The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1895-09-28
Last Of the fraudulent Chinese
Certificate Cases.
A BIG FUSS ABOUT NOTHING
The United States Grand jury Fails to
Find q Case Against Any OF
the Accused.
Spokane. Wash. Sept. "a.

The United States grand jury has re-
turned mot a true bill" in what is
known as the Chinese registration
cases and by it James Graham, regis
ter of the land office at Occur d Alene,
Idaho, Edward Rick, an engraver of
this city. w. e. Pollard, Harry Tolton
and Ernest Deuselem, were declared
not guilty of forging the Chinese GER
tificates as charged by the United
States officials.
The case has been watched with a
great deal of interest, not only because
several of the parties are well known
but further because it was alleged
by the officials having the matter in
hand, that they had a clear case.
THE ARRESTS.
The arrests in the case were made on
the first of last July. Some time before
that the government officials had dis
covered that bogus Chinese certificates
were being disposed of in this section.
AS the local officers were unable to 10
cate the parties who were issuing them,
Special Agent F. d. Schuyler was de-
tailed to take the matter in hand and
make a thorough investigation.
AS a result, on his afIidavits, war;
rants were issued and the parties were
arrested and all except Harry Tolton,
who was not found at the time. tried
! before Commissioner Kenyon and
! bound over to appear at the September
term of the United States court.
Young Tolton was afterwards arrested
! at Walla Walla and bound over by the
! United States commissioner there. All
| protested their innocence, and Mr..
Graham who had always borne an ex-
cellent reputation, was more than sur
prised at the arrest.
The charges preferred by Mr.. Schuy-
Ter were that the parties named We're in
one way or another connected with the
fraudulent issuing of Chinese certif-
Gates of registration bearing the seal
of Ambrose w. Lyman, collector of in
ternal revenue for the district of Mon
tana. Some three hundred of such GER
tifcates were disposed of.
COST 500 A DAY.
The men who were at work on the
case spent some time before the ar
rests were made, and it is said the case
has been costing the United States over
500 a day since Mr.. Schuyler first took
the matter in charge. J. e. Fenton,
who had been employed as the attor-
ney oil MI. Granam, tearing tnat true
bill might be returned, appeared in the
United States court the day the grand
jury was sworn in and made a motion
to quash the panel, which motion was
overruled by Judge Hanford. This was
done in order that the interests of his
client would be protected in an appeal.
Mr.. Graham, however, has always con-
tended that the case was a manufac-
tured one and that the jury would so
find after they had thoroughly investi-
gated the matter. The other parties
implicated were equally positive that
no case could be found against them.
AS MIR. GRAHAM EXPECTED.
Mr.. Graham was informed of the out
Z come by wire, and came down from
Occur Alene last night.
! THE result is exactly what I ex-
e pected," he said to a reporter Of The
Spokesman-Review. 'In fact, 1 never
expected any other ending. The charges
/ were entirely manufactured, from bot
! tom to top, and it was most con-
temptible Matchmaking scheme"
The grand jury went into the cases
} with much thorOughness, examining q
or 80 witnesses, and it is understood
u that the vote on the question of indict
ing stood IA to 2.