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That bill authorized the same corporation to select and survey in the
Territory of Montana, in square form, twenty-one sections of land, three
of which might contain coal and iron ore, for which the minimum rate of
$1.25 per acre was to be paid. The present bill omits these sections of
mineral lands, and directs the surveyor-general to select and survey the
timber lands; but it contains the objectionable feature of granting
to a private mining and manufacturing corporation exclusive rights and
privileges in the public domain which are by law denied to individuals.
The first choice of timber land in the Territory is bestowed upon a
corporation foreign to the Territory and over which Congress has no
control. The surveyor-general of the district, a public officer who
should have no connection with any purchase of public land, is made the
agent of the corporation to select the land, the selections to be made
in the absence of all competition; and over 11,000 acres are bestowed
at the lowest price of public lands.


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