Sturgis advertiser. (Sturgis, Dakota [S.D.]) 1887-1???, 1888-09-26
corps LAND REVIEW.

b
Almost ever since the passage OF the
presumption law, the first congressional
enactment intended to protect the poor
man against the rich purchaser, and to
secure homes for actual settlers, COM
plants have been rife respecting fraudu-
lent land entries.
The homestead, timber culture, desert
land and other laws have afforded addi-
tionsl opportunities for the perpetration
of frauds which have not been allowed
to pass unused.
From every quarter the cry of fraud
is heard in connection with disposals Of
the public domain. So far as fraudulent
entries under what are termed settlement
laws are concerned the people OF every
section have the remedy in their own
hands.
The requirement of title to public land
under fraudulent presumption, home
stead, timber culture or desert-land entry
is matter OF impossibility, unless the
transaction be winked at and the perpe-
traitor OF the fraud be aided and allotted
by persons in the immediate neighbor-
hood.
Under nearly all these laws the entry
man is required to publish notice of his
intention to make final proof, naming the
time, place and the officer before whom
it will be submitted. If his entry has
been fraudulently initiated, or if he has
not complied with the requirements Of
the statute governing such cases, his
neighbors surely know it, and with very
little trouble or expense they can enter
protest against the issuance of patent on
the entry, which will put the govern
ment on inquiry, and in a majority Of
cases defeat the attempted fraud. But
it seems that the men who are willing to
put themselves to little Inconvenience
for the public good are very scarce, as
few if any protests Of this kind are filed
for The sole purpose of protecting the
public domain from spoliation. At least
seven tenths of the protests entered are
the result of spite and neighborhood
quarrels, or desire upon the part of the
protestant to secure the land himself.
Robbery of Uncle Sam by taking his
lands without giving an equivalent does
met people, be considered by the mass Of
who would fire guns, ring bells, ana
rouse the whole country should they de-
tect thief with his hands in the national
money vaults helping himself, will, with
out concern, or smiling over the trick
that is being played, witness the COM
mission Of perjury by three men, and a
robbery to the people to the extent Of a
quarter of section of land valued at
from 5000 to $400.
Men who are known to have perjured
themselves in connection with land
claims, either as principal or witness, SO
that 100 acres or less of land might be
stolen from the government, mingle free
ly in society and are honored and re-
spected by their fellow men, while the
man who steals a horse from his neigh
Dor is, by the same community, sum-
marily hanged to the first tree.
The government has in its employ
special agents whose duty it is to inves-
tigate fraudulent entries, and the land
department. is making every possible
effort to suppress and prevent frauds
Any citizen cognizant OF an attempt t.
fraudulently acquire title to land may
secure an investigation and bring thu
offender to justice, by simply reporting
the facts to the commissioner of the gen
eral land Office. So long as they fail t
do SO, frauds viii continue to be perpe
trated and the people must take tn
blame. HENRY n. Corr.
ssGen." Fields occasionally delights j