Jasper Weekly Courier, Volume 47, Number 30, Jasper, Dubois County, 7 April 1905 — Page 3

THE BIG LAND FRAUDS

IN WESTERN STATES TKcy Arc Far More Gigantic Than People Generally Imagine.

SOML CLtVtR DkTfcCTIVt: WORK DONE BY W. J. BURNS. Hfl Has Entrapped Culprits Both Hih and Low by His Carefully Laid Plans How the Schemes of the Land Grabbers Worked Some Startling Evidence.

Washington- The story of th big l.md frauds of the west when all told i ne of the most startling ! interi . ng of modern annals It is a gigantic conspiracy . a dctec : story and a tremendous legal batt all id ooe. The conspiracy reaches ha k through t .:. involve hundred-, (if linis

I land Krai. hern of the west. First we I have it).. c.iiipirat"i I lold, raa .oua. unprincipled, insatiable Next were j Ihe vast tra it I of valuable government I land a a stake for which those i unsplrators were ready to play, and Judg ing from the hundreds of thousands of ! acres of laiid fraudulently obtained up 1 to the time th" investigations were be-

aada of MVM of the finest public land' gun the make was an elastic one which

i!i Arizona, California. Oregon and other f'ates, and includes among its long chain of conspirators, men prominent in -'a'" and nation, govern meat official and employes, and wealthy Melioration. (Deluding at least one rail road. The detective Btory eq.iBls any of the Slu rlock Holmes variety In the koen-1,-n.s and iibet with which the faint i !s have i.een followed up. n:ys-t.-.e.s unraveled and the guilty high Md low. at last cornered, in apite of unlimited pr.wer and influence and loads of money used to block invest ifca'Min and eherkmate the detective Th- tremendous legal battle begin MOM time ago when sufficient evidence was sec ured to start court proceedings

ultimately was to include millions And because the conspirators were bold and the ptize to be won almost limitless in extent and value, they devised a ays teni by which to operate. But more of this later Startling- Summary To summarize our story before at tempting to develops it in its startling details, let us consider that its ramifications lead us through throe uta'-s. with still others to hear from. Im niense tracts of timle r land, aggregat ing 1.000,1 r more acres In extent. are involved In Oregon, one firm alone acquired M0, i acres of the finest of the public domain by the use of the fraudulent system. And in California applications were made for 24 "

and which 1 still raging, is a conflict i acres of school lands, iodicating that ' -'.'- The government hi- rn the only limit u the fraudulent entries d the finest Jegal talent to be had was to tie the ou.ermost boundaries of to prosectile the cases and the men : th land itself It la estimated that the on trial and to be tried, are sparing land grahncd is easily worth $2.oii.ooii

ti i effor's or numey in trying to escape convdctloa It is a fight i very inch of ÜM way. w ith several point s-ored by t;,' government thus far. And all this is included fn the com-

to -' ,' '". Sixteen of the principals involved in M land fratnls have been indicted, and ten or 12 implicated in a greater or le.s degree Ten men in the employ

plete story of the land frauds a story of the land otnee have been discharged it fa-, mating interest because of its for complicity in 'he frauds and sev'artling revelations. I era I convictions have already been se-

It is a sory one wants to read Fr m 'he time some ihree years agi hen Secretary Hitchcock . of the in- ! i r department, first received the, I at that gigantic land steals were py I oD and started the machinery of

cared. Among the indi ' d are .ne Fnited States aena'or 0M congressman, two

Sta'e .-, 1,'1'nl.v ail e ll! an ex-assistant ! ist i i t

former head of

attorney

M U"eler and taking up a number of ntiiea In the outskirts of the county In California R A Hde. John A. ilensou and Henry I. Wimond. exten sive land spM ulators. have ,.-en indict ed on the charges of conspiracy and the effort to take them to Washington tor trial. The First Clew. This, in br.ef. is the oin.ine or the plot, the results of the Investigations ami the progress of the legal battle It was in the latter pan ! IMf that the first intimation of extensive land frauds reached the ear of Secretary Hitchcock, and the clr unistances connected therewith are of rather a singular character It has been said that it takes a thief to catch a thief, and strange enough the first informat ion of frauds in the land entries was given hy a man who had been lu tne employ of land grabbers, and who was threat ening to expose the frauds in order to enforce the payment of busli money He sent letter after letter to th- gen eral land 0001 at Washington, but it is said that (linger Hermann, at that time commissioner, ignored the letters and then aent evasive replies In an effort to suppress the matter. Hut when the letters became too persistent a special agent was at last sent to In vestigate to Tucson, Ariz... from which point the letters had come. The report of this agent did not reach the department iint.l September, and the clerk who read it was so impressed with its importance, as it stated that big steals and frauds were being perpetrated M the government, that he took it direct to Commissioner Hermann There it rested. Commissioner Hei mann Exposed. AlKiut this time Seiretary Hitchcock received a confidential letter, intimat ing that such a report had reached his department. He at once sent for Her maun and asked for the rejiort, and upon its being produced, the (onimis sinners resignation was demanded The latter requested three or four weeks, time, which, it is charged, hfl spent in destroying press books and other tell tale evidences of corruption and for this he has just Ireen in lu te I at Washington Impressed with the seriousness of the situation. Secretary Hitchcock at oik e assigned Arthur H. Hugh, an at tomey of the interior department, and Harry K. Steece. a sie lal agent of the general land office, to make an inves ligation. When they reached Arizona they found that the man who had been iu-M omental in starting the investigation had (hanged his mind and refused to riake any further statement.

Th"y then proceeded to California and after a brief investigation rei urncd to Washington and reported that the irauos were evidently extensive and , that the services of a detective would

lama of detectivea. and burns told Harlan and Valk to k- ; the appointment and to lake any money which was offered them. The i rap was sprung and BWM K is said, lias fli which was giveu to Valk und $( given to Harlan, marked and held for future reference An Important Arrest. Benson was immediately attested and taken betöre the I tilted S'..lecommissioner He gave bonds for '.mh, but defaulted and skipped to I New York, where be was again arrested and where he has been fighting the removal proceedings ever since. The case has at last rea be I Ifta I tute I States supreme court, from which a derision is e:.pcted soon. How Clerks Were Bribed. And now jin-t a won! here as to the skillful way in which the clerks in the general land office at Washington and the special agencies in the western states were approach d and finally completely brought under the control of the unprlnc Ipled land sharks One of the conspirators would ( all upon them and ask for ordinary information that had

the barriers raided to inves Igst ion be- ( au. min determined and effectual. Hut as Secretary Hitchcock and Attorney General Knox came to appreciate the extent of the land frauds, they decided to have more legal aid. and Francis J Heney. one of the ablest criminal law w rs of the Pacific coast was secur n to look after the Oregon end of the rases. And here is where Senator Mitchell and other of the big fry come in. and right here is one of the moat interesting and startling portions of the lands fraud story When the grand jury had been summoned and a vigorous investigation begun. Attorney Heney tried to induce Set. at or Mitchell to go to Oregon from Washington as a witness but this he at first refused to do. Hut when he was Informed that mattr.- wtre becoming serious for him and Hermann, thev l oth started for the west . Startling Developments. Hut if the grand jury COttlfl not get hold of Senator M.tchell as a witness, it could and did secure his law partner. Judge A. H Tanner, and the developments resulting from his tstimony.

) our ton or ai rone Caa'l ou tone :Uie . tela ii ryuunj tat i IllScI Irr-? Unna with ou IM trunk, out don I . t ,i.r iml. u aiaont anew, aii ike coaapaa) i.k. ; ledger, al. ol tl.em. u.o j ,,ur tu k b-uk, 1 as um arhai in bouks aesMaa B ta lll.lHjfUl I U.ut Wr si ull t. k .r Ith 1 who m to aeia io r. -j m ta reaartf tf ihe 1 nape ou can cooitt; 11 .1 mU, kl.u . Jl -.la

ir, i Tot Ui m. I do he

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Jut i n tnls ev aMM .: I

"Dos t show Maro thai .. ttrr . im .ki tl.irc In ir r t let htm ou- k V. . ,.,m notl.lna "Keep ad important ttera in an safe ar .i otBcc . ..refu:: lockert, u

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ANC rifD TO 4eV A v.

Invt stication. nevrs items in the papers of the country have told of the developments In the case. Occasionally 'he public has neen startled by the name if -o;ne prominent man l ing connected with the frauds, as was especially (he case w hmi Senator Mit hell was in dieted on the charge of accepting a Iiribe in connection with some of the land cases, and his now famous "burn this letter. ' was made public. One Gigantic. Systematic Plot. First of all we want to reme.nber thai the land frauds are not an acgre gation of isolated cases. Independent of i h other in methods and purp but are really one gigantic. ftWf laid and systematic plot which was being persistent ly and successfully carried on in Arizona. California. Oregon and i tt western states by men ol wealth an I inlluenre who had a lust for the domain. LaWaVaV in his revelations of Wall trat! methods, speaks of "the system ! tlM New York monev kings In

heir alleged raid on the stork mar kehi and tne pocketbooks of the small ' irs never worked a more ihor 0 t uiauUed svatem than he the

lie MMHärv to work tin the evidence.

attorney. tli .... . -,ili ..r,h i-,.it,i

general land office, j gJtM Mrycp was (.aP(1 ,n an(,

at his suggestion one or his operative-; tC,n .,.. I rint-ft i-n tklnf.ol In flllt

charge of the secret service asd of the eaat. As a preliminary io hi-i work Mr. Hums sjxnt a month in the general land office, familiarizing with the general details of the work and gathering all the evidence at hand. Fine Detective Wflfk. Fortunate circumstances fivOfCi hira kB I before he started for the west he

had secured a confession froai J. J. Harnes, who had bflN I BB ployed ia the

general land MHM for .;. yetm Tail ...ve him Inside inforniation wbi di lie v.a- not viou to i.s :! r'a'hitig Call- i lornia. His investigations led hnn into Ariona KB I OrafOI and other western states, and wbaa he had ÜM dataUl wdl in hand, he boldly face I 11. F Allen, who for var.; lad leea a, trusied agent of the Interior depart- i inent and vl. at the UlM WM forea. superintendent at Is At.i: 1. .;. Ca!., gad charged him with compll-liy In the frae '.x. with ÜM rrB.ilt that Allen broke down atid eoataatad that ha icaaBectad vttk iV A Hvde. an extensiv land sp vulaior, and at prewnt under ladlctawal far coaaptracy and awaiting icnoval to Washington for trail. The tral! now led to the office of the forest sujiervfsor. (Jrant I Taggarf, who:.e rapntatloa up to this time kflJ hern above suspicion Bhraa rigid examination forced lh details from Taggart of how he had ( s abli.dic 1 the boundariei. of the Ibfaat ns'Tvationa in his terrifi ry. under the direction, he said, of John A. Ilensou who was an ither land speculator, and who with H.vde is now under indo tment. T.aps Set. With the Inside information th.;s ob tained. the secret servico man re-turned to Washinpton. and pro -eded to entrap certain men in the general land offlet for by this tim he knew the men he vaatad. Tin re were two men

Mpaclally hapUcatad i:i tat t bain o

c.eclal scents of the Ian I office and a evidence white: h" inn I inns lar ioc a

former judge link by link. One was W, D. Harlan. In OrtpM conv'.-tions have already chief of the special larvtai division, been sei tind to Ihe ases of Clyde and who up to t W time had t ha ea) ire I.lovd. S. A. D. Puter. Horace (', Hfl ( ( lindem e of the fltparttMtt He had Klnlev. Kmma L WatflDI and 1. W ! charge Bi the speidal aChatl flkOM du

Tarpley. Franklin PlWCfl Mas. itatejties ate to Investigate all depredations

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senator from Fort land, is now on trial and the trial or Senator Mitchell is to begin shortly. Judge A. H. Tanner, the law partner of Senator Mitchell, was Indicted for perjury and later pleaded guihy and it is stated made a confession Implb at Ins Senator Mitchell. Former IjikI ' 'ommissioner Her mann, nov congrt .-sman from (reg(n.

of the land (it'll . The other man was William K. Valk. who had charge of the line sein 'ions Hums succeeded in wresting confessions from Imth men. At the dotation of the it tectivc Harlan wrote a decoy note to lbtison, stating thnt he had a matter of great InportflJat i to coaaawatcati to him and askin; bitn to write ,m (are general de!iv( ry. as fei feared bis mail was br

is under indictment on the haige of ing watched. .No repiy was received ?o destmylng raoordfl of the land office, this and it developed later that by at Washington, and in addition to this some means üonsoa had been warned he is under Indb -tment with John Rkjof the trap. Another letter was writHall. e djjttrtet attortiey; Kdwln Mays, ten and mailed to BMMMM and this time ex as-dstant district atloraey; K P. Ilurna made certain that Harlan did Mavs state senator. Hamilton It Hen n-it send any warning. The result was

flicks, secretary and treasurer of the Hutte Creek land. Live Real Lutnr oinpany, and Bpe ial genta C I bMaflll an.l iv D Stratford of the land onto, on the i harge of fenc lug In a larp pa;. of UM KMMKJ Of

that Benson on the receipt of the letter Informing liim that he was needed in Washington came on at once, and from the New Willard summoned Harlan and Valk to visit him All three men were now under the closest aurveil-

nothing whatever tn do with the land steals, and which was peilecMy proper for the clerks to give Th:.- information wiiuld rrmiire a Kttta research on th( pan of tha clerk gadwaaa nvvas finished the inqtiirer professed him-elf to be d( ply gratcfsl and on 1 .- . ing wa uld press a 1" bill into the hands of ihe clerk, and if he raised any protests, would sav : "Oh. give it to your wife." Hen was a temptation asv 'o vo id to. for it scenud so innocent and harm ll -s. as he bail only funii.-hed information which was legitimate and the incpiT i bid merely giv n a:i ( xpress'on (if pratitwlfl tor rvtcea raadtrafl. But i.iji aa but the first step In a few days the conspirator would call again and want -till :uher information which did not have to do with the lam' rases. Th -clerk, eager lo oblige, supplied the information, and S0 offered by the grateful laaairaf was more readily accepted than the $M had been. Now ihe clerk was fixed aid whn ihe ( inspirator came out boldly and sough i iiu'orniatioB in regard to Und cases, and Ihe clerk would protest that he could im t give it, he was coolly informed that he must do ns he was l id. for fefl had I ptl ! two or three Li ib s from him alu ady. and if it became known he would lose his placa and pc rliaps go to the pi niier.tlary. The clerk, rrali.'.ing his position, would yield, and In a sin rt t IBM would 1 t deep in the mrshe of th B pt Kt conspiracy. After Bi,, Gr ue. But the bis game had not I cn winged as yet. and It w. really the big ft Uowg whi h the depart m r t wa.. a: .ioi.s to gi i . But step by stap tba trail was leading up bight r an.! higlu r. a , .- rate as weif the cffoi t. : . u t.. n.v . si gallon, powrrful aa were the icüuencesea rrted to discredit the work and place S(ir tary Hilchcok in :..!.- .; b: i ( : g as wtre the counter charg(s 1 l,, against the cerretary of the int rlor to have him remov- d. not 'or an I kaff did ho hesitate or paus-. in i.i- i urp.r.

to run to the ground aar MM in any way connected with tin lan.i fraud., wh- thcr Fnitel State- gaaator or i fl.'jud clerk, the tool of t'a real conspirators. The fiist hint from ArtaflM had led to unearthing big frauds in California and now the trail led into Oregon, where tbe confession of Frank H Walgamott brought about the coin n id a n tty bunt h of prominent people, gtaoai th( m S. A. I. Filter, who i Hand to i;av had dealings with Senator afltehatl ia tin land frauds. From this la ginning all the Unbar lard prose- utbitis in the state of Oregon stalled. Ii i (barged that a Portland man and a millionaire hunlier deu'er of Minnesota I ad acquired more than KM.Ot 0 a n in Oregon With the MavtflUoa of I'uter. M Klnlev and others. Burns did not rest, but proceeded to worm from thm information which n suited in the charges of Ihe bribing of Ufelttd Stat I S' ::ator Mitchell. Of Portland I The pbM thi(.kcud am as it diu to

I he keen work of the detective and tbe

sunsequer.i i or.iession cr juuge lamer ire almost tragic in their tearing. Vhile Tant r r fused to produce the artaataalp I ioks kept by thp firm of Mitchell and Tar.iK r. on the gnjund that It might incriminate him. he did prou a a partnership agreement, dated Itfll, that on its fa.e apparei to be i. nine. But Mr. Burns UMKBjal differrntly. To make a long atory short, the clever letcctfvi noted that the agreement was written on paper which b-re the watermark of Kd in ample. The IsKiks of the Im showed thai the firt Kdinample ootid paper purchatic had lie en made on March ::u. IMS, almost three yars iibs .juent to the writing of !: ir origiral partnership agreement. Burns also ioted that the do. umer.t had hern writtell on a typewrit r using a black ribbon, and laiaallialhin pwrrai that n it.g the perioil I v : F. 1 and In.'3 gr. en and purple riblsir.s ha I been used, and that black war, used for tbe first time In December. 11M. It was vered also that the profits of the concern were divided equally between Mitchell and Tannrr. and that a lause in 'he original partnership agreement read: "That all moneys reirivrd from praetldai boJora the iaaartment at Waablagtoa was to be the tu l iia Bi - of John II Nh; b il. while in th ogreemer.t presente I bcrore the e.rand Jury the ;:anie of Tanner appeared In h( 'a I of Mite hell's. Misspelled wor.la in the agreement furi IsS" I a lev Bad Ti;.:nr'ü son in a teal before the crar.d lury misspelled IfeOM same v. or Is. and finally admitted that he had written th :i rnent in ,;'c ;,;!ir K' 4 .In ge Tannrr waa now call! ! ! ( for - il.ct: .i..i .ury again, and persisted ia his former statement that the agrrenert was genuine, and the grar. 1 jury rompdy indicted him for perjury. Ijter. It Is said he made

I a confession to IKll IH. implicating yu h !l in lh fran The Burn-Without-Fai Letter In the meantime Harry C Robertson. ' the private secretary of Senator ! Mitchell, at Washington, had bean aabaaaaaad as a witness by the government, and on his arrival at I'ortj land was Immediately taken by Mr. , Huru before the grand Jury H was believed thai he was carrying an important letter from Mitchell to Tanner nu I l hb. bttir was demanded by the ) jury, and reluctantly surrendered Here was Ihe most eensational bit of : tftdt Ml yet pro In- d The letter was widely published at th( time of itsdiavery fefM this artblr would not be

tomplete without quoting a portion eif ihe (' ii ument to which Senator Mitchell had appended the solemn admonition: Burn this without rail. "You must sot (et rattled or n'urrrn l.' nor Mltrheil wrote. 'Hurry will c.oubt'.ess lefeiitlfy Ihe copartrerhli nrtli . if ISNll as hal! ! HI rere; liy i im (d1 Um ui rni i t at arrival. Don't

The dramatic scene in the ber.ate e hamber at Washington where, beforehis colleagues Senator Mitchell solemnly, and tearfully, and vehemently, delared his innocence of the c harges brought against him. ia still fresh in the public mind, but the courts at Portland will have to decide that point How the -System" Worked. And now a word about the system" by which it was possible to perpetrate such gigantic frauds against the government and steal whole townships of valuable limber land, muc h of which was made up of giant trees ranging in size from 3o to over 5o feet in diameter, and from 2to to nearly 5oo feet in height. It must be admitted at the start that the laws of the United States made easy the system and invited the unscrupulous to defraud the government. The act of June 4. 1SS7. allows the exchange or lands within the limits of Fnited State forest reserves, by the owner thereof, for other public lands outside of tbe reserves. Fnder the pretense of acquiring school lands as settlers innumerable -e,tions would b Mr :i np bv ..rgatiized raiders under applications signed with fictitious and forged i.amea. At first Ave and ten dollars apiece were paid for these signatures, which were obtained from all classes of people. But after awhile this was considered a useless waste of money, and the conspirators boldly forge-d the names as necessity demanded. These applications for land with the forged names signed to them would be sent to notaries public and indorsed as though the persons whose names were attached to the papers had made 'he applications. At the same time deeds would be sworn to or assignments made out and names forged to them, the assignments always being made out to the firm that instigated the proceedings, or to some one who would ac ept the titles in their behalf, the state law providing that after an application for purchase had been legally filed Mie applicant might assign tbe land. In this manner patents to some, thing like 150.000 acres of school lands in California and Oregon were fraudulently obtained. These selections were of the very best public lands, including large tracts of the finest timber lands that can be found in the public domain. Dy the creation of forest reserves within the states of California and Oregon generally in the mountainous regions large tracts of undisposed school lands, frequently of a worthless character, were included in such reserves. Fnder the act of June 4. 1897. referred to above, these states could relinquish the school lands to the Fnited States and select other lands outside of the forest reserves in lieu of them, selling these lands thus selected at prices from five to 2o times as much as the prices that could 1m- obtained for school iand inside Wie forest reserves before the gcjvemment withdrew them. In this way the land grabbers have acquired school lands for which they paid $1.5 an acre, and sold for $5 to $: aa acre. Government Employes Involved. "The svstem" exte nded to Washington, for to further their schemes mployes in the general land office Ho-re. w ho had been drawn into the onspiraey by liberal bribs. kept certain men informed regarding the exact date Vfcefl the withdrawals of land would be n.a-' I for the purpose of creating new forest reserves The sdvance informal ion thus obtained would enable them to ni in the state land office their fictitious applicationa to purchase school land within such forest reserves ahead of anyone not in the combination Arthur B Fugh. in his report to th" secrrtarv of tbe interior, stated that one firm ha 1 secured in this way the filing of applications to purchase about 240.000 acres of school lands within proposed forest r, serves, th" withdrawals for w !a. !i were made only a few months prev i us to the beginning of the investigation And now as to the railroads. Fnder similar provision they were able to acquire thousands of acres of valuable land. The Northern Pacific obtained i i oo acres of Oregon timber land by relinqiii.-hing desert land and locating script received for it. Although the road has but 40 miles of track in Oregon. It obtained large tracts of valuable timber lands and the exchange of this 4oo.fMsi acre grant for timber lands in Oregon Is at present the subject of investigatlon by the legislature cf Oregon. The Government Positio:: Mr Fugh. as attorney for the interinr department. In speaking of the government's position in the case, says: "There p no doubt tha! a area- rnsp'rry can fn- shown In the- cn- nr.ii tl-t the exchange of tr.et laMda with Be litems tit'.es for MUMta with perft- t tit 'es would te i kt ss frnuit upon tie govrrrr.en' TI ras on of th" meat Irgeriouslv plan: 1 and deeplv laM conspiracies to defraud the

Fnitd 8i's that th governrrc to dee', with While th sehoo: aa a basis for the selections un o.' J-ir 4. IS7. sr !' ! It t ,r of t'sllfrnU anil Oregon, if- p

ia. had I

' lanrf atales and Orrlt.:

af lh undisposed of In exchange. In lh It most valued tlmhet I In the arid Mg! SMI lr.ngs. or on t-e h St ,, v . r. in !. srri i.i .ort nctipr.e had not I

:re act states .ir-H

r sie t - ' o da t th various nobile ics. Th- ret lst n !. w re i tJ I ! T I srtl': I !l ,anc?s w takn. land goataauag) rces Of wa er supken. If th frsudu-

mitient to aul re f re TVt - i

tla. -dar.'t tell Harr. .ic ie