Where congress grants the odd-number ed sections of land for a given distance on each side of a railroad, before the road is located, the title does not pass to any par ticular sections until the line of the road is made certain, which makes certain also the sections granted ; Hannibal & St. J. R. Co. v. Smith, 9 Wall. (U. S.) 95, 19 L. Ed. 599.
Where an act of congress makes a grant of land of the odd-numbered sections with in a certain distance of a railroad, the title of the corporation to the land vests at once, and can only be thereafter divested by the government for a failure to ' perform con ditions imposed, or upon a proper proceeding instituted to revest the title in the govern ment; Southern Pac. R. Co. v. Orton, 32 Fed. 457.
The revocation of a land grant to a cor poration which has become dormant, and the transfer thereof to another corporation by an act of the state legislature, is not an invasion of private rights and does not, un less so expressed or clearly implied, burden the transfer with the debts of the dormant corporation; Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. v. Ry. Co., 163 U. S. 31, 16 Sup. Ct. 917, 41 L. Ed. 60.
land is granted to a railroad com pany before its line is located, the title to the specific land attaches by a location of the road, and takes effect by relation as of the date of the grant, so as to cut off in tervening claims of other roads, claiming under other grants, unless the lands are spe cially reserved in the statute; Missouri, K. & T. Ry. Co. v. Ry. Co., 97 U. S. 491, 24 L. Ed. 1095.
The grant to the Northern Pacific Railroad of certain public lands was a grant in prce aenti. Yet it is in the nature of a float, and the title does not attach to any specific sec tion until capable of Identification ; but when once identified, the title attaches as of the date of the grant ; Amacker v. R. Co., 58 Fed.
850, 7 C. C. A. 518, 15 U. S. App. 279. A railroad company takes title to the land upon complying with the act and not before ; Washington & I. R. Co. v. Nay. Co., 60 Fed. 981, 9 C. C. A. 303, 15 U. S. App. 359.
A grant for a railroad right of way takes effect from the date of the act and is supe rior to homestead entries made subsequently, but prior to building the road ; Northern P. Ry. Co. v. Hasse, 197 U. S. 9, 25 Sup. Ct. 305, 49 L. Ed. 642.
"Indemnity lands" are those selected in lieu of parcels lost from the designated lands by previous disposition or reservation ; they are also called "lieu lands"; Wisconsin C. R. Co. v. Price County, 133 U. S. 496, 10 Sup. Ct. 341, 33 L. Ed. 687.
In acts making land grants to railroad companies, conditions are usually imposed which must be complied with to make the grant operative. Among such conditions are frequently named such as make the grant de pendent upon the, amount of net earnings, and accordingly, the phrase has been fre quently the subject of construction in that connection. "Net earnings," within the meaning of such a law, are ascertained by deducting from gross earnings all ordinary expenses of organization and of operating the road, and expenditures bona fide made in improvements, and paid out of earnings, and not by the issue of bonds or stock; but not deducting interest paid on any of the bonded debt of the company ; Union P. R. CO. v. U. S., 99 U. S. 402, 25 L. Ed. 274. See LANDS, PUBLIC.