By that act there was granted to the Territory of Minnesota, for the purpose of aiding in the construction of a railroad from the southern line of said Territory, via Saint Paul, to the eastern line of the Territory in the direction of Lake Superior, “every alternate section of land designated by odd numbers for six sections in width on each side of said road within said Territory”; but in case it should appear that the United States had, when the line of the road was definitely fixed, sold any section or any part thereof granted, or that the right of preëmption had attached to the same, then it should be lawful for any agent or agents to be appointed by the governor of said Territory, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, to select lands from alternate sections within fifteen miles of the road to make up the deficiency. The lands granted were to be applied to the construction of the road only. Section 2 increased the price of the “reserved” tracts. Section 3 provided that the lands should be disposed of by the legislature for the purposes aforesaid and were not to inure to the benefit of any company then constituted or organized. The road was to remain a highway, as in previous grants; and the lands could not be sold until they had first been “offered” at the increased price. By section 4 no title was to vest in said Territory or patent issue for any part of the lands until a continuous length of twenty miles of said road had been completed; and when the Secretary of the Interior was satisfied that any twenty continuous miles of said road had been completed, then patent was to issue for a quantity not exceeding one hundred and twenty sections of land; and so on from time to time until the road was completed. If the road was not completed within ten years no further sales could be made, and the lands remaining unsold were to revert. By an act approved August 4, 1854, the act of June 29, 1854, was repealed; and although four grants have been declared forfeited, for failure of the grantees to perform the required conditions, this is the only one which Congress has in terms repealed. It is to be regretted that subsequent legislation was not as devoid of ambiguity. Had it been, much embarrassment might have been saved the Government. I refer particularly to that clause or section respecting the vesting of title and the manner in which the State was to acquire rights under the grant. By the terms thereof no patents were to issue except as the work of building the road progressed.