Omaha daily bee., 1902-12-01
Letter to District Attorney Indicates How
He Feels on Question.
WIDOW TELLS HOW SCHEME WAS WORKED
Becomes Suspicious that She Was Not
Getting Square Deal.
WRITES A LETTER TO THE DEPARTMENT
Indications that Someone was Making
Good Thing In Fixing the Filings
Up to Suit the Cattle
BarOns.
(From a stan Correspondent)

When Colonel John S. Mosby left here for
Omaha TO assist District Attorney w. S.
Summers in getting the facts in the land
jobbing cases before the federal grand Jury
he took with him some very Interesting
documents as well as very explicit instruc-
tions as to the scope OF the inquiry. How
earnest Colonel Mosby is in the matter will
appear from this letter he wrote to Mr..
Summers early in the month
WASHINGTON, Nov. 12.-Mr. w. s.
Summers, United States District Attorney,
Omaha-Sir: l have just been informed at
the Interior department that the secretary
mas requested the attorney general TO in
struct you 20 prosecute vigorously the SOL
diers widows and other cases of land
frauds which l have exposed in Nebraska.
or course you must summon a lot of these
sO-called widows as witnesses who can give
you the names of the parties who were in
While the widows are technically guilty
the real criminals to be punished are the
men who hired them to commit perjury and
fraud. l have before me a letter from one
of these widows, which / shall bring with
me to Omaha and show YOU in which she
states that Fred Hoyt, the commissioners
at Gordon, refused to let the widows read
the papers they signed and swore to. This
was the homestead affidavit form 4-0eS) I'm
which the party swears that the entry is
made in good faith to obtain a home for
any person, corporation or syndicate in
making such entry and that l have not
directly or indirectly made and viii not
make, any agreement or contract In any
way or manner with any person, or persons,
, corporation or syndicate whatsoever by
the government Of the United States should
inure in whole or in part to the benefit of
any person except myself"
Get the Guilty Ones.
This widow says that they were all re-
quired to sign, at the time when they filed
their applications leases or contracts TO
ell their lands to somebody. She does not
give the name Of the person who hired
them. As Bartlett Richards fence is To-
/ Gated on their claims no doubt he expected
to be the chief beneficiary in the transac-
under section $40 h. S. | gave Richards
notice to pull down his fence. He should
be summoned before the grand jury TO tell
what he knows about the business, II he
Is innocent he can tell great deali IL he
is guilty he can plead his constitutional
privilege not to be compelled to give evil
dence against himself. Those who hired
these widows to swear to applications for
homesteads were also guilty of subornation
of perjury (section 5S93, II. So An example
should be made of them, no matter how
many cattle they Craze.
Charles Herman, who will be a witness
! in the Miller & Lelth cases, told me that
Mitchell, son-in-law of Mr.. Akers the
RECEIVER at Alliance was present and saw
the door, of the Alliance land office. Be
! sure and have Mitchell witness before
as witnesses Ralph b. Whitlaw of Cyrus,
Neb., and James Gallagher of Lakeside,
! Neb.
You are probably aware that Mr. Lesser
/ is no longer an officer Of the land Office
| SO | shall be present to assist you in
| jury. l hear that one of the reasons for
Mr. Lesser's suspension is that while his
Of the time is at North Platte t Neb his ofi ofii
| cial headquarters he spent most of his time
at his home, Tama, la, drawing his salary
mony of persons who live at Tama and
| North Platte l saw the attorney general
about these cases. Please inform me on
what day will be needed before the grand
jury at Omaha RespeeGSt5gllys, ,,osnT
! Special Agent Government Land ONCE.
story Told by widow.
| How the widows" were worked for their
filings and relinquishments is well told in.
! the following letter which was addressed
to Hon. Binger Hermann, commissioner of
the general land Office:
! CLARINDA, Ia, Oct. 26-Hon Bingei
! Hermann, General Land Office: Dear Sir
| In reply to your request for a description
] or land in question In your letter of October
| /: have delayed answer to this time be.
cause had nothing official to show. That
or not had a right TO some legal docu.
ment to show that had filed on 100 acres
| Of land. The party in charge at Gordon,
| Neb;, refused to give us a scrap of paper
To- show fees paid or record OF filing, etc.
FIFTY soldiers widows went in body. at
| the solicitation of lady who represented
/ to US that we could homestead said land
| and lease same TO the cattlemen in lieu of
occupying it ourselves. and filed on land in
Sheridan county, Nebraska, cattlemun 10
pay all expenses, car fare, board and lodg-
ing, filing fees and all The first deal the
soliciting lady made was to induce us to
carry our lunch on the train, whereas ar
rangements were made for supper at Nor
many he would have TO drive; found nifty
women and fifty lunch baskets. That looked
rest under the seat" The lady had the
money in hand I.,,t to pay for our slippers but
would be fifty times 80 cents saved toward
some ones pocket
Al Gordon Land ONCE.
At Gordon ten at a time were taken to
land office. Several had already signed
Mrs. Brenberger of Blair. Neb, She stopped
10 read the papers and was informed there
vacate place for other ladies'" She % Tefused ald
and so did TIL We knew the con. ents OF
papers Then It was pandemonium let
fully one hour of their precious time words
ran riot, TIL the whole document was read
IN the blank space of lease was written
FOR ten years, where It should have read
five years. Third paper was a bargain tC
sell same, for consideration, - left
blank when We proved up on the land.
told Mr.. Land Once Man would sell 10
| whom / pleased and when i pleased and
keep II as long as l pleased; to tear that
on and write tiye years in lease or | would
contending before we got the thing
! Strengthened cut Some OF those wal
widows" could neither read nor write and
had already signed, but We staid with them
till they took their names from ten-yeaT
. | lease
BY this time we were decidedly sus-
picious and wanted a description Of land oI
receipt Of some kind We could not get a.
! Mrs. Brenberger of Blair and others wrote
| for their receipts Fred Hoyt OF Gordon
wrote her he held the receipts and intended
J to keep them, too; SO Inform the otheI
ladies. She put his letter in a Blair paper
! she did not feel called on to hunt uT
| hfty ladies and inform them that Fred
! IIoyt was their self-consututed guardian.
Debating the Hcke on.
While al Gordon il was a current toni,
that some one was 10 have SO per head fol
every woman who could be induced TO sig
the ten-year lease Ten times fifty Is $50
Good little Wad for some one, and N the
. report was not gossip, why the effort N