Kansas City daily journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1892-1897, 1896-12-31
RECEIVER HIT EXPLAINS.
WHY HE ALLOWED ENTRIES on Z.
r. LANDS IN KANSAS.
General Land Office VIII Send a Clerk
to Topeka to See That No More
Biunders of the Kind
Arc Made.

Washington. Dec. 3O.-(Speciai) Judge
Lamoreaux. commissioner OF the general
land office. to-day received a letter from
Hiram Langan. register. and James j.
Hit, receiver of the land Office at Topeka.
The letter attempts to explain wfYs these
officials have been receiving applications
for entries on Union Pacific lands in KAN
sas. This is in reply to the commissioners
letter of recent date asking for an explain
alton of their action. They say that II
they erred it was due to their igno~ance
of the construction which the general land
Office has placed on various acts of con-
gress.
Commissioner L,amoreaux will at once
send an expert clerk to Topeka on a per-
manent assignment to look into the man
agement of the affairs of the Office and
see that no more blunders like the present
occur. He will also take UP at once one OF
the cases submitted and render decision
which will for all time settle the question
involved. He declares that the original
purchasers from the railroad company are
amply protected by the various acts OF
congress and are in no danger from the
mistaken action of the Topeka land ONCE.
The Topeka officials. in their letter of
explanation, say that last spring 1t was
reported that in Pottawatomie and ad-
joining counties large bodies of lands had
been fenced into pastures, containing 800
to 5000 acres each. And the parties 50 COM
planning said that the report was current
in that country that quite a quantity Of
land that had never been patented was in
cluded in these ranches. Examination
| showed that some 1900 or 5000 acres OF land
had never been patented; some Of these
lands were marked as selected by the
railroad company" while others had no
| filing whatever against them. Some of
these men claimed that they had been try
ing for years to get their titles perfected
| and to get patent from the government
| through the railroad company, but had
| been unable to do so.
The writer's say that entries made last
| April were reported to the commissioner.
and not knowing any other way, they
permitted them to make homestead entries.
They were not advised that these entries
were not properly allowed, and naturally
concluded that they were all right and
proper"
I'VE were in ignorance" the writer's say.
"as to the proper course to get the matter
before your Office, and pursued the only
| way feasible to us"
They claim that they could not always
! tell who owned these titles, nor did they
know If they desired to avail themselves OF
the law of 1881 to purchase. as they made
no application to that Office TO purchase
/ under that act.
And l will add that up to the present
writing. no application to purchase any Of
| these lands has been presented to this Of
| flee
! During the months of November and De-
| cember quite q number of persons have
| been rushing into the Office making ap-
| plications to enter the lands and as those
already reported had not been rejected,
| they very naturally concluded they were
| being properly allowed. and hence we al
| lowed them. As far as We are advised. all
| this trouble and kick comes from parties
who failed to lind any lands upon which
| to make filing. rather that from those who
| own the pretended railroad title.'