Morris tribune., 1881-04-21
NORTHERN PACIFIC LAND FRAUDS.

Suits Of the Company Against James F. Kin.
dred and Others--The GiSt o: the Charges.
Some menths ago, as the result Of certain in
vestigations conducted by Col. Newport, auditor
OF the road, and his report thereon, the North
ern Pacific directors unanimously passed res
olution dismissing James B. Power, the land
commissioner, and Charles F. Kindred, his
chief clerk. Their alleged transactions have
been made the subject Of suits recently brought
by the company against Power 0ld other per-
sons connected with them in the transactions
Four bills in equity have been filed by the COM
pany in the United States circuit court against
the parties named, and also two suits begulI
against them in the courts Of the Territory OF
Dakota The features of the suits are similar,
and VIM. A. Kindred, Mark Paine, Florentine
E. Snow, and also the wife Of each are i'm
pleaded with the principals.
The complaints charge that the principal de-
PENDANTS, authorized in general to take charge
of the land interests of the company, on nu-
merous occasions did wrongfuliy and fraudu-
lently conspire together with other persons to
deprive the plaintiff and did actually deprive
him Of the benefit which the plaintiff ought to,
and otherwise would have derived from the
sale of large quantities Of it's lands, whereby
they wrongfully and fraudulently obtained the
title to large quantities of said lands, and the
proceeds, in whole or in part, of other large
quantities Of land for their own private use an.
benefit The bills then proceed to allege par
ucular TRANSACTION, IN which the company
claims it has been defrauded by the defend
ants.
In the bill against James B. Power alone, the
transactions stated are forty-four in number.
the general nature Of these transactions in the
bill last referred to, is that Power caused to be
sold large number Of tracts of land belonging
to the company, to large number of persons
Ostensibly on behalf of the company, for certain
sums, payable in money; that after money had
been paid or secured that Power then obtained
preferred stock of the company at small frac-
ton of its par value and turned them into the
company at its par value in payment for these
same tracts Of land and pocketed the diff
erence between the amount the purchasers
paid in money and what the preferred stock
cost him, from eleven to seventy cents on the
dollar. In the bill to which Mark Paine is a
party, it is charged that Power and Kindred,
sometime in the fail or winter of 1880, con
spired with Paine by which they sold him valu-
able pine lands in st. Louis county for
$500, which contained over $50
600 worth Of pine timber It !.
further charged that in all such cases Power
and Kindred were the parties really interested,
and that the party named as purchaser in the
contract either held the title to the lands for
the benefit Of Power and Kindred, or else con-
veyed the same outright to those parties The
complaints are very long and full of details.
but the above is q fair synopsis.
Mr.. Kindred has been interviewed and saws
there is nothing in his record as land agent but
that he is willing to have fully investigate by
any honest man or set of men, an examination
he claims it has received. He and Col Power
have done nothing beyond their authority.