The Elbert County tribune., 1903-08-20
Land Fraud Charges Denied.

In regard to the charges made that
the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company
is involved in the coal land frauds
says the Denver News. Judge d. c.
Beaman, attorney for the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company, has made the
| following statement:
Yes. have read the newspaper re-
ports about land frauds in Routt coun-
ty.
zone of the most important is the
statement that some government Off
cial has said that 1t would cost the
Colorado Fuel and Iron Company ST.
100000 to square its accounts with the
land office for the difference between
the amount paid for Its lands entered
under the timber and stone act end
that which should have been paid II
entered as coal lands.
The reporter and the headliner of
the paper then note that a general exo-
dus of officials. clerks, etc, has or is
about to take place in consequence.
81 do not suppose that any govern
ment of1clal made any such state
ment
"The fact is that the Colorado Fuel
and Iron Company does not now own
or claim to own. nor did IL ever own,
single acre of land that was taken
up under the timber and stone act.
Some of our lands-a very small
amount-were entered as homesteads
and pre-emptions twenty years or
more ago, when there was little doing
in or known about coal lands. Some
of these have coal in and some not.
being mostly along the outcrop and
were purchased by us of the people
who owned them, and are used mostly
for coke ovens and other frontage pur-
poses. All our coal land, as well as
all our iron lands, were lawfully ac-
quired. and we do not fear investiga-
ton.
"As in many other cases meddlers
have protested, and some of our pur-
chases have been Investigated, but in
every case they have been found reg
ular and lawful. the complaints un-
founded, and the entries approved by
the secretary of the interior.
There will be n lot of newspaper
men leave Colorado before anybody
leaves on account of unlawful acuuisi-
tion of land for us.
In Routt county, where we have
been charged with connlving with MIR.
Moffat and others in procuring thou
sands OF acres of coal lands by forg-
ing names of women and girls, this
company owns but 800 acres, part of
1t bought by us in 1898 and part in
1897, of the men who had entered It
some years before. II is on the Snake
river, and Mr.. Moffat's road will not
go within thirty miles of 1t. Aside
from this half section, the Colorado
Fuel and Iron Company has no lands
in Routt county, nor is 1t interested
In any way in coal or other filings in
that county.
In fact, the company has not ac-
quired or attempted to acquire any
coal land for more than five years past.
These alleged coal land frauds
bloom annually. The southern field
was exploited about this time last
year by TIE newspapers, and the most
awful results were predicted.
The reporters and correspondents of
the Denver papers change about once
year and new shift comes on that
knows little or nothing about the
topography, geography or history of
the state, and they strike a cold trail
and write up few columns, ninety
eight per cent. of which is imagina-
tion.
"One has just bobbed up at Newcas-
tie and writes to Denver paper that
we closed our coal mine there because
there were so many stores that we
couldn't run company store.
THAT mine was closed five years
ago, because conditions were such that
mining was too expensive. as we
thought. 1t remained for that CORE
spondent to make a new discovery.
THE whole story of land frauds. SO
far as the Colorado Fuel and Iron Com.
pany is concerned. may be disposed of
by saying that whatever in these re-
ports is important is untrue.
Il have also seen the statement
about the changes to take place at the
annual meeting. | don't know any
thing about 1t. Ask some other news
paper reporter. If he can't tell you,
then nobody knows"