The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1885-04-02
THE iNFAMY OF Il.
An Infamous Act Perpctrated by the Re-
publican Party.


We are gradually getting more light
on the last act of infamy of the Repub-
lican party, perpetrated as it was step
ping down and out of power. THE
ruling passion strong in death" has had
one more dazzling and brilliant illus
tration. We refer to the last land steal
of 100000 acres of Government land.
The Washington correspondents are
gradually getting at the true inward
ness of the big $S, 900, 600 swindle. We
published a dispatch last Saturday from
the Chicago Tribune, which gave out
the impression that the matter was all
right; quite innocent, in fact; the usual
thing expected, of course, from a party
that had piled up monuments of big and
infamous swipdles. The New York
World correspondent has been looking
the affair up, and he uncovers some
very interesting details. According to
this account, it seems that several weeks
ago large additional force of clerks
was put on for the purpose of making
out these patents, so that they could all
be signed and issued before the change
of the Administration. These patents
were all signed. There never, has
been, in the history of the Department,
any patents issued for lands where Con-
gress had assumed jurisdiction to raise
the question of the propIiety of the title.
This backbone grant has been one Of
the most notorious of all the isolated
grants. 1t was passed by Congress in
1871, and was originally made to the
New Orleans, Vicksburg & Baton Rouge
Railroad. The condition was that this
road should be completed within five
years. This company never turned over
a spoonful of dirt, and never did any
thing beyond the issuing of some bonds,
which were palmed off on a contiding
public.
This railroad on paper transferred the
graft to the New Orleans and Pacific
Road, and here now is where Jay Gould
comes in. This road then sold its
charter rights to the Texas Pacific. but
reserved the assigned grant and trans
fcrred ito 1.-THE American Improvement
Company. Gould and others owned
nearly all this stock, which was sort
of Credit Mobilier affair. The Worlds
correspondent concludes his investiga-
ton. as follows:
same footing as the Texas Pacific, which was
forfeited by the Senate the other day. For
number of years the people who held this
Backbone grant have tried to get Congress to
confirm it. The grant has been rejected q
number of times: and no Secretary of the In.
terror before Teller would ever consider what
was part. cularly a proposition to help steal
these lauds for the bcnetit OF the railroad lob
by. Whether there is an investigation Of this
or not, Mr.. Teller will be called upon to ex-
plain on the floor of the Senate his extraofdi-
nary course in this matter. There Is not much
doubt that this Gould and Huntington con-
sp'rlcy also contemplated the theft of the
Texas Pacific lands. IL it hadenot been fer
the Senate action the other day in forfeting
this unearned grant there is reason to sup
pose that the In'er.cr Department would have
issued patents for the fifteen millions of acres
of these lands
This outrage was perIetrated by the
last Republ can Administ alton the day
before Cleveland's Inauguration. 1t
was the elimination of a giant conspir-
acy and q colossal swind'e all along
the line. What an appropriate cap
stone to the monument infamics of
the Republican party! And they hopo
to get hack into power at the end of
four years. Not if the American peo-
pie are awake. : Indiana State Sentinel.