Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-04-09
HEALING TIMBER LANDS.
CONSPIRACY FOR DEFRAUDlNG THE GOVERNMENT.

How Scotch Syndicate. Aided by Un- >crupulous Americans, Attempted to Capture the Valuable Redwood Lands oi a county by Fraudulent Entries. r. WASHINGTON, April 9.-The redwood land l frauds ill California have for some time been | engaging the attention of the officials of the l interior department. Upward of 700 entries have been pronounced fraudulent, and suits | have been recommended to vacate the patents. l Secretary Villas, in recent official letter to | the attorney general recommending the bring ing of suits in number of cases, submitted the l following details of the fraudulent methods 1 employed:
 ''From the reports of Special Agent R. F. Bengen, and accompanying affidavits, it ap- pears that Scotch corporation, or syndicate, was formed for the purpose of obtaining con- trol of all the valuable redwood lands located in Humboldt county. This syndicate was represented in California by James D. Walker, who made contract with Joseph Russ, David Evans and Charles King, com prising the firm of Russ & Co.,, to carry out the object ill view. These in turn employed as agents in the nefarious work Charles B. Beach, Harry A. Marks and M. P. Roberts, 0Drother of the register of the Humboldt land ofice), who employed other agents, the afi- davits of some of whom will be found here with.
 ''The affidavit of Frank McLoughlan shows that he was employed by Charles E. Beach to furnish men to make timber applications for which he, Mclaughlin, to receive $5 for each man, and the men were to be paid $50 each on completion of the entry. Under this contract a number of men were fur nished, whose names and the tracts entered by them are given. The contract was then changed so as to make McLaughlin's con- pensation $2O per week, and at this rate he furnished a large number of entrymen, whose names and the tracts entered also given The papers relating to these entries were pre- pared by Beach, Roberts & Marks, and ac- knowledged before Frederick w. Bell notary public. The money to pay for the lands thus entered, came through Russ & Co.,, and was not paid by the men, but by Beach some of the others.
 ''John Conar, keeper of boarding house, testifes that he entered into an engagement with Marks to furnish men, seanen or sailors. to make timber entries, for which each entry man to receive $50 Under this agree ment he furnished large number of men then boarding with him, whose names and entries are given. T. H. Floss testified that he was in the local land office and saw Henry Marks pay the money to tue receiver at one time for twenty or twenty-five timber en- tries.
 'David Cutter states that he was em- ployed by Russ & Co. to draw deeds convey ing the land entered aforesaid, and under this employment prepared between 400 and J:;O such deeds Whilst doing this work he occupied the same room in which Beach x Roberts were engaged in preparing the entry papers to eighty-two different entrymen Beach & Roberts would give him list con- tainius, the names of the men and a descrip- ton of the tracts of land, and he would pre- rare deeds for the same ill favor of David Evans always leaving the date of the deed tlan<, so that it could afterward be filled in to correspond with the date of the acknowl- ed;,Inents. Every few days he would go to F. w. Bell, tie notary, who took the ac- Acknowledgements and obtain from him batch of the executed and acknowledged deeds, and after filling the dates to correspond would draw other deeds for the same land from Evans to James D. Walker, the agent of the Scotch syndicate, and then deliver the deeds to Evans.
 ''George A. Kellogg, recorder of Humboldt county. certifies that there were filed in his office for record on July 1O 1884, 363 deeds, all in favor of David Evans except twelve to Charles E. Beach and two to Harry Marks, and all for land in that county. In addition to the foregoing testimony in many of the cases the affidavit of the entryman will be found among the particular papers thereof, showing the circumstances under which such entry was made and who paid the entryman therefor.
 "Whilst such testimony by itself ordinarily would have but little weight, yet when sup ported and corroborated by the other testi- mony submitted, and all the surrounding cir cumstances it is of much importance in mak- ing clear the extensive conspiracy culminat- ing in this monstrous fraud whereby patents were issued for this large body of land. Therefore have no hesitation ill joining in the recommendation of the commissioner of the general land office that suits be instituted in the proper tribunal to secure the cancella- tion of these patents, if it is thought such suits can be maintained"
 The Marietta Centennial Ended.