St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-07-29
DEVILS LAKE LAND OFFICE.
The other side of the Controversy
Set Forth.
To the Editor of the

reported language of Judge Mcconnell in
diseharging the grand jury at Fargo few
days since, brief statement of facts by the
Iand officers here may not be mwarranted.
30 1ar as conspiracy having been formed
| 10 eNtort money from settlers by agreement
| or coiluSion between the proprietors of q
| certain newspaper and the officers of this
Office, the grand jury failed to reach any
conclusion, but they seemed to have estab-
IlShed the TACT that conspiracy existed
among the jurors and some of their nre
tended witnesses to aSsail the integrity and
reputation of said officers. And, with that
purpose in view, it was announced by a
member of the jury III open court, with the
| permission of the judge, that an Indictment
would be found against these officers before
a particle of evidence to sustain the charge
so freely advertised in some papers had
been submitted to their consideration.
| This body of self-constituted censors
was created, it is said by an open
venire, whatever that may mean, and
these gentlemen proposed to besmirch
the reputation of the officials by find
! ing an Indictment without evidence.
without law and without having established
/ the fact that an offense had been committed.
and disregarding the advice and opinion of
the United States district attorney that the
accusation was frivolous and contemplate
| and the evidence before them in support of
such charge was more sO-importuned the
court to permit them to employ an attorney
/ who would draw an Indictment in sympathy
with their wishes-and it mattered little to
that gang of defamerS what or whether any
crime or nisdemeanOr was charged. The
court very properly denied this application,
saying the difficulty was not one of lawyers
but of law.
hot off bod
been committed, and foiled in this attempt
to make use OF the power of the law to ac-
compllSh their nefariouS purpose, they next
resolved themselves into a kind of town
meeting and requested the court to forward
their adj dress to the secretary of the interior.
As to the accusation made of discrimina-
ton in assigning notices of publication of
final proofs, we have to say that when this
office was open for business there were in
existence here two newspapers to which
notices were given. In a short time one of
these newspapers became embarrassed and
was about to suspend publication, and did
temporarily suspend, when a man by the
name of Creel came to its rescue and con-
tinued its publication for time. Some no.
tees were given the paper under his adj
| ministTatiOn. Not being satisfied as to the
number assigned his paper, he at once
raised howl of fraud, and claimed in his
paper that there was corrupt bargain be-
tween the land officers and the publisher
of the rival paper to divide the proceeds of
publications SO assigned.
Not content with this course in which he
INDUCED in the most outrageous personal
abuse of every one connected with the
Office, he undertook to designate the paper
to be employed. erasing from some notices,
of which he became possessed, the order of
the register and substituting his own
paper i'll the place of the one
designated. Failing in his attempt to
run the office to this extent he
carried his cause to the interior department
(the Fargo grand jury was not thought of
at that time), and as result of his appeal
to that quarter we received instructions
from the commissioner and department of
the interior emphasizing the law that the
register shall, in his discretion, designate
the newspaper to be employed, provided the
one so employed is nearest the land adver-
used; and from the concluding paragraph
of these instructions so received we quote:
/ ''When there are one or more papers,
which are newspapers, within the meaning
of the law, and any one of which might be
designated under these Instructions you
will use your discretion in making your
selection, and in the reasonable and honest
exercise of that discretion you will not be
| mterIereu WIN by LnlS OlIlce.
The further qualification of responsibility
insisted upon by the department could
| hardly be urged in favor of any paper con-
Quoted by II. NJ. Creel. This mans paper
afterwards went out of existence, year or
more ago, and we should have heard no
more of these accusations were it not sup
posed by these cOnSpiratOrS that in the
change of administration almost any charge
trumped up and insisted on would result In
suspension and removal from Office.
OF the gentlemen summoned as witnesses
before this grand jury grand only by the
conspicuous absence of honor and decency
on the part of some of its members) only
three deserve our especial mention. The
| principal one, who was for a time prOpri-
etOr of the complaining paper, is under
several indictments found against him at
! Grand Forks for OtfenSeS as to which this
community is well informed, and he it was
who, after giving i'll his testimony, took
majority of said jury in a body to the ''White
| Elephant" saloon and treated them.
| The standing of another is shown from
the fact that we received an order from the
| department requiring us to report him if
| he attempted to practice before the land
office.
They know little or nothing about the
| conduct of this Office, but their suggestions
| this grand jury as constituted.
The third is an attorney, who, in a case
| before this Office and in which he was his
own client. has a grievance against us on
account of an adverse decision and has
since pursued US with malignant hostility.
He is supposed to be the ''citizen'' from
whom Judge Mcconnell received his infor-
nation ION the cars"
| With reference to the extortiOnate rates
| for advertising, the invariable price
| throughout the district of all newspapers
| is and has been So for six insertions, and is
far within the limit permitted by law.
| AS to other charges, we embrace this OPP
pOrtunlty of stating that no contract or
arrangement was ever made between the
officers of this Office and the proprietor of the
| Inter- Ocean, II. G. Hansbrough, OF any
one connected with his newspaper establish
| ment by which we were to receive or did
receive any division or percentage of the
money paid him for the publication of final
| proof notices; that we are not and never
have been interested pecuniarly or other
| wise i'll his newspaper establishment; that
| our business transactions with him have
| been the same as with any other citizen
doing business here and not otherwise.
HENRY w. LORD, Register.
| A. o. WmPPLE, Receiver.
| Devils Lake, d. T., July %, 1885.
i
| A Nice Little Pet Serpent.
lxur-