Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-10-08

give my letter to the light in the columns
of your fearless and Independent journal.
Respectfully, II. L. GORDON.
GoUeP.t0r Marshall ana The Pine.Lond
Prosecution.
To the Editor of the Pioneer Press:
7 have just read your interview with De-
teo5;Ve Marshall in the P. P. of Ost. 6,
ia which he says that he has not settled
the cases against Wentworth g. Mcclure,
Capt, Sleeper, Morris Thomas and others.
Technically Marshall's statement may be
true, but IN effect II is false, as you will ca
silly find By interviewing the parties named
ana the United States district attorney
Thomas and his partner, johnson, boti,
to ] me yesterday at the Merchants hotel
thai they had compromised with Marshall,
st his request, Oh the following basis:-
Thsy 10 keep all the land they had proved
up and entered and Marshall agrees not to
interfere with their entries but let them
go to patent. On the other hand
they promise to be good boys
and not do SO any more,
The same sort of compromise has also
been made with Wentworth and Mcclure.
Marshall himself will rot deny that these
men have acquired many thousands of
acres OF valuable pine by pre-emptions
within the last two years, and he dare not
affirm that either Mitchell or myself have
ever acquired single acre by such means.
His charge is simply that we attempted
to DO so.
lie now in his usual hYpocritical way
insinuates that these parties have confess
ed their guilt, and he very magnamiously
adds that the door is still open for Mitch
ell and myself to get down on our knees
and confess to his holiness that we too are
guilty, and placs ourselves at the
mercy of this new man of Nazareth. He
adds that "the government is only anxious
to break up these frauds in timber entries
and is determined to do go. All parties
may come forward" &c, &c.
Mr.. Editor, as one of the parties charged
by Marshall with conspiring to defraud
the United States have confession to
make and propose to make it publicly.
L is this: After 1 was arrested on the
Charge of conspiring with Mitchell 6
Loveioy to defraud the government per-
sonal friend Of Governor Marshall, whose
name I regret that I an not at liberty 10
state, approached me, as he said, on. be-
half Of Marshall and advising me
that if I would go to Marshall and mako g
confession duplicating Mitchell and
fixing the charge on him beyond escape,
that my csse would be quietly
dropped. He informed me- that
Marshalps chief desire was to
fasten the charge on Mitchell and pre-
vent his getting his commission as receiv-
er of the Duluth land Office. It Is need
less to say that treated the proposition
as an insult. claim to be an honorable
man. I knew Mr.. Mitchell, Is vel! as
myself, was entirely innocent, although on
account Of some purely friendly acts done
by him for me, there was some slight
ground upon which to build suspicion
against him in connection with myself.
My reply was: II defy Marshall to do his
worst. I say. once for all, that the fight
is on, and am in, and I will stay in till
William r. Marshall has got enough Of it
and throws up the sponge" I meant what
said and L most emphaticelly mean 1t
now. fight, but l never surrender. And
now, Mr.. Editor, as the sole object of the
Pioneer Press, as have been repeatedly
Informed by you, is to throw light
on these pine land frauds
l have certain statements TO make, and
call the attention of the public and Of the
grand jury now in session to the following
facts:
VIII. \. MARSHALL AND LAND FRAUDS.
It is fact we'll known to all the pine
land men IN Duluth and to the present and
late registers and receivers Of the Duluth
land Office that the titles Of the Minnesota
Iron company to nearly all their thousands
OF acres Of land at and about VermilIion
lake were acquired by prescriptions within
the past few yeara.
During the time that Marshall has acted
as special agent to detect such frauds up
to recsnt date he occupied desk
in the Office of that company in
GilflIan's block in st. Paul, and was at
certain times in the employ OF that COM
pany and 'borro,Ued'' from prominent
officer OF the company, from time to
time, in all about $4,000, which
has not been repaid and probably
never will be. When they were making
fight in the Legislature last winter for an
extension of their land grant, VIM. R.
Marshall was lobbying for them night and
day, and working like beaver in their in
terest. He and prominent officer of that
company at that time, told me that he ex-
pected to be land commissioner of their
railroad. w. Fl. Bassett, OF Duluth, one of
the iron company's trusted men, informed
me that he personally took VIM. R. Mar
shall, in February, 1882, to Vermlllion,
to examine the conpany's presumption
claims; that there was not man on the