The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-06-10
A SHAMEFUL RULING.

No one has forgotten the deep interest
which President Cleveland seemed to take
in the contested land case which A. ID.
Ricketts, recently took from California to
Washington. The California Miners Asso-
citation, after careful investigation which
made it sure of its ground, drew up pro-
test reciting that about %, 600 acres of land
demanded by the Central Pacific under
the terms of its grant were Immediately
contiguous to mineral lands which had
been mined for precious metals, and bore
every evidence of being mineral lands, in
spite of the railroad company's affidavits
that they were agricultural lands, and
being mineral lands the company had no
right to them Mr.. Ricketts, received so
scant attention from the Commissioner OF
the General Land Office that he appealed
to the President himself.
Mr.. Cleveland received him cordially,
listened with great interest and promised
that the matter would receive his personal
attention. But now comes decision from
the Commissioner OF the General Land
Office which sweeps the protest aside and
throws this more than probably rich body
of mineral land into the lap of the Central
Pacific.
This decision has been made even by the
straining of technicality in favor of the
Central Pacific. Not the slightest desire is
shown to investigate the case on its merits.
The reasons given for throwing out the
protest are audaciously himsy. They are
in effect that the circular of July 8, 1894,
laying down the rules for the bringing of
certain kinds of contests, did not provide
for contests over large numbers of tracts,
and that as this contest was brought under
those regulations it cannot be considered
Apart from the fact that reading of the
circular does not lead one to conclude that
such contest as this could not be brought
under it as well as individual contests over
separate tracts, and apart from the fact
that the circular contains no prohibition
against the bringing of comprehensive
contest, the California Miners Association
was not given the benefit of any doubt that
might exist, nor an opportunity to bring
its contest under some other regulations,
and the Commissioner exhibited unmis-
taxable eagerness to avoid hearing.
The showing made by the Miners
Association had much more weight and
was entitled to far more consideration than
a contest between two individual claimants
of piece of land. Not only did their pro-
test cover very large body of land, which
may represent a value reaching into the
millions, but it pointed 20 a seeming
stupendous scheme to defraud. These
were the uncommon and weighty elements
OF the protest. And yet the Commissioner
cares nothing at all for them and every
thing for a trivial technicality which he
weighs against them. He ignores without
word the grave notice that an over
shadowing wrong is contemplated against
the Government by a corporation which
long ago abandoned all right to expect that
its interests should be preferred by the
Government above those of the people.
The Miners Association may now appeal
to the Secretary of the Interior. Mean
while we are all wondering what President
Cleveland meant by his assurances to Mr.
Ricketts, that this matter would receive his