In the Missouri Valley Land Company v. Wiese case of 1907, the U.S Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a land grant given to railroads by Congress also included mineral rights. The dispute arose when Missouri Valley Land Company claimed ownership of certain lands in Nebraska under an act granting lands to states for railroad construction purposes. However, these lands were already occupied by settlers who had discovered valuable minerals on them and thus claimed their right over it based on mining laws that allowed citizens to claim public land containing valuable minerals. The court ruled in favor of the settlers (Wiese), stating that while Congress did intend for railroads to have some form of compensation through these grants, they did not mean for this compensation to extend into such specific resources as mineral rights unless explicitly stated so in the grant's language. Therefore, since there was no explicit mention about transferring mineral rights within this particular grant’s language, those remained with the government and could be disposed off according its discretion under existing laws - which at that time favored miners.

In the dissenting opinion for Missouri Valley Land Company v. Wiese, it was argued that the majority's decision failed to adequately consider the rights of property owners and their ability to use their land as they see fit. The dissenting justices believed that by allowing a railroad company to acquire a right-of-way through private property without proper compensation or consent from the owner, an unfair burden was placed on individual landowners for public benefit. They contended this ruling violated principles of fairness and equity in favor of corporate interests, undermining fundamental tenets of private property rights under U.S law. Furthermore, they expressed concern about setting a precedent where corporations could exploit similar legal interpretations at the expense of individuals' constitutional protections against unjust takings.