Stephen Johnson Field

“ The right of the plaintiff, the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, to the lands in place along the line of its route as definitely located in the state of Minnesota, and to other lands to make up deficiencies within those limits, caused by previous grants, sales, reservations, settlements, or pre-emptions, to be taken from the indemnity limits, or within the 40-mile withdrawal, will not admit of serious doubt, unless a prior right attached to those lands by an earlier grant of the United States. ”

“ As seen by the terms of the third section of the act, the grant is one in praesenti; that is, it parports to pass a present title to the lands designated by alternate sections, subject to such exceptions and reservations as may arise from sale, grant, pre-emption, or other disposition previous to the time the definite route of the road is fixed. The language of the statute is 'that there be, and hereby is, granted' to the company every alternate section of the lands designated, which implies that the property itself is passed, not any special or limited interest in it. ”

“ The construction we give to the granting terms of the act, as qualified by subsequent provisions, not only secures the application of the property to the construction of the road and telegraph line, and thus carries out the purposes of the government, but also secures the company against any attempted alienation of the land to other parties. ”