Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-09-03
BIG STEAL IS STOPPED
Commissioners Of Indian Affairs
Prevents Gigantic Steal in
Indian Lands.
Would Have Caused the Worst
Scandal in the Departments
History.
Many Large Syndicates Organ.
lied in the West to Pur.
chase Lands.

WaSIlNSlOn, sept 0.-N lllittlll "a.
Jones, commissioner of Indian affairs.
thinks he has nipped in the bud a
100000 or $2O,OOOOO0 steal of Indian
lands and cause one Of the worst scam
dals the interior department has had to
deal with for years. Commissioner
Jones admits that there is i; chance yet
for the Indians to be robbed by the in
stigators of this scheme, but says he
will do everything in his power to pre-
vent it.
Many large syndicates have been or
ganized turnout the west to purchase
the lands formerly owned by dead In
dams, which are now in the hands of
the government; that is, they can not
be disposed Of without the approval of
the officials Of the interior department.
Many thousands OF acres of these lands
are valued at from $40 to $50 an acre,
and the willy individuals in the scheme
know there is Il fortune in the lands IL
they can be purchased at a rldlculously
low price. They have had their agents
at work for almost a year securing the
descriptions of these parcels or lana
and also the names of the heirs OF the
dead Indians, to whom they were or
iginally decided by the government
In many instances attempts have
been made by these syndicates to IN
duce the Indian agent at the reserva-
ton to furnish them with all the de-
scrptions and also the names of the
heirs, which would permit them to
make bid for the purchase of the
lands at a very small figure. SO far no
investigation has been made to deter
mine whether or not any of the agents
have sold out, but the commissioner ad-
mits that it is almost impossible to pre-
vent the agents from cooperating with
the land grabbers.
A big firm in Nebraska. in which
number Of prominent and public men
are Interested, made an attempt to Sc
cure from the agent at the reservation
near Omaha the description of about
10000 acres of land and the names OF
the heirs of the dead allottees. Inc
agent knew that these lands were
worth about s3,o0O,OO0. and the syndi-
cate wanted to purchase them without
competition for about one-tenth that
sum. Being an honest agent, he refused
to furnish the descriptions, also the
names Of the heirs, and communicated
with the commissioner N Washington.
The letter startled the department ofti-
Gals, which has resulted in Commas
sioner Jones issuing an order that deeds
for none of these lands shall be issued
until after it has been proved to the
satisfaction of the department that they
have been sold for their full value.
This syndicate referred to contem-
plated purchasing the land for about
one-tenth of its value. and then selling
it to settlers on the mortgage plan for
about $50 an acre. In Minnesota and
the Dakotas only a small portion of
these lands have been allotted, and the
work OF the land grabbers has just be-
gun, but they will find poor picking
now, as agents will soon start out from
Washington to make complete inves-
tigation.
1T would have been a terrible scam
dal," said the commissioner. Every
year from now on there will be thou
sands and thousands of acres of these
lands placed on the market, as the In
dams are dying fast. and we would
have been in a pretty mess had these
big syndicates succeeded in getting
start on us. Every application will be
investigated. so far as possible, and II
there Is to be any stealing IL Will be be-
cause there are not enough honest men
to be found to fill the offices of agents
and inspectors