St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-04-19

Register and Receiver Tor thus atteIn ptlHS W
defraud the actual occupants and settlers OF
these railway extension lands, OF their
rights2
Simply this, to benefit their friends. As
before stated the Register is former resi-
dent of Albert Lea, the Receiver of Win
dom. The location was very desirable, the
lands were under cultivation, crops growing
and buildings had been erected.
A question regarding the title to these
lands arises, which according to all preced-
ence, excepting one isolated decision of Sec
rotary Schurz will be decided in favor of the
government and the lands consequently be-
came subject to entry. Then it is that these
Worthington officials conceive and put in
operation the purpose to benefit their friends
(for what consideration / know nOt, at the
expense of the settlers. Then it is, that Mr..
Mons Grinager makes the promise he never
intends to keep, and uses the deception
have shown. Here it is, that 1.-THE fine lace
work. he endeavors to explain away comes
in. The friends of the Register and Re-
ceiver at Albert Lea and Window are ''giv-
en- the wink Thirty applications are
made by bankers, lawyers, Clerks of Court
livery men and other ''tillers of the SOIL a
large majority of whom were residents of
those villages, who make twenty three ap-
plications out of thirty under the timber
culture act on these improve cultivated lands
buildings and all, and swear in their affida-
Wits that their claims are not made for the
purpose of speculation. 1t may be well to
mention here that, the fact of these entries
having been made by the class of men l all
eye is not denied by the Register and Re
ceiver in their published statement. On
the contrary they admit it to be true, for in
their statement they say, ''that some of the
timber culture applications were made by
business men, not farmers, and residents OF
Martin County is probably correct. But as
the timber culture law does not require a
| residence, it is not an unusual circum-
stance for business men to make such en-
tries" 1t is well known fact that the
spirit and intention of the timber culture act,
was to encourage the growth OF trees upon
our treeless prairies, and that entries should
only be allowed on wild uncultivated prairie
lands.
At the time Jerome P. Greene who is a
resident of Albert Lea, made his timber cul-
ture application on the quarter occupied by
my son David w. one hundred and thirty
acres thereof had crops of barley wheat and
oats growing thereon, besides having between
1000 and 1900 trees planted there as men
toned.
This cultivated quarter must, therefore, in
the eyes OF Mr.. Greene, have had the appear
ance of wild, uncultivated treeless prairie.
While the most notable case of all, is that
of the S. E. 4 of section l, applied
or by G. F. Robinson of Window.
In the protest filed by the railroad COM
pany it was shown that this tract had not only
been improved by the expenditure of a large
sum OF money, but that it had been made the
site of a railway station of the Southern Min
nesota railroad called Welcome, where a
depot, residences, stores, warehouses,
and other buildings had been erect
ed This is the wild, treeless
prairie which Mr. Robinson desires to cult
vate under the timber culture law Certainly
the first instance on record of an attempt to
'sgobble up'' railroad station, residences,
stores, warehouses and all, under the guise OF
its being suitable place on which to locate
tree claim. Certainly the familiar saying
that "a man viii not steal anything which he
is unable to carry away" has been disproved
in this case, and as stated in your issue OF
Feb 4, ''does not have any reference TO these
two wortnies and their mutual friends" In
that article it was charged that all of these
thirty applications and filings received by the
Worthington office, were made by
the friends of the register and receiver;
this fact was not denied by the latter in
their published statement nor can they
DENY it now, as Investigation will prove ii
to be true.
A few more facts connected with this at
tempted land steal and l will conclude.
On March 10, 1888, n. G. Mcfarland,
commissioner of the general land office,
rendered a decision known as office letter
'F'' upon the protest of the Southern Mime
sofa Railway Extension company, against
the allowance of the thirty applications re-
ferred to, in which he reversed the rule es-
tablished by Secretary Schurz in the case
of Kniskern VS.. Hastings and Dakota R. r.
company, and affirmed the deceison OF
Secretary Teller in the case of Julia ID.
Graham VS.. Hastings and Dakota r. r. Co.
upon the ground that valid entries havin Q
existed, uncanceled, at the date OF the grant
ing act to the railroad company upon Sthe
lands in question, such lands were reserved
from the operation of any subsequent law,
grant, or sale, until forfeiture is declared
and the land is restored to the public domain
in the manner prescribed by law. Upon
these grounds he directed the land office at
Worthing ton to allow the entries and filings
of these claims to be made. In rendering
this decision, the commissioner made use of
the following language regarding the rights
of occupants and settlers:
~ have to state that the fact that contracts
made by the company to sell many of the tracts
to occupants, can only be considered in so far as
it may strengthen the claim of the occupants as
dqaiRst the parties who have applied to enter
these lands"
Again his instructions to the register and
receiver as contained in said letter is as fol
lows:
ssYou will allow the desired entries and filings
to be made. subject to appeal by the Southern
Minnesota Railway Extension company dRd any
occupant or settler upon the lands in question,
and not, stated by the register ana receiver in
their published letter. ''First, to the rights of
the railroad company; Second, to the rights of
actual Settlers
The entries and film gs of the friends of
the register and receiver being thus allowed
by the commissioner, the scheme is carried
out to perfection, and there being
nothing to fear now from
the occupants and settlers who
had not only spent their money, but
nearly five years of hard labor, in making
farms and erecting town sites on an uncul-
tivated prairie, for the friends of the register
and receiver to locate tree claims upon; no.
LITIGATION was given by these officers to the
occupants and settlers about March Is, 1883,
that the railway extension lands were sub
ject to entry. My son, David W., being also
notified that an entry under the timber cul-
ture act had been made upon the northeast
quarter of section 10, (his quarter,) by Je
rome P Greene, under his application of
July &c. 1881, or about taCo gears after such
application was made by Greene. This was
the first, last and only notice given by the 10
cal land Office at Worthington to the occu-
pants and settlers in this matter. The
register and receiver in their published
letter call attention to the fact that total of
seventy-three entries were made upon these
rail1rau e1ctan sion lands LNhiIn this nSsor-