Edward Douglass White

“ The very foundation of the liability having thus been in litigation by the action of the government, there is no reason for holding that, until that controversy was determined, the pecuniary liability of the railroad company was so liquidated as to justify the awarding of interest. ”

“ The relief sought was the confirmation of the titles of bona fide purchasers, the cancelation of the patents for other lands, and the recovery of the value of the lands conveyed by the railroad company to bona fide purchasers, in accordance with the adjustment acts of 1887 and 1896. A money recovery was had at the rate of $1.25 per acre, where the railroad company realized that amount on the sale by it, and interest was allowed at the rate of 6 per cent per annum, from the date of the decree. ”

“ By § 4, citizens, or persons who had declared their intention to become citizens, and who had purchased lands from the railroad company in good faith, were authorized, on proof of the fact after the adjustment of the grant, to acquire patents from the United States. ”