The New York herald., 1877-10-28
THE GREAT LAND FRAUDS.

SKETCH OF THEIR NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
PLEDGED TO KILL AMONG THE CoNsPIRA-
ToRs-How MEMS ESTATES WERE DISPOSED
OF JUST BEFORE THEIR DEATH.
(From the Kansas City (Mo.) Times, Oct laI
Before about the time OF tho arrival OF Mr. Ham,
Of Kansas CITY, at Austin. tho Texas Legislature hnd
passed bill granting certain subsidies land scrip or
land warrants TO supposed bond lde company, which
pledged itself TO clean our drcdge and make navigaDlo
tho sabine and tho Matches rivers. This company was
10 receive So 200 state land scrip Tor every mile Of
these rivers drcdgci and mado navgabc. Soon after
the grant was made tho Land Commissioner OF tho
state Of Texas was apped TO by the company and tho
proper alidavis were made that iour tive hundred
miles Of river had been dredgcd, cleaned and made
navigabe, and the company demanded and received
enormous amount OF land scrip. 1t was discovered
shortly atcrward that fraud had been perpolYatcd
and that the company had only drodged aud cleaned
orty miles of the rivers nt.oned The SCRIP
tbcn declared illegal and The state OF Tcxas
tised u abroad Illegally Issued, and prohibited the
location OF any public land In the state with this scrip.
fhis land scrip, Illegal or legal could only b. located
hand outside Of the regularly organized In
1oxas but II could DO 80 handled that purchasers Of
the scrip III the North would never know this fuct
until they went 70 Texas TO locate their land warrant
scrip. The only land upon which this scrip could
have been located, had u beon genuine, would havo
Teen iar OUT on thc ''Staked Plains" the hunting
grounds OF tho Comanchos, Apacncs and Kiowas IN
the bloody Panhandle OF Northwestern Texas or ou
the frontiers ot the Rio Grande. But tho scrip
came in got 10, OF this SCRIP How he got IL is
known but no got and he proceeded speculate
on II TO the best advantage. How he specuated is
matter Tor himself ana tho courts OF Texas sottlc.
II u was advantageous 10 both why that will be tho
end of the scrip matter
The scrip speculation appears 70 have lod TO somo.
thing deeper. TO sell this imncnse amount OF Texas
land scrip became necessary to obtain agents aud
establish agencies In every largo city rciaoto from
Texas where tho character o this scrip was not
Agencies were established IN Kansas City, 81 Joseph.
Omaha, 81 Paul, ST. Louis, Milwaukee, Chicago, In.
"A (tiaVA n.ssc
principal headquarters was nnde NJ Austin, with twO
inain agencies ut Kansas City and ST Louis About
sales OF j. IL ham, McGnness Il Co, ana thc weekly
abstracts OF titles commenced to show strun 10 In.
crease OF transfers Of real estate In exchange Toxas
land In st. Louis Chicago and Indianapolis tho
trades and salcs vi Toxas lands scrip .duy iocasod
was something cnormous One real estate nrm Of
Kansas city closed out business hero and
went to 81 Louis and into the Texas
land trade exclusively. Hundreds Of thousands
OF dollars Of this fraudulent Texas land scriD
has tnus boon placed ou Tue market and
sod. But this NJ not all drawer charges are made,
and arc likely to provo we founded. II Is q great
conspiracy which, " properly exposed, BIDS iaIr TO
rival the great Wnlskey Ring expose Thoso charges
are founded on those iacls There u well or.
Ranized system OF forgery IN u practice Lhis West.
ern country ior the past eight or nine years Tho
came organization which IL forcing the Texas land
most ierribIc orgoiss over perpclrate IL IL ior
ing connected with ths conspiracy thnl Ham, Millor
aud Stevens wore arrested here yesterday aud takon
10 Texas. Al the same tno that thoy nrrcsted
twenty or thirty persons werc arrested In 81 LOUIS
ST. Joseph, Chicago and Indianapolis The mode oi
working by tho gang IL this-Thoy have ngonts In
each district, with attorneys IN Tho cities An Old
man old woman vi wealth falls sick. aud the doc
tore give her or him up us hkcy u ac. In somc
places the gang havo doctor one OF thoir aucuts
and ho tho death o tho victim ut the proer
time. person having been assured die, aud Inc
gang having examined tho records OF tue property
belonging ~ the doomed person, tho hors are
Tor and duly examined by the gang Then dceds are
prepared IN due form uhd woman or Il map--cach
members Of tnc gang-appear before u justice or
notary, and tho dying nuns properly ~ duly decided
away before his death, hs forged aud thai OF hs
wife, and the samo placed on record This business
hns boon and IL being carried all this cou
lust now, and lawsuits over dead mems estates arc
growing up all over tho land. In this city two or
tnros heavy suits charged TO tho working OF tins
FAR reaching conspiracy Is charged that tho partios
arrested are all thcso forgcrcs bul that
will be decided ON thoir arrival In Texas.