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Opinion on fttuiroatl Lands-The fallowing Is the opinilt; 11 of Attorney General O’Connor in relau a to taxing theiuds of the Des Sioincs Valley Railroad:State of Iowa, 1Office of Att’y General Muscatine, Oct. 16/09.lion John A. Elliott, Auditor of State:Sir-—in reply to yours in relation to taxing the lands 0? the Des Moines ValleyKailroad Company, permit me to say,-—Firct. The ten sections set apart and ecld to S FI Tall, (I mean that portion not yet conveyed by the Stale), the 100,01)0 acres Jtservtd in the tirst sub-division ol sect 1, cli 59, acts ol Twelfth General As-* sembly, and the 300,000 acres mentioned in the fourth subdivision of the same act, are clearly not taxibm as railroad lands up to i this time.j Second. By the terms ol the filth subdivision of the above named act, the Ii .il-! ad Company acquire no title to any of these ianus until they have so far compiled j wath the terms of said act m to entitle ; tuetn to a deed fr in tbr Governor, when ‘ they have so lar complied With the condi tions which the General Assembly have imposed, and upon w'lich the title is made to depend;.then it the State is ready to t x etule the proper deeds, from that date the lauds become the absolute property of theKailroad Company, aud is liable to taxationas their properly. I have put it in this way because seme o! the Kailroad Companies, or,fit. feast some ol their men claim, that by the Company’s fai.ing to aek 4or or receive deed when tbty are entitled to if, they may avoid taxation and yet hold theland for speculatiDa; and when they sell,have the Slate deed directly to their gran-’ tec. This would no* be equity; and I feel quite sure it 13 not the law.Applying the above rules, I don’t think it w ill be very difficult to determine as to the liability to taxation of any lands t embraced in the grant to the Des Moines 1 Valley Kailroad Company.Very many lawyers take a different view of this question. I think and Lave advised ’bat these counties interested should makea case and gelt|he questi- njud ciallyscttied.J A question of so much importance shouldnot be allowed to rest on an expartt opin* i ion that can have bo bii d:ng force. Without stopping now to argue the matter, I may say that my view has rested very much on this one fact, viz: The Stale has. con stantly insist*d on its right to resume and hold these lands till the railroad coot pan eg have complied with such conditions as the | General Assembly might see fit to impose' as to the construction ot the roads. I thinkthat a most im-ortant as well as just claim, and that our true interests demand that the State should insist upon and maintain it, l\ovr, the moment you say that these lands arc .iab.c to taxation as railroad properly from the date of grant, or upon any other theory tbm that above laid down you admit that thehave title, and of course, it lb y hive, th; State can-not take away that title by act of the Leglsiature. The question becomes com plica-Urd, the lands get sol i tor taxes, gel intoI the hands ol pci sons who are watch ng for just such wholesale speculations, and, tointend ort to cun'er, wnile the revenue 01-lected is comparatively trifling. 1 0ueht perhaps tu add that the cm of the DeiM utes \ alleyR ad d ii-ra very mateiiallvJfom most ot’he other roads,and makes theirt: e to the lands more dependent or State ac.ion* \ ery respectfully, etc ,Henry O’Connor, Attorney General.I
Newspaper Details
Burlington Semi Weekly Hawk Eye
Burlington, Iowa, US
Wed, Oct 27, 1869
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Don B.
USA 30 Jun 2023
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