St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-07-06
CLOSING BUSINESS.
The Senate and House Nearing
Agreement on All Appr0-
priation Bills.
But the Mexican Pension Bill Will
Have to GO Over to
. December.
The House Without Quorum and Can Do
Little More Before Adj
jOurnment.
The Senate.

Mr. President, I deem it due my friends
that call attention to certain statement l
find copied in the public press, as well as in
the congressional record of the 9th of June.
First, | am set down in the list of what is
termed landgrabbers, as having in some
mysterious way, accumulated the vast
amount of eighty thousand acres OF land.
This statement is utterly without foundation
in fact. The New York Herald. of the goth,
adds thirty thousand head of cattle. | wish
this were true, but there is no foundation for
the statement. l would take no notice OF
this, however, were it not for the charge that
follows:
Second. The person who made the state
ment, after finding it was untrue, instead OF
doing Justice to md, against whom he might
by his erroneous statements have done an
injury, proceeded to put another false state
ment on record as follows:
II might have said to the deluded soldiers
Of this land, what do you think of the great
senator who, in his greed to absorb the coun-
try which belongs to the actual settlers il
land, that was made for the Independent
freeholders and small farm ers-what do you
think OF man who poses as statesman and
patriot, as the friend par-excellent OF
the soldier, and who, under cover
of his brother-in-law, went into New
Mexico and tried to pre-empt the most val
liable lands lying along her streams, and
was only stopped by public officer finding
out it belonged to q class which he protested
the utmost friendship for, and who, from his
manner and appearance, rumor says, has
their blood in his viens, who tried to steal
from his own kith and kin, hundreds OF
thousands Of acres of land. Great laugh
ter and applause on the Democratic side.
Taking from unfortunate savage, who was
unable to protect himself, until the honest
secretary of the interior went there with
surveyor and took back the land for the
Zunis." Renewed laughter and applause.
Now Mr.. President, this statement is, so
far as / am concerned, or any one else OF
whom / have any knowledge, maliciously
false. Sir, what are the facts out of which this
attack has been made? Captain Lawton,
Major Tucker and Mr.. Stout located claims
at Neutria Springs and lands adjacent in
New Mexico, not, however, until after ascer-
tanning from the general land Office that the
land was subject to location, being outside OF
the Indian reservation, being some five miles
from the Indian line and some twenty-five or
thirty miles from the town of Znni so it
will be seen the hundreds Of thousands of
acres of land this man says that l was
stealing from the Indians resolves itself into
three homesteads or desert act claims located
by two army ofiicere and one citizen on pub
lie land, open to such entry, with which 10
cation, however, had nothing to do.
In order to prove the statement he
had made Senator Logan read number of
letters. The first was a Letter from the com
missioner general of the land office, showing
the land in question was subject to location
and entry as public land at the time and if
not the location would have been subject to
cancellation.
The next letter was from Major Tucker to
Secretary Teller, giving the facts in connec-
ton with the location of the lands mentioned
by him and his associates and protesting
against any change by resurvey of the
Zuni reservation. He says the charges
against Senator Logan in connection with
these la nds are untrue.
The next letter was from Capt Lawton to
to General Logan. He refutes at great
length the charges against the latter, and
| says: ''There is not, nor has there been,
any company or organization for the pur-
pose of buying or owning land for
raising stock or starting a ranch on the
Neutria, in which you or any other person is
or was interested My entry of land on the
Neutria was made in good faith for myself,
and no other person has any interest in my
location. Any and all statements that there
;S I,o, a;4I, 70,
land or start a ranch for your benefit, or for
the benefit of any person other than those
appearing on the record of the land office, is
untrue"
James Stevenson, of the United States
geological survey, bears the following testi-
mony in a letter to Senator Logan: s'Having
had my attention called to the statements in
the congressional record of recent date in
directly charging you with fraudulently at
tempting to deprive the Zuni Indians of New
Mexico of their lands, beg leave to say |
am familiar with the facts and circumstan-
ces from thorough investigation of the sub
| ject made at the request of the honorable
secretary of the interior, and take pleasure in
stating the allegations thus made are grossly
unjust to you as well as Maj. Tucker and his
associates, and wholly without foundation.''
The last letter In the series is from Secre-
tary Teller to General Logan. In it he says
s'There is not the slightest evidence that any
wrong was intended or done by the parties
to the entries, or any law violated. The
land was public land at the time these en-
tries were made, and as such was open to
entry by the public. The gentlemen who
made the entries were qualified to enter such
lands and had perfect right to do so, and
they neither violated the law nor the rights
of any parties whatever in so doing. asked
the executive order extending the reserya-
ton without understanding all the facts at
the time 1t gives me pleasure to make this
statement in view Of allegations to the con-
trary which have been made.''
When Major Tucker and his associates
were attacked through the newspapers, said
General Logan, and charged with interfering
with rights of Indians and doing a great
wrong, I defended them in a letter through
the public press and otherwise as having
violated no law and as having committed
no fraud on Indians or any one else. In
that defence | asked the question, eff sol
der like Captain Lawton could not locate
homestead or presumption or whatever loca-
ton was within distance he had to the Indian
reservation, tell me how many miles SOL
dier should have to go away from reserva-
ton in order to comply with law!" This l
did in their behalf. / now stand by what /
did then. If this be crime or fraud my enc
mics can make the most Of it. These men
are all honorable men, Captain Lawton
was gallant soldier from Indiana
He served all through the war with
great credit to himself and honor to his
country. Major Tucker is my son-in law
He is gentleman and man who would not
wrong anyone. l presume the wrong in me
is that Major Tucker is part of my family
and although he is innocent of any wrong in
the premises, baseless excuse was made to
assail me through him. If their object was
to draw me into his defense, they have sue