857:
The general assembly shall not locate any of the public lands which have
been or may be granted by Congress to this State, and the location of
which may be given to the general assembly, upon lands actually settled,
without the consent of the occupant.
The State under its constitution was perfectly competent to take the
grants of 1861 and 1862.
Pages:
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
964
965
966